Sterling slips on more Bank of England stimulus speculation August 9, 2016 Sterling has fallen to a one-month trough against the dollar and bond yields have set a new all-time low this morning as the prospect of ultra-loose monetary policy from the Bank of England continues to drag on the currency. The pound slipped below $1.30 for the first time since mid-July overnight after monetary policy committee (MPC) hawk [...]
Hope for Brazil: Away from the Olympics, it’s politically troubled with a crumbling economy, but can Brazil turn a corner? August 8, 2016 The Rio Olympics have got off to a great start, but this year’s host country has largely been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The spreading of the Zika virus is a worrying development for Brazilian authorities, who are firefighting on several fronts, including corruption probes and a troubled economy It wasn’t like this when [...]
The pound has not been so sterling after Brexit: How currency weakness will hit our travel plans, inflation and trade August 8, 2016 The pound has been steadily falling as the Brexit referendum and Bank of England’s moves to shore up the economy have pushed investors into selling the pound. Its downward slide over the last 12 months means sterling is now worth 16 per cent less against the dollar, at £1/$1.31, compared to £1/$1.56 previously. It’s even [...]
As calls for the chancellor to apply some fiscal stimulus grow, do we really want more public spending? August 8, 2016 Scott Corfe, director at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, says Yes. The UK economy is set to slow drastically over the coming quarters, with the Centre for Economics and Business Research expecting GDP growth to decline from about 1.5 per cent this year to less than 0.5 per cent in 2017. A recession – [...]
Brits flash the plastic despite EU vote fears August 8, 2016 Card spending in the UK climbed in July as consumers flocked to hotels, bars, and restaurants. The latest Visa spending index was up from 0.9 per cent year-on-year in June to 1.6 per cent in July. However this was weaker than the rate of increase seen at the beginning of the year. The hospitality industry drove [...]
London businesses hardest hit in latest PMI figures as employment falls August 8, 2016 London businesses were harder hit after the EU referendum result than those in any other UK regions, a newly released index has revealed. The Lloyds Bank Regional Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) also found employment in the capital fell in July, ending a 38-month period of expansion. “The local economy felt a significant downturn following the EU [...]
The number of people visiting France has fallen August 7, 2016 The number of people visiting France from abroad has fallen in the wake of terrorist attacks in the country. Tourism minister Matthias Fekl said the number of foreign visitors has declined by 10 per cent in the first six months of the year, compared to the same time last year, and that trend continued into July. The capital [...]
Why slashed interest rates could provide another M&A boost after Brexit August 5, 2016 UK deal activity could be boosted by the Bank of England’s interest rates cut, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) experts have suggested. As well as cutting interest rates from 0.5 to 0.25 per cent on Thursday, the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) also unleashed an extension of quantitative easing which could pump an extra £170bn of newly-printed [...]
Bumper US jobs report sends S&P 500 to record high and brings rate rise into view August 5, 2016 The US economy added 255,000 jobs in July in the second blockbuster month for employment, raising the prospect of an interest rate rise and sending the S&P 500 to a new record high. Official non-farm payroll data published this afternoon also showed average wages grew by 2.6 per cent on an annualised basis, the same rate in June, but [...]
Profitability hits record low for UK’s offshore oil and gas industry August 5, 2016 The UK's oil and gas sector was the least profitable quarter for two decades at the start of the year, figures out this morning have revealed. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), said profitability among the UK's "continental shelf" companies – mainly off-shore exploration firms – plunged to 0.2 per cent in the first quarter. [...]