Brexit uncertainty drives car manufacturing down nearly 10 per cent, SMMT warns November 29, 2018 Car manufacturing fell by 9.8 per cent in October as global market turbulence and Brexit uncertainty continue to hit the industry. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) out today show 15,255 fewer cars year-on-year came off production lines last month, marking the fifth consecutive month of decline. The influential trade body [...]
Bank of England governor Mark Carney tries, and fails, to prevent Brexit analysis frenzy November 28, 2018 House prices plummeting 31 per cent. Unemployment shooting up to 9.5 per cent. GDP collapsing by 4.3 per cent amid a sharp recession. These were the scenarios the Bank of England used to conduct its mandated “stress test” for some of the UK’s biggest financial companies back in 2016. Last year, the wonks at Threadneedle Street [...]
Stocks soar on Fed chair’s dovish signal on interest rates November 28, 2018 The chair of the Federal Reserve took a softer line on interest rates yesterday, after being slammed by President Donald Trump over his hawkish policies. Jerome Powell hinted he may end interest rate hikes, saying rates are now “just below” the level which would not impact a healthy economy. Buoyed by the statement, Wall Street [...]
No-deal Brexit could result in eight per cent hit to UK economy, warns Bank of England November 28, 2018 A no-deal Brexit could cause the UK economy to fall eight per cent in a single year, the Bank of England warned today, leading to crashing house prices and surging unemployment. However, in a boost for the Prime Minister, the Bank said her withdrawal agreement and a close economic relationship with the EU could boost GDP by [...]
Bitcoin scrambles back above $4,000, on course for biggest rise since April after week of plunging value November 28, 2018 Bitcoin has bounced back above $4,000 (£3,128) today after plunging in value earlier this week. The cryptocurrency hit $4,205.47 during today’s trading, bouncing back from a 14-month low of $3,474 on Monday according to data from Luxembourg-based Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp. Today’s rally has seen a rise of more than 11 per cent and puts the world’s largest [...]
Italy ‘looks for space’ to revise budget in the face of EU disciplinary action November 28, 2018 The Italian government was working to amend its budget today to attempt to avoid disciplinary action from the European Commission. But EU commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said a “substantial correction” was needed, according to Italian newspaper La Stampa and Germany's Handelsblatt. Italian finance minister Giovanni Tria told the Senate the government was working to find “financial space [...]
Royal Mail could be sent packing from FTSE 100 in final reshuffle of the year November 28, 2018 Royal Mail could be sent crashing out of the FTSE 100 next week as insurer Hiscox stakes a claim to replace the UK postal service in the blue chip index. The final FTSE reshuffle of the year takes place on Tuesday and barring a miracle Royal Mail, which delivered a shock profit warning in October, [...]
Thomas Cook shares continue to fall, dragging FTSE firms down with it November 28, 2018 Package holiday provider Thomas Cook's share price has continued to fall for a second day, after having more than £175m wiped off its market value yesterday. The firm announced its third profit warning in five months, blaming the UK's long summer heatwave for a decline in Brits heading abroad. Shares in the FTSE 250 company declined by [...]
Expensive stocks & high debt: A concern for investors November 28, 2018 At no point in the lifetime of any investor operating today has the US not been the largest stock market on the planet and yet it recently notched up a new kind of record. According to numbers crunched by analyst Scott Irving of Jefferies International, at the end of September, the US accounted for 62.4 [...]
Strong leadership is the key to future prosperity November 28, 2018 Time for a story that has nothing to do with Brexit. The 2018 Legatum Prosperity Index is out today, and the trends are positive: global prosperity – a metric that takes into account not just GDP, but also factors such as wellbeing, health, and security – is at its highest since the think tank launched [...]