Eurozone manufacturing grows for second month running September 1, 2020 The Eurozone manufacturing sector saw “modest growth” for the second month running in August, according to a new survey, as the bloc’s economic recovery continued. However, the factory sectors in Spain and France stagnated while Greek manufacturing declined for the sixth month in a row. The IHS Markit Eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index – a [...]
How might stocks react to a Biden win? September 1, 2020 | City Talk Our analysis suggests such an assumption would be premature. It’s not just Covid-19 and the economic slump it has caused that are on investors’ minds. They’re also beginning to worry about the risks surrounding the 2020 US presidential election. The latest polls show that the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, is poised to win and the [...]
Asian markets rise after strong Chinese manufacturing data September 1, 2020 Asian markets rose today after strong readings on China’s vast manufacturing sector offset the weak lead from a softer Wall Street session. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 per cent, to regain some ground it had lost on Monday. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong traded 0.18 per cent higher [...]
UK economy unlikely to recover until 2023, KPMG says September 1, 2020 The UK economy is unlikely to reach its pre-Covid level until early 2023, according to new forecasts. KPMG’s latest quarterly economic outlook forecasts UK GDP will plunge 10.3 per cent for the year, downgraded from the 7.2 per cent predicted in June. However, a second lockdown of even just four weeks could leave GDP dropping [...]
Pandemic hysteria is blinding us to the virus’s real risks August 31, 2020 I have long held off writing this column, as I well know it will lead to some hysterical responses. Nevertheless, the credo of any good opinion writer surely must be to be fearless, to fly in the face of received opinion if the cause is just. And there has rarely been a greater need for [...]
Could AI help Rishi Sunak revive the UK economy? August 29, 2020 This was once meant to be the year the government balanced the books, a literal pay off for years of tight purse strings under George Osborne’s austerity programme. Instead, 2020 has seen government debt balloon to over £2 trillion. The coronavirus pandemic has meant UK spending has rocketed far beyond any previous peacetime records, leaving [...]
FTSE 100 falls but US stocks rise as markets weigh up Fed changes August 28, 2020 The FTSE 100 dropped in afternoon trading but US stocks rose as investors digested the US Federal Reserve’s decision to take a more relaxed approach to inflation, a step that supported Wall Street stocks last night. London’s main stock index fell 0.4 per cent to 5,977 points. The FTSE 250 of mid-sized firms climbed 0.1 [...]
Andrew Bailey says Bank of England ‘not out of firepower’ August 28, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said the central bank is “not out of firepower” with which to tackle the coronavirus downturn “by any means”. In fact it seemed like the Bank underestimated the amount of firepower it had left before coronavirus hit, the governor told the online Jackson Hole economic policy symposium. Yet [...]
Share and share alike: electronically? August 28, 2020 | City Talk Where – if you’re lucky enough to own shares – do you store the paperwork? A drawer? The attic? Share certificates – possessed by millions of Britons – and dividend cheques seem on a path becoming obsolete. A trend towards digital delivery of shareholder-related communications means that the era of private investors filing away their [...]
Eurozone business confidence picks up as bloc stages recovery August 28, 2020 Eurozone businesses became more confident about the economy in August as the bloc gradually recovered from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, according to new survey data. The closely watched Eurozone economic sentiment indicator rose 5.3 points to 87.7 in August, the European Commission said today. However, sentiment remained well below its long term average, [...]