Bank of England slashes rates to historic low amid coronavirus pandemic March 19, 2020 The Bank of England has slashed interest rates to a new record low and will pump £200bn into the economy through its quantitative easing (QE) bond-buying programme as it seeks to curb the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The Bank today held an emergency meeting and cut its main rate by 15 basis (0.15 percentage [...]
FTSE 100 shoots back up after Bank of England slashes rates over coronavirus March 19, 2020 The UK’s FTSE 100 managed to climb this afternoon after the Bank of England announced £200bn of quantitative easing and slashed interest rates close to zero. European stocks also turned green, having been mired in the red despite the European Central Bank (ECB) announcing a €750bn (£700bn) asset purchase programme to deal with the coronavirus [...]
Britons least optimistic about economy since 2008 financial crash March 19, 2020 Britons are the least optimistic they have been about the economy since 2008’s financial crash, a new survey by pollster Ipsos Mori has found. The new poll, which was conducted between 13 and 16 March, shows that 69 per cent of people think that the economy will get worse in the next 12 months. In [...]
Coronavirus: 54 UK companies issue covid-19 profit warnings March 19, 2020 Since the start of 2020, 54 UK companies have issued profit warnings citing a potential hit to their results from coronavirus pandemic, according to analysis released today. Accountancy firm EY said there had been 25 profit warnings related to the coronavirus this week up until 5pm yesterday. Eighty-seven per cent of all profit warnings issued [...]
Tory MPs attack Treasury’s coronavirus response and call for ‘radical’ measures March 19, 2020 Tory MPs have told the government to start paying British workers’ wages directly and to ramp up benefits payments “today”. Conservatives from across the party said the chancellor’s response to the economic fallout from coronavirus had not gone far enough and would not prevent mass unemployment. Former business secretary Greg Clark said in the House [...]
Economists: Germany must act as it ‘speeds’ towards coronavirus recession March 19, 2020 Germany, the European Union and the European Central Bank (ECB) must work together to take “massive and targeted” measures to prevent an economic collapse in the face of coronavirus, one of the country’s top think tanks has said. The Ifo Institute warned the German economy could shrink by a massive six per cent in 2020 [...]
Huge ECB stimulus programme pushes down Eurozone bond yields March 19, 2020 Bond yields have fallen across the Eurozone as investors and governments breathe a sigh of relief following the European Central Bank’s (ECB) decision to buy €750bn (£709bn) of assets in a huge programme to counter the economic effects of coronavirus. The yield is the amount the investor receives from a bond – government debt – [...]
IG’s revenue jumps 29 per cent as market volatility peaks March 19, 2020 Trading platform IG’s revenue in the third quarter jumped 29 per cent as market volatility, brought on by the outbreak of coronavirus, increased trading. The figures IG’s revenue in the third quarter was 29 per cent higher than in the same period last year, at £139.8m. The trading platform served 101,700 OTC leveraged active clients [...]
Boom or bust: The risk of a repeat of the dot-com bubble March 19, 2020 On 10 March 2000, the US Nasdaq stock market peaked at 5,048.62. By October 2002, the index had lost 78 per cent of its value, or about $5 trillion. The Nasdaq had swelled due to the proliferation of internet-related companies aiming to make money from this nascent technology. In fact, between 1995 and 2000, the [...]
Call for government to support oil and gas industry amid triple challenge March 19, 2020 The UK’s oil and gas industry has called on the government to help the sector as it faces three separate challenges, that could see production plummet. Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) highlighted coronavirus, gas prices being halved and the sinking oil price as threats to the industry. Boss Deirdre Michie highlighted the need for key [...]