Sterling strikes back March 6, 2020 | City Talk GBP / EUR Update The pound started the week on the back foot after a tough end to last week. Brexit concerns weighed heavily after the UK stated it would walk away from unsatisfactory negotiations. The EU feels that this will not be the case, but the overall view is that both sides are underestimating [...]
Oil prices fall again as Russia rejects further Opec cuts March 6, 2020 Oil prices plunged four per cent today after Russia rejected oil cartel Opec’s proposal to deepen production cuts by an additional 1.5m barrels per day until the end of the year. The drop means that prices are at their lowest point since July 2017 after a source told Reuters Russia would only agree to extend [...]
The C-word March 6, 2020 | City Talk And we aren’t just talking about coronavirus There are a number of ways coronavirus has affected economies, shares, production and of course currency markets. From currencies experiencing decreased demand to Asian currencies bearing the brunt of the market’s aversion to risk, the foreign exchange market began to show clear signs of being impacted by the [...]
Demographics predict stock and bond yields, study shows March 6, 2020 | Sponsored Investors can use demographic trends to predict both the stock and bond market yields, a new study shows. Researchers from Warwick Business School and Copenhagen Business School found US stock and government bond markets have followed surprisingly similar paths since the Second World War. Yields from both markets followed similar 20-year boom and bust cycles [...]
Government bond yields sink to record low on coronavirus disruption March 6, 2020 Government bond yields sunk to fresh historic lows as fears over the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on global growth sent investors rushing to safe haven assets. Concerns over the outbreak have sent equities tumbling across the globe and pushed the price of several government bonds to historic highs, while yields (which move inversely to [...]
Government has spent £4.4bn on Brexit preparations March 6, 2020 The UK government has spent at least £4.4bn of taxpayers’ money on preparations to leave the EU, the public spending watchdog said today. The National Audit Office (NAO) said most of the money was spent on staff costs, building new infrastructure and paying for external advice. The government overall only spent about 70 per cent [...]
Budget should include ‘hardship fund’ for firms hit by coronavirus, says British Chambers of Commerce chief March 6, 2020 The chief of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has called on the government to include a “hardship fund” for firms affected by the coronavirus in this month’s Budget. Director-general of the BCC, Dr Adam Marshall, has written to chancellor Rishi Sunak asking him to roll out measures supporting small and medium-sized firms, according to [...]
Coronavirus: Asian stocks follow US into the red as infections near 100,000 March 6, 2020 Coronavirus cases approached the 100,000 mark today as volatility sparked by the global spread of the Covid-19 disease hurt Asian stocks and Wall Street. Asian stocks endured a torrid day of trading as Japan’s Nikkei plunged 2.7 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sank 2.3 per cent overnight. Asian stocks slumped as traders [...]
If the chancellor stands up for small firms, he’ll be standing up for society as a whole March 6, 2020 Ever wondered how much small businesses hand over to the Treasury each year? Try £145bn in corporation tax and VAT alone. Factor in business rates, national insurance contributions, fuel duty, clean air charges and the insurance premium tax, and this big figure becomes, well, astronomical. We small business owners are resilient. We have continued to [...]
UK jobs market strengthens but IR35 looms March 6, 2020 UK companies took on permanent workers at a solid rate in February, survey data has shown, even as temporary billings fell ahead of upcoming IR35 legislation changes. The UK jobs market performed well in 2019 despite business investment and trade suffering under the weight of Brexit uncertainty. There were some signs it was beginning to [...]