Saudi energy minister: Oil output restored after attack October 3, 2019 Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said his country has managed to restore all the oil output that was lost when a series of drone strikes pummelled part of its infrastructure last month. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said capacity stands at 11.3m barrels of oil a day, roughly the same as before the attacks. Read more: Petrol [...]
US non-manufacturing sectors undershoot expectations October 3, 2019 The US’s non-manufacturing sector severely undershot expectations last month, survey data showed today, continuing the trend of bad economic news from the world’s biggest economy. Read more: Global stock markets bleed red on US-EU trade war fears The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a gauge of the health of [...]
European policymakers eye up fiscal policy in response to slowdown October 3, 2019 Two senior European policymakers have said fiscal policy – spending and taxing – should be a tool to boost the region’s struggling economy and deal with a potential shock. Read more: Eurozone recession risk ‘very risk’ as slowdown infects service sector European Central Bank (ECB) vice president Luis de Guindo said a “dedicated centralised fiscal [...]
UK recession alarm bells ring as services sector contracts October 3, 2019 The risk of a UK recession has shot up after the huge services sector contracted in September, causing the biggest cut in employment in over nine years, according to closely-watched survey data. Read more: Global stock markets bleed red on US-EU trade war fears The sector – which makes up about 80 per cent of [...]
Spreadbetter CMC Markets forecasts jump in annual earnings October 3, 2019 Spread betting platform CMC Markets forecast a jump in annual earnings in a trading update issued this morning, reporting strong net trading revenue in the first half as it began to recover from the implementation of stricter regulations that hit its business last year. CMC said it expects net trading revenue from its contracts for [...]
Eurozone recession risk ‘very real’ as slowdown infects services sector October 3, 2019 Germany slipped into recession territory last month as the Eurozone teetered on the brink of stagnation, data revealed today. The bloc’s biggest economy showed the weakest growth in business activity for three years, according to IHS Markit’s Germany Composite PMI. Read more: Recession alarm bells ring as UK services sector contracts “A technical recession now [...]
FTSE 100 losses deepen as investor jitters over world economy linger October 3, 2019 Stock market losses deepened this morning, as investor fears of a global slowdown lingered following a major sell-off yesterday. Concerns over the state of the world economy have driven trading jitters this week, with the FTSE 100 the worst-hit index amid mounting Brexit uncertainty. The blue chip index fell 0.3 per cent per cent to [...]
Skills shortage to cost small UK businesses £145,000 next year October 3, 2019 Small and medium-sized British businesses face a shortage of skilled employees that will cost them on average £145,000 next year, according to new research. Read more: Brexit prep has cut productivity of UK businesses, says Bank of England The so-called skills gap has widened as a result of “a shrinking talent pool due to Brexit” [...]
Petrol prices fell even as drones struck Saudi oil October 3, 2019 Worries that drone strikes in Saudi Arabia would drive up prices at the pumps for customers seemed unfounded, new data showed as petrol prices fell in September. The cost at the pumps dropped by 0.87p to 127.95 for unleaded petrol, even as diesel rose by a third of a pence to 132.07p per litre. However [...]
Global stock markets bleed red on US-EU trade war fears October 2, 2019 Global stock markets have plunged across the board today amid fears of a US trade war against Europe and a worsening economic picture. Read more: US factories suffer worst month since 2009 The World Trade Organization (WTO) this afternoon ruled that the US has the right to slap punitive tariffs on $7.5bn (£6.1bn) worth of [...]