Bottoms up! March 20, 2019 | City Talk If an investor is specifically looking for reasons not to invest, he or she will always find them. Indeed, for one reason or another, it has been said that “now is the most difficult time to invest”, in perpetuity! At present, such reasons are in ample supply – geopolitical concerns, populism, punchy valuations, a lack [...]
UK manufacturing output growth slumps to weakest level since May 2018, survey reveals March 20, 2019 Manufacturing output growth in Britain over the past three months was at its weakest level since May 2018, with businesses pointing the finger at Brexit, a new survey has shown. However, companies reported that their export order books grew compared to the three months to February and remain above the long term average, according to the [...]
Inflation edges up from two-year low as food and alcohol prices rise March 20, 2019 The UK inflation rate edged up from two-year lows last month as food and alcohol prices rose. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) 12-month rate was 1.9 per cent in February, up from 1.8 per cent in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Read more: UK inflation falls close to a two-year low Rising [...]
Sterling dips lower as Theresa May seeks only a short Brexit delay from EU March 20, 2019 Sterling took a hit this morning as it emerged Theresa May has ruled out seeking a long Brexit delay from the EU. Read more: Prime Minister rules out long Brexit delay Downing Street said the Prime Minister will only request a short extension to Article 50, likely to the end of June, as the UK [...]
DEBATE: Will the UK’s strong employment landscape be able to withstand the shock of a no-deal Brexit? March 20, 2019 Will the UK’s strong employment landscape be able to withstand the shock of a no-deal Brexit? Lee Biggins, founder and chief executive of CV-Library, says YES. While there’s no guarantee that the jobs boom will last if we came crashing out of the EU, the labour market has stood strong in the face of uncertainty [...]
Emojis are a better metric for national wellbeing than traditional data methods March 20, 2019 HMRC’s programme to make tax digital continues to roll out. Anyone with a small business will know about the imminent deadline of 1 April, when VAT returns become digital. Quick to seize an opportunity, several companies have developed software to ease the task. The digitisation of tax raises the wider issue of whether technology will [...]
Oil prices give back gains after hitting 2019 highs after Opec cuts continue to bite March 19, 2019 The price of oil was flat last night after giving back gains which saw it reach a four-month high earlier in the day. International standard Brent Crude was hovering around $67.5 per barrel in the early evening, largely unchanged. Read more: Venezuela looks to Russia for oil exports as US sanctions bite However, the price reached as high [...]
Brexit: With ten days to go, what is going to happen? March 19, 2019 | City Talk In a process where the phrase ‘dumpster fire’ is already probably more accurate than anything normally used to describe political process, speaker John Bercow threw a grenade into the mix by refusing to allow a third meaningful vote on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement. It was a move that surprised many – when we thought the [...]
Ex-Numis boss Oliver Hemsley’s bid to take over Nex Exchange falls through March 19, 2019 Plans by former Numis chief executive Oliver Hemsley to take control of London-based Nex Exchange have fallen through, its owner said today. A group of investors led by Hemsley had sought to take control of 55 per cent of Nex, an exchange for smaller listings which seeks to challenge the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment [...]
Wages up across Europe despite gloomy economic climate March 19, 2019 Wages across the European Union grew an average of three per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018, while Eurozone wages grew by 2.3 per cent, official statistics today showed. Hourly wages in the UK grew by 3.4 per cent quarter on quarter, the most of the EU’s major economies, figures from Eurostat, the EU’s [...]