GILT MARKET REVEALS LESS DESIRABLE UK February 22, 2010 OVER the past two weeks, stock markets across Europe and the US have stabilised following a nasty New Year sell-off. The US fourth quarter earnings season began badly and this seemed to be the catalyst for an aggressive bout of profit-taking. Even as it became apparent that the vast majority of companies would end up [...]
Oil prices and tax cuts fuel inflation leap January 19, 2010 THE annual rate of inflation accelerated in December at record pace, raising concerns that the Bank of England may feel compelled to raise interest rates sooner than expected. The consumer prices index on an annual basis jumped one per cent in December to 2.9 per cent, fuelled by a jump in oil prices compared to [...]
Bank’s report likely to show inflation on up February 7, 2010 THE revival in economic growth will take longer while the pace of inflation is likely to accelerate further in the coming months. That, at least, is what economists expect from the Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report on Wednesday, when the central bank will issue fresh growth and inflation projections. After the Monetary Policy Committee [...]
IT’S STILL TOO EARLY TO STOP THE STIMULUS February 8, 2010 WE ARE two-thirds of the way through the US fourth-quarter earnings season and 74 per cent of S&P 500 firms that have already reported have beaten analysts’ estimates. A further 9 per cent were in line while 17 per cent of companies fell short. The earnings season has not been good enough so far to [...]
UK ECONOMY February 3, 2010 QUANTITATIVE EASING should come to an end this month, according to a majority of members of City A.M.’s shadow Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), ahead of the Bank of England’s decision scheduled for midday today. Seven members recommended that the policy should be paused in February leaving the £200bn of assets bought so far intact, while [...]
Mortgages: Lending to home buyers and businesses picks up January 21, 2010 GROSS mortgage lending in December showed annual growth for the first time since October 2007, the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) said yesterday. Total lending reached £13.7bn last month, a three per cent rise on December 2008 and a 14 per cent gain on November. Paul Samter, economist at the CML, said: “Evidence suggests that [...]
As inflation rises, so can your profits March 7, 2010 WHATEVER the Bank of England might be telling us about a temporary spike in inflation, fund managers and analysts around the City are preparing themselves for a period of rising prices and adjusting their portfolios accordingly. Their reason? The parlous state of developed countries’ public finances combined with a weak recovery means that heavily indebted [...]
Interest rates may need to rise to curb inflation risks January 13, 2010 THE Bank of England’s ultra-loose monetary policy has been a success but Threadneedle Street will have to consider raising interest rates this year if the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is to keep inflation risks under control, MPC member Andrew Sentance said in an interview published yesterday. He said that he was optimistic about the economy [...]
Interest rate held at 0.5% January 7, 2010 The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has once again frozen the interest rate at 0.5 per cent. It also agreed to continue with quantitative easing to help shore up the economy. The interest rate has remained unchanged since March after the MPC took drastic action to tackle the global economic crisis. Quantitative easing [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 10, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES SHINSEI IN CAPITAL DRIVE AS MERGER FALTERS Shinsei, the Japanese bank, is preparing to raise about Y75bn ($830m) in fresh capital as a merger with a rival domestic lender once seen as a lifeline is in danger of collapse. Shinsei has concluded that a merger with Aozora, the Japanese bank part-owned by Cerberus [...]