Banks, bonds, inflation, recession and energy: Five lessons the markets taught us this week March 17, 2023 The third week of March proved to be a rollercoaster for the world’s investors, with a rout on banks and the spectre of inflation, recession and the growing cost of living making their presence felt. These themes may indeed play on in future, so here are the five lessons we’ve learned from the markets this [...]
Recession off the cards, getting over 50s ‘back to work’, strikes and banks take stock – the five best read stories on City A.M. this week March 17, 2023 It was the week UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt laid out his first Spring Budget, but as pension savers and taxpayers looked on, fears of a recession appeared to fade, although the sagas of banks Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse and on-going strikes raged on; here are the stories readers were flocking to on City A.M. [...]
US inflation tumbles to lowest level since September 2021 but price pressures complicate Fed rate decision March 14, 2023 US inflation has dropped to the lowest level since September 2021, but underlying price pressures are still sticking around, complicating the Federal Reserve’s rate decision next week, official figures out today show. The rate of price growth in the world’s largest economy trimmed to six per cent over the year to February, down from 6.4 [...]
US Federal Reserve to refrain from rate hike later this month after Silicon Valley Bank collapse, bets Goldman March 13, 2023 Speculation is growing among traders that the US Federal Reserve could refrain from hiking interest rates later this month for fear of triggering another Silicon Valley Bank-style collapse. Turmoil in financial markets sparked by the tech-focused lender’s collapse has raised the likelihood Fed chair Jerome Powell and co may hold off raising rates any further. [...]
Wall Street stocks tumble: Why Bank of America and Citigroup have been hardest hit after Fed chair Powell’s testimony March 10, 2023 Stocks stumbled on Wall Street on Thursday and added to the week’s losses as markets remain anxious about the prospect of more aggressive action by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation. Major indexes started the day higher and gradually lost ground until they fell sharply in late trading. The S&P 500 fell 73.69 points, or [...]
FTSE 100 close: Wall Street sell off tames London index after Powell rate warning March 8, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was tamed today by a sell off that gathered pace in Wall Street last night after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell signalled outsized interest rate rises could be back on the menu. The capital’s premier index squeezed out a 0.13 per cent gain to close at 7,929.93 points, while the domestically-focused [...]
FTSE 100 close: Powell interest rate warning drags London index into the red March 7, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was muted today as investors sweat over whether Fed chair Jerome Powell’s warning that US interest rates will stay higher for longer means other central banks will follow suit. The capital’s premier index closed 0.13 per cent lower at 7,919.49 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned [...]
Federal Reserve chair Powell warns of ‘higher than expected’ rate peak and steep hikes to stun inflation March 7, 2023 The US Federal Reserve is prepared to heap more pressure on the world’s largest economy by returning to steep interest rate hikes to contain inflation, its chief warned today. Jerome Powell, chair of the Fed, said the world’s most influential central bank is “prepared to accelerate rate hikes” if the pace of price increases in [...]
ECB expected to hike rates to a record four per cent as central bank struggles to tame inflation February 28, 2023 The European Central Bank (ECB) will hike interest rates to their highest level since the monetary authority of the group of countries using the euro was created in 1999, markets are betting. President Christine Lagarde and the rest of the governing council, Europe’s equivalent to the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, are poised to [...]
Why is the UK economy poised to tumble into a recession and fall behind Europe, US and even Russia? February 16, 2023 Britain avoided a much-tipped recession at the end of last year. Phew. “However, we are not out of the woods yet,” warned Chancellor Jeremy Hunt after last Friday’s GDP figures from the ONS revealed the economy stagnated at the end of 2022, meaning it narrowly avoided the technical recession definition of two consecutive quarters of [...]