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 [...]
US inflation eases for seventh straight month but pace of decline loses momentum in headache for Fed February 14, 2023 US inflation eased for the seventh month in a row in January, but the pace of decline is beginning to level off, official figures out today reveal. The pace of price increases in the world’s largest economy on an annual basis fell to 6.4 per cent, down from 6.5 per cent, according to the US [...]
FTSE 100 live: London index pulls away from record high as US dollar strengthens on Fed rate hike bets February 6, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 climbed down from its record high to kick off the week today, dragged lower by big British retailers taking a tumble. The capital’s premier index dropped 0.87 per cent to 7,833.20 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, edged 0.10 [...]
Over 500,000 US jobs created in January but what does ‘awe upside surprise’ mean for Fed’s rate hike cycle? February 3, 2023 More than half-a-million new jobs were created in the US this month, leading to renewed fears the Federal Reserve could hike up interest rates when it meets next month. Statistics from the US Department of Labor howed jobs rose by 517,000 in January, while the unemployment rate changed marginally, at 3.4 percent. This week the [...]
Federal Reserve hikes rates 25 basis points in sign Powell is nearing end of inflation fight February 1, 2023 The US Federal Reserve has climbed down to the lowest interest rate hike in nearly a year in a sign the world’s most influential central bank is nearing the end of its aggressive campaign to tame a historic inflation surge. Fed chair Jerome Powell and the rest of the federal open market committee (FOMC) backed [...]
FTSE 100 close: London index runs out of steam ahead of expected Fed interest rate hike February 1, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 edged higher this morning, before running out of steam later in the day ahead of the US Federal Reserve launching a big week for central banks with an expected 25 basis point interest rate hike. The capital’s premier index eventually fell 0.17 per cent to 7,758.21 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE [...]