Steaming US jobs market raises risk of another jumbo Fed rate hike August 7, 2022 The US jobs market is still steaming despite the world’s biggest economy wobbling under the weight of soaring inflation and higher interest rates, figures published last week showed. America added 528,000 jobs in July, pushing the unemployment rate down to 3.5 per cent, below pre Covid-19 levels, according to data from the US Labor Department. [...]
Week ahead: City braces for soft economy data and US inflation figures August 7, 2022 Top of City traders’ minds this week will be whether fresh GDP figures reveal the UK is already in the early stages of the drawn out recession the Bank of England forecast last week. Despite the economic doom, London’s FTSE 100 was broadly stable, edging 0.16 per cent lower to close the week at 7,439.74 [...]
Upbeat earnings fail to turn investors’ eyes from steep US technical recession July 28, 2022 A string of upbeat earnings was not today enough to cushion City investor jitters over a slowdown in the US economy. London’s premier FTSE 100 index dipped 0.04 per cent to 7,345.09 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, added 1.1 per cent [...]
US plunges into technical recession as rest of world braces for similar fate July 28, 2022 The US economy has plunged into a technical recession in a sign of things to come for the rest of the world, figures published today revealed. The American economy unexpectedly shrank 0.9 per cent in the three months to June, marking the second successive quarter the economy has contracted, meeting the common definition of a [...]
Crypto prices surge after Fed hikes interest rates July 28, 2022 Cryptocurrencies prices climbed after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points for the consecutive second month to tackle high inflation. Bitcoin jumped 7.5 per cent to trade at $22,965.5 today while Ether soared 11.14 per cent to trade at $1,624.9 after being pummelled by the crypto crash and investor uncertainty. The [...]
Powell invokes Volcker spirit with second successive 75 point hike July 27, 2022 The US Federal Reserve today doubled down on its efforts to chase down the biggest inflation shock in recent memory by hiking rates 75 basis points for the second time in a row. Chair Jerome Powell and the rest of the federal open market committee backed another big rise to cool America’s overheating jobs market [...]
London markets muted ahead of US Federal Reserve rate decision July 25, 2022 London markets were mixed today as traders brace for another potential rate bazooka from the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index edged 0.41 per cent higher to 7,306.30 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, dropped 0.11 per [...]
US Federal Reserve to back up monster rate hike with another 75 basis point move July 25, 2022 The US Federal Reserve will back up its monster rate rise last month with another big 75 basis point hike this week as it chases down scorching inflation across the pond. That’s according to Wall Street analysts, who think Fed chair Jerome Powell and the rest of the federal open market committee (FOMC) will need [...]
Slump in deal making nearly halves Goldman Sachs profits July 18, 2022 A weaker deal making environment has nearly halved Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs’s profits. Net earnings dropped to $2.8bn (£2.4bn) in the three months to June, down 48 per cent from $5.3bn (£4.5bn) in the same period last year, Goldman said today. Investment banking revenues collapsed nearly 50 per cent to $1.8bn (£1.5bn) driven [...]
Recession fears loom over FTSE 100 as IMF warns economic outlook has ‘darkened’ July 14, 2022 London markets flopped today driven by investors fretting over the global economic downturn. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index dropped 1.63 per cent to 7,039.81 points, while the mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, tumbled 1.23 per cent to 18,480.66 points. Recession fears have led [...]