Sterling falls further after the UK trade balance widens to £4.2bn in November with fast growing imports January 11, 2017 The pound fell sharply on reports the UK’s deficit on trade grew more than was expected in November with imports increasing at a faster rate than exports – despite sterling weakness. The UK’s balance of trade showed a deficit of £4.2bn in November, as imports defied weaker sterling to increase at a faster rate than [...]
UK manufacturing rose in November as the construction sector faced a slowdown January 11, 2017 The UK economy is showing signs of mixed form, as production output increased in November, although construction output showed a small decline month on month. Production was estimated to have increased by 2.1 per cent compared with October, with oil and gas capacity coming back on track after a maintenance period and a strong showing [...]
Turkey stuffing: The lira continues to plummet against the dollar on disappointing trade data January 11, 2017 Turkey’s lira has fallen to fresh record lows as the currency continues its precipitous decline over the course of the last year. The lira hit lows of 3.8951 lira to the dollar on Tuesday amid more signs of weakness in the Turkish economy. The dollar had strengthened 1.71 per cent against the lira at the [...]
Taylor Wimpey lays strong foundation ahead of bumpy year with earnings at the upper end of expectations January 11, 2017 Taylor Wimpey says it expects full-year profits at the “upper end of market consensus”, as the housebuilder remains confident of its ability to continue dividend payments – although its order book for 2017 weakened from last year. The figures Earnings are expected at the top end of the £706.4m to £755m range Taylor Wimpey has [...]
Sainsbury’s reports £1bn group sales over Christmas week as sales edge up January 11, 2017 Sainsbury’s enjoyed a record Christmas week with over £1bn in sales across the group, with quarterly sales managing to edge up after analysts expected further contraction. The figures Like-for-like retail sales excluding fuel grew by 0.1 per cent over the third quarter of its trading year, and total retail sales grew by 0.8 per cent [...]
UK consumer spending is set to fall as inflation hits growth this year says Cebr January 11, 2017 Surging inflation is set to dent real wages and resilient consumer spending, according to an influential think tank. Inflation will almost quadruple to 2.7 per cent over the course of 2017, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). The UK’s economic growth will stutter in 2017 as the effects of the consequent [...]
Brexit uncertainty could drag on Europe’s economy says the World Bank as it forecasts a big slowdown in the UK economy January 10, 2017 Brexit uncertainty could drag down growth prospects across Europe according to the World Bank, as it forecasts a sharp slowdown in UK growth this year. UK GDP growth is predicted to fall from two per cent last year to 1.2 per cent in 2017, the World Bank’s twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report has found. In [...]
Global sovereign default risk to increase as credit rating downgrades to outnumber upgrades in 2017 says S&P January 10, 2017 The risk of governments around the world defaulting on their debt is set to increase over the course of 2017 – although Europe’s sovereigns are expected to improve for the first time since the financial crisis, according to an influential ratings agency. Negative outlooks outnumber positive outlooks on sovereign credit ratings, which aim to measure [...]
The FTSE reaches another record high as sterling continues to slide after Theresa May’s single market comments January 10, 2017 The FTSE reached yet another record high this morning as sterling continued to fall, as comments by the Prime Minister over the weekend indicating that remaining within the single market will not be a priority during Brexit negotiations continued to take their toll. The FTSE 100 rose to a peak of 7,261.16 at the start of trading, [...]
Majestic Wine feels the festive cheer as Christmas trading grows to record high January 10, 2017 A small downward revision in profit expectations was not enough to dampen the festive cheer for Majestic Wine, as the alcohol retailer announced sales during the vital Christmas period up year on year. Shares jumped by more than five per cent on Tuesday morning before paring to just below a three per cent gain at [...]
