French finance minister is aiming for full employment in 10 years August 20, 2013 French finance minister Pierre Moscovici says that he's now aiming for France to hit full employment in 10 years, and that France is leading Europe out of the recession. French GDP rose unexpectedly in the second quarter of 2013 but to say that the country is leading Europe is still a very strong claim. The [...]
Before the open – 20/08 August 20, 2013 The UK's leading FTSE index is expected to open lower this morning as US equities see their first four day losing streak of 2013. The losses saw Asian markets down overnight with the Nikkei closing down 2.63 per cent. ETX Capital #morningcall: FTSE100 down 33 points, the DAX lower by 37 points and the CAC40 [...]
Glencore Xstrata drags on FTSE as merger costs exceed expectations August 20, 2013 Newly formed megaminer Glencore Xstrata has announced a $7.6bn (£4.9bn) post-merger writedown (release). That number is at the top of the consensus range. The firm said that the May merger meant that "little synergy benefits" have been recognised in the first half of the year, but these are "now flowing strongly". Mike van Dulken, Head [...]
Persimmon profits up as Help to Buy boosts mortgage market August 20, 2013 Housebuiler Persimmon has seen pre tax profits up from £96.5m to £132.9m in the six months to June from the same period last year (release). The firm said that Help to Buy had boosted mortgage approvals "providing the necessary medium term support to demand in the UK housing market". Our economics reporter Michael Bird: There [...]
Osborne and Balls both want to have their monetary cake and eat it August 7, 2013 Osborne and Balls have weighed in on the introduction of forward guidance by the Bank of England, and both now seek to ask for what they can't have. Chancellor George Osborne: "I also clarified that the Committee may judge it appropriate to deploy explicit forward guidance including intermediate thresholds in order to influence expectations and [...]
Bank of England remains reluctant to end monetary policy by committee August 7, 2013 Mark Carney hasn't been in the job that long, and it's all change at the Old Lady. We've now got an unemployment yardstick of 7 per cent and an effective inflation upper limit of 2.5 per cent. But this doesn't kick in properly until 2015. Inflation is already at 2.9 per cent, with unemployment up [...]
Bank governor Carney says we’re not at escape velocity August 7, 2013 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said that the UK is not yet at "escape velocity" but is approaching average after weak performance. Carney said that he was not expecting a material increase in borrowing as the UK recovers, and that prolonged periods of low rates pose stability risks. To give some perspective to [...]
Government borrowing costs up and pound down as Bank introduces forward guidance August 7, 2013 (Source: Tradeweb) We've seen some immediate reaction in bond markets as the Bank of England has announced some forward guidance. Government borrowing costs jumped from 2.436 per cent to 2.491 per cent. The pound dropped sharply against the dollar on the news.
Bank of England rates unlikely to increase until second half of 2016 August 7, 2013 The Bank of England has introduced a US Fed style unemployment threshold, of seven per cent. Some analysts had anticipated this. UK unemployment was at 7.8 per cent in the three months to May. So we'd need about 750,000 more jobs to be created. In particular, the MPC intends not to raise Bank Rate from [...]
Inflation report look ahead: What the analysts are expecting from Carney August 7, 2013 All eyes on the Bank of England at 10.30 this morning, as the Inflation Report is unveiled. Several analysts are predicting that the central bank could adopt a Fed-style unemployment target. UK unemployment was at 7.8 per cent in the three months to May. Emily Nicol, Daiwa Capital Markets: The main policy event today will [...]
