When words matter more than numbers at the Bank of England May 5, 2025 City analysts have pencilled in their predictions for Thursday. Here’s how almost all of them likely read. Interest rates will be cut to 4.25 per cent, the Bank of England’s inflation forecast for this year will exceed its two per cent target and President Trump’s tariffs will be highlighted as a detriment to UK growth. [...]
US manufacturing sees job losses despite Trump’s hopes of a revival May 2, 2025 US manufacturing suffered 1,000 job losses in April in a blow to President Trump’s hopes to drive up employment in the sector. Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs set out to cut the country’s goods deficit as he looked to protectionist measures to revive the country’s stuttering manufacturing sector. But new data showed no immediate improvement to [...]
Apple shares fall on cloud miss despite US chip pivot May 2, 2025 Apple posted better-than-expected earnings late Thursday, as iPhone sales held up strongly in the face of growing consumer anxiety over incoming US tariffs. But shares slipped nearly 3 per cent in after-hours trading, as a muted performance from its services unit and continued delays in its AI rollout tempered investor optimism. The California-based tech behemoth [...]
Investment funds in April: Energy plummets while property soars May 1, 2025 Energy funds suffered deeply during April as an expected slowdown in global growth caused oil prices to tank throughout the month. Five energy funds featured in the bottom 10 performing investment funds, alongside two resource funds, with Guinness Global Energy as the worst performer, falling 13.5 per cent. “With the price of a barrel of [...]
Meta surges on bold AI spend – but tariff risks loom May 1, 2025 Meta platforms delivered strong first quarter earnings after market close on Wednesday, with revenue and profit surpassing Wall Street expectations thanks to continued growth in advertising and an aggressive push into AI. But the firm’s exposure to global trade tensions and regulatory headwinds in its European market present a complicated picture for investors evaluating the [...]
Trump points finger at Biden as US stocks sink amid recession fears April 30, 2025 Donald Trump has lashed out at Joe Biden, insisting that his presidential predecessor was to blame after the US economy suffered its worst-performing quarter in three years. A slew of disappointing economic data sent US stocks sharply south on Wednesday as the clearest signs yet of the damage wreaked by the White House tariff agenda [...]
Little respite for carmakers despite Trump’s tariff rowback April 30, 2025 Donald Trump’s rowback on tariffs provides little respite for a global car industry already struggling to cope. Following intense lobbying from manufacturers, the mercurial US president on Tuesday introduced a set of relief measures for carmakers which enable them to pay less in import taxes for foreign parts. While the move will be welcomed by [...]
FTSE 100 continues longest winning streak since 2017 April 30, 2025 The FTSE 100 is on track for another strong day after 12 days of positive performance, marking its best winning streak since 2017 amid a calming of investor nerves over an erratic US tariff policy. London’s main index has had a positive performance every day since 10 April, and is currently up 0.12 per cent [...]
Melrose ‘confident’ in profit growth despite tariff hit April 30, 2025 Melrose said it has charted a course to “successfully mitigate” its direct exposure to US tariffs and was confident in delivering profit growth in 2025. The owner of GKN Aerospace said on Wednesday it had explored a number of measures to reduce the impact on segments of the group unable to make use of any [...]
EY: Two years of slow UK growth means ‘increased chances’ of tax rises April 28, 2025 Rachel Reeves may have to resort to reversing Labour manifesto tax pledges as UK growth fails to exceed one per cent for two years running, EY ITEM Club have said, in the latest blow to the chancellor’s fiscal plans The Chancellor has been warned by several forecasters that President Trump’s tariffs will hammer the UK [...]