Coronavirus to hit UK economy harder than financial crisis March 24, 2020 Business activity crashed at a record pace in March as efforts to contain coronavirus sent the UK economy into a tailspin, preliminary survey data has shown, putting Britain on track for an extreme recession. The IHS Markit/Cips private sector purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a gauge of economic performance – plunged to a record low [...]
Global stocks set to rise sharply on Fed’s bond-buying pledge March 24, 2020 Global stocks rose overnight despite fears US President Donald Trump’s administration’s economic stimulus package faces further delays. Asian stocks surged in Tuesday trading that saw Japan’s Nikkei leap seven per cent higher and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jump 4.6 per cent. That came despite the Senate again blocking Trump’s near $2 trillion (£1.7 trillion) [...]
FTSE 100 slumps despite massive Fed intervention March 23, 2020 FTSE 100 and global stocks tumbled today despite a massive intervention by the US Federal Reserve to try and stabilise coronavirus-ravaged markets. Britain’s blue-chip stock index closed nearly 3.8 per down at 4,993 points. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed down 4.3 per cent, Germany’s Dax closed down 2.1 per cent and France’s CAC 40 ended [...]
US Federal Reserve announces unlimited bond-buying to tackle coronavirus slowdown March 23, 2020 The US Federal Reserve has pledged to buy a potentially unlimited amount of government debt and ramp up lending support to businesses in its latest massive intervention in an economy ravaged by coronavirus. “Aggressive efforts must be taken across the public and private sectors to limit the losses to jobs and incomes and to promote [...]
US stocks drop despite massive coronavirus stimulus from Federal Reserve March 23, 2020 US stocks have fallen once again despite the Federal Reserve unveiling another huge package of measures to try to boost the economy throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Wall Street’s S&P 500 was down 1.1 per cent in early trading, the Dow Jones was 1.3 per cent lower but the Nasdaq index had gained 0.2 per cent. [...]
FTSE 100 shoots back up after Bank of England slashes rates over coronavirus March 19, 2020 The UK’s FTSE 100 managed to climb this afternoon after the Bank of England announced £200bn of quantitative easing and slashed interest rates close to zero. European stocks also turned green, having been mired in the red despite the European Central Bank (ECB) announcing a €750bn (£700bn) asset purchase programme to deal with the coronavirus [...]
Coronavirus: New York Stock Exchange to shift fully to online trading from 23 March March 18, 2020 The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will temporarily close its trading floors and move fully to electronic trading from Monday, its owner Intercontinental Exchange said after an employee and a trader were tested positive for the coronavirus. They were last in the exchange building on 13 March, the company said today. The facilities to be closed [...]
How are the banks battling coronavirus? March 18, 2020 As countries ramp up efforts to control the pandemic, the economic impact of Covid-19 is having an impact on currency values by creating a significant amount of market volatility. Typically when businesses are faced with large-scale uncertainty, the pound is volatile and the current situation with Covid-19 is adding pressure to currencies, including sterling. The [...]
Coronavirus: Prime Minister pledges legislative protection for Britain’s renters March 18, 2020 The Prime Minister has said private renters will receive legislative support to protect them from evictions as a result of the coronavirus outbreak during a sober and subdued PMQs. With just a handful of MPs in the Chamber, the leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn took a less adversarial tone in his questioning, which focused [...]
Global stocks set to spiral despite coronavirus stimulus measures March 18, 2020 Global stocks looked set to slump yet again today as investor panic over the escalating coronavirus outbreak clouded the impact of major government stimulus policies. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slumped 3.5 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1.7 per cent overnight, failing to follow a rally in US stocks yesterday. Wall Street rebounded yesterday [...]