Appointment times and NHS discounts: How retailers plan to lure shoppers back after lockdown May 23, 2020 After more than two months of enforced closure during the UK coronavirus lockdown, retailers across England are preparing to potentially reopen to shoppers from 1 June. The high street will look different when retailers are allowed to open their doors. Social distancing signage will be in place, shop assistants will wear masks and a number [...]
UK retail sales crash a record 18.1 per cent in April lockdown May 22, 2020 UK retail sales plunged by a record 18.1 per cent during April’s lockdown, data showed today, with clothing sales halving compared to March. Sales of clothes crashed 50.2 per cent compared to March, while retail sales fell almost four times as badly as March’s 5.2 per cent fall, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data found. [...]
UK inflation: What are people buying during coronavirus lockdown? May 20, 2020 There was further confirmation of the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis this morning when new figures revealed a slump in inflation. The UK inflation rate tumbled to just 0.8 per cent in April, down from 1.5 per cent the previous month and marking the lowest level since August 2016, according to the Office for [...]
Eurozone inflation hits four-year low as coronavirus batters demand May 20, 2020 The Eurozone inflation rate plunged to 0.3 per cent in April, official figures have shown, as coronavirus lockdowns caused energy prices to tumble and demand for goods and services to evaporate. Annual Eurozone price inflation of 0.3 per cent was the lowest in four years. It was down from 0.7 per cent in March and [...]
FTSE 100 breaks 6,000 barrier as vaccine hopes and Fed pledge boost markets May 18, 2020 The FTSE 100 broke through the 6,000-point milestone in a positive start to the week’s trading today, buoyed by hopes of a vaccine and more Federal Reserve stimulus. Easing lockdowns and lower infection rates in Europe infection hotspots Italy, the UK and Spain also boosted London’s blue-chip index. The FTSE 100 closed 4.5 per cent [...]
UK economy receives fresh warnings before Rishi Sunak addresses MPs May 18, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to address MPs today following new dire predictions of the impact of coronavirus on the UK economy. Sunak is set to face questions over how the UK will pay for huge public borrowing currently propping up the economy. The Treasury boss extended his job retention scheme to October last week, [...]
Message in a Block: “NYTimes 09/Apr/2020 With $2.3T Injection, Fed’s Plan Far Exceeds 2008 Rescue” May 12, 2020 Price Watch Last week saw Bitcoin (BTC) surge to the US$10,000 mark before crashing 15% stabilising at a similar level to my last edition of City AM’s Crypto Insider and, at the time of writing, was trading up at US$8,907.44 / GB£7,241.09; Ethereum (ETH) is at US$188.68 / GB£153.22; Ripple (XRP) is at US$0.1962 / [...]
Economies in free fall as hopes fade for a V-shaped recovery April 28, 2020 Amongst the arguments about a lack of protective clothing for health workers and whether governments were too slow to react to the spread of Covid-19, the latest figures show that the pandemic is gradually coming under control. The rate of growth in new infections and fatalities around the world is slowing and the curves are [...]
Crypto firms move to stop bad actors as Bitcoin price predictions go wild April 28, 2020 Last week the price of Bitcoin (BTC) moved from $6,800 to close in on the $7,000 mark. Successfully breaching the $7,000 level, the cryptocurrency’s price jumped to over $7,500, and has continued its momentum to trade at the time of writing at $7,700. Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has moved up from [...]
UK retail sales ‘obliterated’ in record fall over coronavirus April 24, 2020 UK retail sales plunged by their biggest fall on record in March, official data showed today as retailers counted the cost of the coronavirus lockdown. While food sales surged, overall UK retail sales plummeted 5.1 per cent last month compared to February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). That was much bigger than [...]