No sex, no French fries and lots of queues: Venezuela tops the world’s misery index for 2015 March 3, 2015 Ukraine, Greece and Spain are the most depressed countries in Europe – but all the world's economies are outshadowed by the gloomy Venezuelans, which have topped the misery index for a second year running. It should perhaps come as no surprise that Venezuela's population is so unhappy – people have been taking to the streets [...]
Eurozone consumer price index falls for third month in February March 2, 2015 Consumer prices fell across the Eurozone for the third month running in February, according to a flash estimate. However, the rate inched up on the previous month. Annual consumer price inflation was -0.3 per cent, mildly better than the -0.4 per cent economists had forecast, the European Union's statistics agency said. This follows a fall [...]
Janet Yellen: Markets unmoved amid second day of testimony February 25, 2015 Markets were largely unconcerned during the second day of testimony by Federal reserve chair Janet Yellen, who is speaking before the Senate Bank Committee. The S&P 500 was trading flat today at 2114.97 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also remained flat. In Europe, the FTSE 100 closed down 0.3 per cent, while the French [...]
Tumbling prices see Greece lead Eurozone into deeper deflation February 24, 2015 Deflation deepened to its most severe rate since 2009 across the euro area in January, with Greece recording the sharpest fall in prices. Annual inflation came in at minus 0.6 per cent across the bloc, according to figures published yesterday, down from 0.2 per cent in December. The rate has been dragged down by lower [...]
Our key takeaways from Mark Carney’s speech on UK interest rates February 24, 2015 During a speech to MPs earlier today, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said an interest rate hike before the end of the year looked likely. Reading out highlights from the central bank's quarterly inflation report, he told parliament’s treasury select committee that the rise would take place despite low consumer inflation, which [...]
FTSE stripped of £2.7bn by strong sterling February 22, 2015 The FTSE 350 was hit hard by the high pound in 2014, losing in excess of £2.7bn in sales, according to new analysis. For companies on the index with full year results with year ends up to the end of September, annual revenues on a like-for-like basis were down 1.7 per cent on the same [...]
The FTSE 100 closed at its highest level in 15 years last night, and is inching further towards an all-time high February 18, 2015 Britain's benchmark index continued to snap at the heels of an all-time closing high of 6,930 this morning. which was reached on the last day of trading in 1999 when markets were busily inflating over tech stocks. This comes after the FTSE 100 closed at its highest level in 15 years yesterday, or its second best [...]
Plunging inflation may knock deficit reduction February 17, 2015 Inflation fell to a record low in January, giving a welcome boost to hard-pressed households – but a group of economists warned the drop will harm the government’s finances, because tax receipts rise when prices go up. Prices rose by just 0.3 per cent in the 12 months to January, the Office for National Statistics said [...]
FTSE up on hope that Bank will keep rates low – London Report February 17, 2015 Britain’s top share index yesterday climbed to a five-month high on expectations that the Bank of England would keep interest rates down, after data showed inflation sank to a record low in January. The annual inflation rate fell to 0.3 per cent last month from 0.5 per cent in December, official data showed, largely reflecting [...]
Record low inflation should not rule out a post-election rate rise February 17, 2015 The long-term view of UK inflation is much more positive than January’s figures suggest. Yesterday’s numbers showed that the UK inflation rate has fallen further – to 0.3 per cent. But the decline is showing signs of bottoming out – and temporary fluctuations should not distract us from this. Excluding food, drink, tobacco and energy, [...]