Shoppers hit by soaring petrol price February 24, 2011 RETAIL sales growth slowed substantially this month, with consumers increasingly squeezed by surging petrol prices, weak wage growth and spiralling price inflation. Elevated oil prices, driven up in recent weeks by the crisis in the Middle East and surging Chinese demand, are set to drive petrol close to £1.40 a litre, some observers said. The [...]
High food prices to continue February 24, 2011 The US government yesterday warned that the world is to face extremely high food prices for a prolonged period despite efforts to reduce levels by planting more crops. It could take take several years to restore stocks of wheat, corn and soyabeans to comfortable levels, the US Department of Agriculture said, and until then farm-gate [...]
Euro holds strong as ECB weighs up inflation risks February 22, 2011 THE euro held up against the dollar yesterday, as chaos in Libya was offset by hawkish rhetoric from a senior European Central Bank official. Having dropped as much as one per cent against the dollar as the Libyan crisis escalated, the euro recovered to test $1.37 (£0.85) following the comments by ECB policymaker Yves Mersch. [...]
Food inflation fears grow in UK February 22, 2011 Over nine out of ten shoppers expect further food price inflation in the next 12 months, grocery research firm IGD said yesterday. Price pressure are increasingly feared by consumers, its survey showed. A third of respondents believe food will become “much more expensive” in the next year. Last October, just 19 per cent feared “much [...]
Why I don’t believe rates should be going up February 20, 2011 The Bank of England releases its latest minutes this week and so the great rate debate continues. Will anybody have joined Andrew Sentance and Martin Weale in voting to hike? Many argue raising domestic rates can’t curb imported inflation but Sentance points out it might strengthen sterling, which would help. In practice, every currency analyst [...]
S&P 500 is on a great rolling boil February 20, 2011 BRING up to a rolling boil then leave for…. How long exactly? That is precisely the question that spread betters everywhere are asking about the S&P 500. It’s been climbing for two years now, smashing through glass ceilings like a highly caffeinated new-age woman. But – realistically – how long can the rally last? The [...]
Core price pressures grow for US February 17, 2011 AMERICA’S recovery was boosted yesterday, with several data releases boding well for the world’s largest economy. However, the Federal Reserve faces more criticism after core inflation rose at its highest rate for over a year. Consumer price inflation for January came in higher than expected, at 0.4 per cent month-on-month. Core prices – excluding food [...]
US inflation in higher-than-expected rise February 17, 2011 US core consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in more than a year in January, indicating a long period of slowing inflation had run its course. The US Labor Department said its core Consumer Price Index, which excludes food and energy costs, increased 0.2 per cent – the largest gain since October 2009. The [...]
US input costs rising but housebuilding up February 16, 2011 US core producer prices rose to their highest rate in more than two years in January, hinting at a potentially troubling build-up in inflationary pressures. A separate dataset from the Commerce Department showed new housing starts jumped 14.6 per cent in January from December to their highest level since September, beating economists’ forecasts but still [...]
King warns over further inflation rises February 16, 2011 The Governor of Bank of England, Mervyn King, warned that inflation will rise sharply in the first half of this year before falling back next year. But he said there were “large risks” that inflation could dip under or go over the Bank’s two per cent target. He said that factors over which the UK [...]