Lidl joins Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Primark to shut shops for Queen’s funeral September 12, 2022 Top supermarkets and retailers including Lidl, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s are set to shut their UK stores on the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. Major retailers B&Q and Primark will also close shops for the bank holiday to mark the Queen’s state-funeral next Monday. Some supermarkets are also working on plans to cut some of [...]
London’s FTSE 100 bounces despite GDP undershoot September 12, 2022 London’s FTSE 100 bounced today despite new figures revealing the UK economy is much weaker than expected. The capital’s premier index climbed 1.66 per cent to 7,473.03 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, surged 1.7 per cent to 19,513.87 points. Traders shook [...]
UK economy already in throes of drawn out recession, City warns after GDP disappoints September 12, 2022 The UK economy is already in recession and Liz Truss’s energy support package is unlikely to lift it out of its slump anytime soon, City economists warned today. Weaker than expected growth figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today prompted experts to sound the recession alarm. Gross domestic product (GDP) climbed 0.2 per [...]
Energy bills is Kwarteng’s first priority, then we must claw back our dismal productivity September 12, 2022 A looming 15-month long recession. Highest debt burden since the 1960s. Biggest living standards shock on record. It’s not the best time to be managing the UK economy. But that’s exactly what newly appointed chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has been tasked with. His problems can be split into three categories: short, medium and long term. Kwarteng’s [...]
London’s economy powers through August in ‘growth mode’ as UK stalls September 12, 2022 London’s economy powered through August in “growth mode” despite the UK stalling, a new survey published today reveals. High street bank NatWest’s London purchasing managers’ index (PMI) remained in positive territory in August at 54.9. However, the PMI dropped sharply from 58 in July and was the weakest reading in nearly a year and a [...]
Meet the duo explaining the ‘dismal science’ 10 points at a time September 12, 2022 People think economics is boring. It’s all about finance. It’s all about money, they say. It’s tough to argue with them given the subject’s nicknamed the “dismal science”. But, two secondary school teachers are on a mission to change people’s minds about that. Peter Clift (Pete) and Gavin Simpson (Gav) and are the hosts of [...]
Bank of England to send rates to four per cent after Truss energy package September 11, 2022 The Bank of England could be forced to hike interest rates to their highest level since October 2008 to offset Liz Truss’s around £150bn energy support stoking inflation, City economists have warned. Sanjay Raja, senior economist at Deutsche Bank, said borrowing costs may be hoisted to restrictive territory to tame price pressures, possibly reaching a [...]
City eyes economic data dump for clues on BoE rate hike path September 11, 2022 City traders will be looking for clues shedding light on how far the Bank of England will need to hike interest rates in this week’s economic data dump. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index posted a decent performance last week, adding nearly one per cent to close at 7,351.07 points. Its mid-cap domestically-focused counterpart, the [...]
Day of Queen’s funeral declared a bank holiday September 10, 2022 The day of the Queens funeral has been declared a bank holiday, by soon-to-be king Charles III. Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-reigning monarch, died peacefully aged 96 at Balmoral Castle on Thursday afternoon. The Queen will be given a state funeral, the first in the UK for more than half a century. Under leaked [...]
Market wrap: London stays open and sees shares and pound rise September 9, 2022 Markets in London traded as usual on Friday, and saw shares and the pound trade higher. The London Stock Exchange confirmed that it planned to maintain normal opening hours after the death of the Queen, but would close during any public holidays. The FTSE 100 joined an international rally, which saw global markets break out [...]