British factories lift prices at record pace as Ukraine war and China lockdowns send costs soaring May 3, 2022 Severe supply chain disruption caused by Beijing persisting with its zero-Covid tolerance policy and Russia’s war with Ukraine has sent British factories’ costs soaring at the quickest pace on record, reveals a closely watched survey released today. Shortages of raw materials and key components used by UK manufacturers due to normal trade flows being choked [...]
Crypto mania, financial contagion and the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ May 3, 2022 From the gold fever of the 1840s and 1850s and the bicycle bubbles of the 1890s to the bowling manias of the1960s and the dot-com boom of the 1990s and early 2000s, our animal spirits are forever in search of greener pastures. In recent times, the financial herd has stampeded into the field of cryptocurrency. [...]
Revenue dips for cyber firm Avast following Russian exit and acquisitions May 3, 2022 Revenue was down one per cent to $234.6m (£187.3m) for cyber security firm Avast as the firm rolls out new products and makes strategic acquisitions for growth.
Poor start of the month for global markets: April weakness rolls into May with China lockdowns not helping May 3, 2022 Asia markets got off to a poor start to the month yesterday, as did markets in Europe after the latest China PMIs showed that economic activity in April fell back by more than expected. Much was made of the slowdown in China manufacturing to 47.4 from 49.5, however non-manufacturing saw an even bigger fall, plunging [...]
Exclusive: Londoners absorb heaviest national insurance hike hit May 3, 2022 Londoners have suffered the worst blow to their finances in the UK in the first month the national insurance hike has been in effect, reveals exclusive research shared with City A.M. today. Workers in the capital have absorbed a near £300m blow to their budgets from higher national insurance bills, the biggest jump in the [...]
China zero-Covid policy and Ukraine war brings Europe factory output to ‘standstill’ May 2, 2022 China’s adherence to zero-Covid tolerance policies and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought manufacturing “to a near standstill” in Europe, reveals a closely watched survey released today. Widespread shortages of raw materials used by factories on the Continent caused by Beijing plunging key trade hubs such as Shanghai into lockdown in response to a surge [...]
Natwest’s profits soar as high interest rates boost bank’s mortgage business April 29, 2022 Natwest today said its profits had almost doubled since the previous quarter, despite inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, and the war in Ukraine. The bank said it had generated £841m in profits in the first quarter of 2022, up 93.8 per cent compared to the £434m in profits Natwest posted in Q4 2021. The first quarter [...]
US economy unexpectedly shrinks in sign of coming global growth cool down April 28, 2022 A sharp pullback in businesses spending to build up stock to avoid being spiked by intense supply chain disruption has led the US economy to unexpectedly shrink in a sign that global growth will cool this year. Stateside output dropped 1.4 per cent in the first three months of the year, a huge miss from [...]
Businesses splash £5bn on London offices as overseas firms eye UK capital April 28, 2022 Businesses have splashed £5bn on office assets in London in the first few months of this year – the highest level of investment since 2018, commercial real estate services firm Avison Young has revealed. The figure is more than double the amount spent in the same quarter last year, buoyed by recent high-value deals. The [...]
Barclays kicks shareholder goodies into long grass again after $15bn trading blunder April 28, 2022 British banking giant Barclays has kicked its share buyback programme into the long grass for the second time after it booked huge costs to draw a line under an unprecedented trading blunder, it announced today. The lender last month said it had sold more than $15bn (£12bn) of financial products than it was allowed to, [...]