1 Minute Market Rundown – 21st March 2022 March 21, 2022 Russia – UkraineRisk bouncesCrypto finds support We find it rather telling that on Friday, a day you would have expected risk to be sold as the market headed into the weekend, saw stocks and crypto push higher. Now there could be a number of reasons for this. 1) the market is becoming accustomed to the [...]
Letters: Weaning off Covid-19 cash March 21, 2022 [Re: Small business lending tumbles amid strong economic rebound, March 14] UK Finance data shows strong economic recovery from the pandemic led to borrowing among small businesses falling off a cliff last year. However, we observed a 58 per cent year-on-year increase in SMEs seeking finance in January 2022, demonstrating a rebound in activity and [...]
Hospitality chiefs call on Sunak to reverse VAT hike or leave London businesses ‘unviable overnight’ March 20, 2022 Hospitality heads have said the government’s plans to increase VAT from current rates of 12.5 per cent to highs of 20 per cent at the start of next month will see some London businesses “become unviable overnight.” Industry chiefs warned that Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s plans to hike consumer taxes on food, soft drinks, accommodation, and [...]
Saturday Sitdown: Soho Housing’s chief on why ‘we need to rethink the way we use central London’ March 19, 2022 Insurance giant Admiral recently warned that nearly nine out of ten Londoners can no longer afford the average cost of rent in the capital. The demand for rooms to rent is much higher than the available supply, thereby leading to such increases that most Londoners cannot keep up with, the company cited as the main [...]
1 Minute Market Rundown – 18th March 2022 March 18, 2022 Russia – UkraineRisk bouncesCrypto finds supportDovish hike by the Old Lady Risk continued to hold in well yesterday as equity and crypto markets held on to gains posted recently. Overnight we have seen the equity rally stall as the surge in Chinese tech stocks fizzled out and oil moved back above $100 a barrel. We [...]
Revenue sinks at JD Wetherspoon as boss says cost pressures ‘mitigated to an extent’ March 18, 2022 Revenue at pub chain JD Wetherspoon has taken a hit to the tune of 13.5 per cent as the firm warns of rising costs across its business. The company reported revenue of £807.4m, for the 26 weeks ended 23 January 2022, versus £933m in 2020. However, chairman Tim Martin said pressure on input costs from [...]
P&O lays off 800 people following £100m loss March 17, 2022 Ferry operator P&O Ferries confirmed today it is laying off 800 members of staff after the pandemic caused the company to post a £100m loss year-on-year. “Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now,” said a company spokesperson. “Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries. Staff will receive compensation [...]
Expect four more BoE rate hikes this year, economists warn March 17, 2022 Better than expected economic growth and a tightening jobs market will coax the Bank of England into lifting rates four more times this year. That’s according to some analysts’ read of the Bank’s decision to hike rates for the third successive meeting today, sending borrowing costs 25 basis points higher to pre-pandemic levels of 0.75 [...]
1 Minute Market Rundown – 17th March 2022 March 17, 2022 Russia – UkraineRisk sentiment improvesFed delivers So there were two big talking points yesterday. Firstly, Chinese authorities decided enough was enough and stepped in to prop up domestic equity markets. They pledged to keep capital markets stable, support oversea stock listings and confirming that regulation of big tech will end soon. Unsurprisingly, Asian stocks saw [...]
‘Financial institutions are losing patience’ with Hong Kong, admits Lam March 17, 2022 Hong Kong’s leader has admitted today that the city’s controversial ‘Zero-Covid’ restrictions are blocking out businesses and wearing down its residents. Carrie Lam has since been forced to reconsider the financial hub’s tough Covid-19 restrictions, while case numbers remain high – but are thought to have peaked. “The time has come” to review the measures, [...]