Budget 2021: As it happened March 3, 2021 Live updates and links to all our coverage, reactions and analyses as the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers the government’s Budget later today – at 12.30pm. Please also visit our dedicated Budget 2021 Hub. Wrap-up of the main Budget announcements Here’s a wrap-up of the main announcements made by the chancellor in his spring Budget: [...]
Pound off to a good start ahead of this week’s Budget March 1, 2021 The pound has got off to a positive start ahead of this week’s budget as optimism over the vaccine rollout, which passed the 20m at the weekend, fostered hopes for an economic rebound that is likely to be much faster than its peers in Europe. Moreover, with the UK budget only two days away, mortgage [...]
FTSE 100 falls as bond sell-off knocks equities February 26, 2021 The FTSE 100 fell this morning as equities were hit by a global sell-off in bonds due to growing concerns about rising inflation. London’s blue chip index was down 0.5 per cent at 6,618 points, along with the FTSE 250, which also fell 0.5 per cent. Despite the fall, the FTSE 100 is still set [...]
Stamp duty holiday: Property experts split on benefits of tax break extension February 24, 2021 The government is reportedly planning to extend the stamp duty holiday to June, with buyers set to save £1.75bn on 300,000 additional transactions, according to the latest research. There are an estimated 628,000 sales in total still currently in the legal process across the country – including those agreed last year – data from Rightmove [...]
The Week Ahead: Barclays, Natwest, retail sales, public borrowing February 15, 2021 City A.M. takes a look at some of this week’s market-shaping events. Barclays – Full year results (Thursday) The past 12 months have been difficult ones for banks in general, but UK banks have underperformed relative to their peers, Hewson said, with the unknowns of what a final Brexit deal might look like also weighing [...]
Government must re-engineer the economy for a new way of working February 14, 2021 The Bank of England predicts the UK economy will recover rapidly from the Covid-19 shock, as vaccines are rolled out across the country. But might a vaccine-resistant mutation and a failure to bring workers back to offices with sufficient speed scupper such optimistic forecasts? The threats are real and worth considering. The chance of a [...]
UK firms will have borrowed more than £60bn by the end of 2021 February 8, 2021 UK firms will have borrowed more than £60bn by the end of the year, having borrowed £35.3bn in 2020, and been forecast to borrow a further £26bn this year, according to the EY Item Club. Following the UK’s third national lockdown, EY predicted that many businesses are unlikely to start making inroads into repaying their [...]
Santander records biggest loss ever as pandemic bites and profits plunge February 3, 2021 Santander recorded its first ever annual loss today, as €1.14bn restructuring costs overshadowed positive core banking results in the fourth quarter. Net profit plunged 90 per cent to €277m in the quarter versus the same period a year earlier, below the €411m average forecast from analysts polled by Reuters. The annual net loss was €8.77bn [...]
Virgin Money adds £18m fresh provisions for troubled loans February 2, 2021 Lender Virgin Money has set aside a further £18m this quarter to protect its balance sheet from potential loan losses, as it reported a “modest” increase in the number of customers needing additional support after exiting pandemic payment holidays. The new £18m this quarter is in addition to £726m the company is holding on its balance sheet [...]
This morning: Silver receives Gamestop treatment on Reddit February 1, 2021 Silver shines this morning as the metal is experiencing a rise in demand thanks to postings on Reddit, targeted in a similar fashion as Gamestop last week. What silver is going through this morning is the same rude awakening financial markets received last week when a swarm of retail investors, who were chatting with each [...]