Chinese trade falls, but imports hold up as domestic demand looks robust June 8, 2016 Official figures out this morning have allayed concerns that the Chinese economy is heading for a bumpy landing. Trade data showed the world's second largest economy stretched its surplus – the difference between the value of exports and imports – to $50bn (£34bn) in May, up from $47bn one month earlier. Both the value of goods and services [...]
Airports and houses: Both stuck in the mud June 8, 2016 It was a Wednesday, like today, nearly a year ago – 1 July 2015. Greece was gearing up for an historic referendum that many predicted would see the debt-riddled country crash out of the Eurozone. Andy Burnham was still favourite to become Labour’s new leader. Rumours were beginning to circulate that Leicester City would appoint Italian [...]
The poor state of macroeconomics justifies scepticism with Brexit disaster forecasts June 8, 2016 David Cameron has tried to frame the Brexit debate as essentially about economics. Standing with him is the overwhelming consensus of economists themselves, from academics to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Yet their pronouncements are not having that much impact on the electorate if the polls are to be believed. There is justification for this [...]
EU referendum: Voter registration website crashes just an hour before deadline June 7, 2016 Talk about bad timing – the website to register to vote in the upcoming EU referendum went down just an hour before the deadline. Users have until 11.59pm BST to register to be able to cast their votes on 23 June. The website stopped working after an ITV show saw Prime Minister David Cameron and UKIP [...]
CBI urges firms to let employees work flexibly on EU referendum day June 7, 2016 The CBI is urging 190,000 companies to let its employees work from home on 23 June in order to enable them to vote in the EU referendum. Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI director-general, said that the referendum will be the "biggest decision that most of us will get to vote on in our lifetimes". She said: “The decision on whether [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open June 7, 2016 Markets are still cheering Yellen all but taking the June interest rate hike off the table and the Associated Press has called the US Democratic presidential nomination for Hillary Clinton ahead of today's primaries across the country. Here's what you need to know before the market open at 14:30 London time. Markets are still riding the wave [...]
Sterling jumps back and Remain odds cut on latest EU referendum poll June 7, 2016 A strong poll for the Remain side has sent the pound surging today in the latest swings in the currency markets. After yesterday's dramatic fall, the pound has climbed by more than one per cent against the US dollar to stand at $1.4592 this lunchtime. The shift came after a new poll by ORB found the Remain side [...]
Eurozone GDP growth confirmed at 0.6 per cent – faster than US and UK June 7, 2016 The Eurozone grew a little faster than expected in the first quarter of this year, the most recent back-and-forth revisions to official GDP statistics have revealed. Figures published by Eurostat this morning confirmed that the Eurozone economy grew by 0.6 per cent during the first three months of the year, up from the most recent estimation of [...]
EU referendum: Where does your industry come on the Brexit hit list? June 7, 2016 Had enough of people talking about vague referendum uncertainty and a post-Brexit hit to the UK economy? Suspicious they don't really know what they're going on about? With so many warnings about thousands of pounds lost here, higher costs over there and general panic just about everywhere, it's understandable. In an attempt to get a [...]
Halifax says house prices could be reaching unsustainable levels as property prices soar despite EU referendum June 7, 2016 There were no surprises in the latest numbers on house prices, released this morning – they are still going up. The average house was worth £213,472 in the three months to May, according to the Halifax house price index, 9.2 per cent more than the same period last year. The bank said the same old story [...]
