Bank of England will have to keep hiking rates to stop inflation hanging around, MPC’s Mann warns February 6, 2023 The Bank of England will have to hike interest rates again to stop the UK from being hit by a much stronger inflation surge than expected, one of its top rate setters has said today. Catherine Mann, an external member of the monetary policy committee (MPC) who has consistently backed steeper rate increases compared to [...]
FTSE 100 live: London index pulls away from record high as US dollar strengthens on Fed rate hike bets February 6, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 climbed down from its record high to kick off the week today, dragged lower by big British retailers taking a tumble. The capital’s premier index dropped 0.87 per cent to 7,833.20 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, edged 0.10 [...]
China Covid-19 case surge and Brexit disruption worry UK firms most, survey finds February 6, 2023 A surge in Covid-19 cases in China gumming up supply chains threatens to snag the UK economy, a survey out today reveals. Trade flows hobbled by workers in China being too sick to work after contracting the virus or Beijing reimposing lockdowns in response to a rise in cases ranks as the top concern among [...]
City jobs surge in year after Brexit as Barclays, JP Morgan and Revolut accelerate recruitment February 6, 2023 Finance firms ramped up efforts to hire workers in the year after Brexit, with big banks Barclays and JP Morgan and fintech Revolut leading the charge, according to exclusive figures shared with City PM London banks, accountants and fintechs led the recruitment charge in 2022, offering more one in two of every vacancy in England [...]
Bank of England not poised to slash interest rates until middle of next year despite inflation cooling February 5, 2023 A year of interest rate pain is still in store for households, businesses and mortgagors even after Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and his team of economists have already lifted borrowing costs 10 times in a row. That is according to several top City economists, who do not expect interest rate cuts until early [...]
Week ahead: UK economy to narrowly avoid recession but GDP still expected to shrink February 5, 2023 The UK economy narrowly avoided a recession at the end of last year, new official figures out this week are expected to reveal. City traders think new GDP numbers from the Office for National Statistics on Friday will show the economy contracted 0.3 per cent in December, meaning the UK will have just about skirted [...]
Liz Truss breaks silence to blame media and ‘leftward’ shift for £45bn mini budget failure February 5, 2023 Liz Truss has broken her silence for the first time since being booted out from Number 10 to hit back at critics of her tax cutting, pro-growth economic agenda. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph today, Truss, 47, said she was never given a “realistic chance” to implement sweeping tax cuts designed to unshackle businesses and [...]
FTSE close: Blue chip index sets a new record high as recession and inflation fears ease February 3, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 Index ended the week on a high having reached its highest ever score, beating the previous record of 7,903.5 set in May 2018. On Friday, the index had briefly pushed as high as 7,906.58 as global inflation and interest rate fears continued to ease. The index of the UK’s largest publicly-listed firms [...]
The UK’s biggest mining and energy businesses may need to wean themselves off China February 3, 2023 In this guest opinion piece, Daniel Dalton, former Conservative MEP and former CEO, British Chamber of Commerce to the EU, writes that Britain’s firms need to deal with China with their eyes wide open Encouraged by successive governments, British companies have spent many years courting China, its resources and its huge, increasingly affluent population. British [...]
FTSE 100 close: Markets shrug off rate hike as JD Sports and BT lift index February 2, 2023 The FTSE 100 closed higher on Thursday, boosted by a strong performance from BT and JD Sports, as investors digested the latest interest rate decision from the Bank of England later today. Governor Andrew Bailey increased interest rates by 50bps to a post-financial crisis high of four per cent earlier today. Investors think the Bank [...]
