PMI: Eurozone business activity soars to 15-year high August 4, 2021 The rapid rollout of Covid vaccines across Europe is fuelling consumer spending, helping to propel business activity in the Eurozone to a 15-year high, according to a closely watched survey released today. IHS Markit’s latest Eurozone purchasing managers’ composite output index rose to 60.2 in July, driven by an acceleration in manufacturing growth and strong [...]
Oil prices plummet on surging Covid cases August 3, 2021 Oil prices plummeted on Tuesday as the resurgence in Covid cases globally driven by the Delta variant fuelled concerns that restrictions on economic activity may be reimposed. Global benchmarks WTI and Brent Crude slid 1.39 per cent and 1.12 per cent to hit $70.41 and $72.22 respectively – WTI briefly dipped below $70. Prices have [...]
Bank of England’s MPC meeting: Who will take Haldane’s hawkish reins? August 3, 2021 A big hole has been left at the table of the latest round of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee meetings – they are the first since chief economist Andy Haldane departed the Old Lady after over 30 years of service. Much of the focus on Thursday’s MPC policy announcements will be on whether [...]
Mitigating litigation risk: The impact of corporate social performance factors August 3, 2021 | City Talk Much has been written on the merits of ESG investing strategies and their ability to deliver comparable, if not superior, performance to traditional benchmarks. A majority of institutional investors are motivated to employ ESG investing strategies because they believe ESG will improve risk adjusted returns1, yet the circumstances in which ESG leads to better outcomes [...]
Countryside creep: London homeowners flee capital at record rate August 2, 2021 London homeowners are fleeing the capital at record levels as city slickers pursue newfound housing needs triggered by the Covid crisis, according to new figures released today. Research by estate agent Hamptons shows 61,830 Londoners purchased homes outside the capital in the first six months of this year, the highest number since they started recording [...]
UK jobs market recovery accelerates on better than expected consumer spending August 2, 2021 The UK jobs market recovery is accelerating as a stronger than expected rebound in consumer spending is encouraging firms to take on staff, according to new figures released today. Research published by Lloyds Bank shows the proportion of UK businesses expecting to ramp up hiring rose to 18 per cent, a sixth consecutive monthly increase [...]
Sunday Read: Bank of England’s QE programme has muddied the water between right and wrong August 1, 2021 “The problem with QE is it works in practice but it doesn’t work in theory,” an often quoted joke said by former Fed chair Ben Bernanke. But, some are testing that hypothesis. The backdrop to Thursday’s Bank of England meeting is much more unforgiving than previous ones. A House of Lords committee recently accused the [...]
Eurozone economic growth outstrips forecasts July 30, 2021 The Eurozone economy is recovering much faster from the Covid crisis than experts’ forecasts as the vaccine rollout and the reopening of the services industry boosts consumer spending, shows new figures published today. The Eurozone economy grew two per cent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, according [...]
Budget delay hinted at as Rishi Sunak fails to name day July 30, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has sparked speculation of delays to the budget, after failing to announce a date when publishing new forecasts, as is normally expected. Sunak said he had instructed the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to prepare to present an economic and fiscal forecast to parliament on October 27, according to reports. The forecast [...]
US economic growth falls short of expectations July 29, 2021 The US economy is rebounding sharply from the damage inflicted on it by the Covid crisis, but output growth is falling well below analysts’ expectations, new figures released today reveal. The Commerce Department estimated the US economy grew at an annualised rate of 6.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year, driven by [...]