Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open August 25, 2016 Jackson Hole – the annual US economic symposium – is now underway with market watchers keenly awaiting clues on a September Fed rate hike. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US markets are not looking perky ahead in the pre-market. The S&P is off by 0.24 [...]
German and French economies enter summer slump August 25, 2016 The powerhouses of the Eurozone could be languishing in a summer slump, figures out today have hinted. Measures of business confidence in both Germany and France missed expectations this morning, denting prospects for either economy to bounce back from a growth slowdown in the run-up to the UK's EU referendum. The closely-watched Ifo survey of [...]
Latest CBI retail survey another sign of post-referendum resilience August 25, 2016 A new survey from the CBI has shown retail sales smashed expectations in August and shopkeepers expect the good news to keep on coming, in yet more evidence UK consumers are shrugging off Brexit fears and splashing the cash this summer. The number of retailers saying volumes were better this month than they were last year stood [...]
May under pressure to ditch target as net migration still above 300,000 August 25, 2016 Theresa May has come under fresh pressure to scrap her target to cut migration as the latest figures showed net migration is still running at more than three times the government's official "tens of thousands" target In the year to March 2016, net migration – the difference between the number of arrivals and departures – came in at 327,000 [...]
The Spanish economy keeps growing as investment and household spending strengthen August 25, 2016 The Spanish economy grew by a faster rate than expected in the second quarter of this year, driven by increased investment and an uptick in household spending. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.8 per cent, up 0.1 percentage points from initial estimates. This is the same rate of growth Spain has seen in each quarter over [...]
School reform’s biggest winners are the poor August 25, 2016 At the height of the last government, an online petition was launched calling for the then education secretary to resign. “Remove the elitist Michael Gove from office” it screamed. “Gove who has experienced private school education and Oxbridge is completely out of touch”. Like so much cyber activism, it was nonsense. For as today’s GCSE results [...]
Theresa May warned lower migration could trigger recession August 25, 2016 The prime minister has been warned cutting migration could push the UK into recession and trigger a prolonged economic slowdown. As new figures are set to show net migration still running at more than three times the government’s “tens of thousands” target, experts lined up to slam Theresa May’s commitment to cut the number of new [...]
Oil major debt climbs to record high as crude prices continue to wallow August 24, 2016 Some of the biggest global oil majors are being weighed down by record levels of debt. Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Chevron hold a combined net debt of $184bn (£138bn) — more than double their debt levels in 2014, according to analysis by the Wall Street Journal. The drop in the oil price [...]
Sterling on the front foot as Jackson Hole approaches August 24, 2016 Sterling picked up a gear yesterday as the timing of a US interest rate rise was under the spotlight ahead of the annual central bankers’ Jackson Hole meeting. The pound rose to $1.3226, up 0.2 per cent before the gathering in Wyoming kicks off tomorrow evening. Fed chair Janet Yellen could use her speech on [...]
EU wades in to Greek statistician row with bailout threats August 24, 2016 Never far from the headlines, the Greek debt crisis rumbles on. Now, a row in the country over data supplied by its official statistics agency Elstat could risk Athens' current bailout programme. Earlier this month Greece’s Supreme Court ruled the former head of Elstat, Andreas Georgiou, should face trial on charges of artificially inflating Greece’s deficit in 2009 to help foreign creditors secure [...]