Britain’s renters are the real victims of this inflation and interest rate crunch April 25, 2023 People doubtless would’ve gasped at headlines last week about UK interest rates being on course for five per cent. Such a path looked implausible in March when Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and Credit Suisse’s shotgun marriage to UBS sparked fears of a financial market meltdown. After those events, traders trimmed their expectations of how much more [...]
Nearly every UK business struggling to fill roles amid worker exodus April 25, 2023 Nearly every business in the UK is struggling to hire staff in a sign that the country’s slimmer workforce since the pandemic is pegging back growth, a new survey out last night indicated. Some 80 per cent of 5,000 firms surveyed by the lobby group the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said they ran into [...]
FTSE 100 close: Credit Suisse suffers £55bn outflow as BP and Shell claw back losses April 24, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 kicked off a new week in subdued style today, dragged lower by big industrial firms extending last week’s poor performance. The capital’s premier index slipped 0.02 per cent to 7,912.20 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, shed 0.22 per [...]
Bitcoin could top £80,000 by next year, Standard Chartered says April 24, 2023 Bitcoin could surge to $100,000 by the end of next year as central bankers ease interest rates and a so-called “crypto winter” thaws, according to analysts Standard Chartered.
Regulators demand LDI strategy ‘buffers’ to shore up funds following mini budget market meltdown April 24, 2023 Regulators are pressing managers of debt-fuelled liability driven investment (LDI) strategies to boost their access to quick cash and review the make up of their clients after the market was plunged into crisis by Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget last year.
UK recession wobble sends FTSE profit warnings back to Covid-19 levels April 24, 2023 The UK’s flirtation with a recession over the last year or so has prompted a wave of the country’s top companies to warn shareholders to expect profits to miss forecasts, a new report out today shows. Profit warnings among UK-listed firms climbed to 75 in the first three months of this year, the highest level [...]
Week Ahead: Aldi and Lidl tightening the screw on Sainsbury’s as retailers fight to retain price-wary customers April 23, 2023 The supermarket giant is set to report a fall in annual pre-tax profits this week, posting up to £690 million, down from £730 million last year. According to the latest Kantar survey, Sainsbury’s reported a strong 12-week sales growth of 12 per cent at the end of March, but fell short of rivals Aldi and [...]
Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy protection, begins liquidation sale April 23, 2023 Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday after the home goods retailer failed to secure funds to stay afloat, and has begun a liquidation sale. The home goods retailer, which shot to popularity in the 1990s as a go-to shopping destination for couples making wedding registries and planning for new babies, [...]
UK borrowing tipped to have jumped to £23bn in March but Hunt and Sunak are on course to hit OBR forecasts April 23, 2023 Britain is tipped to have borrowed nearly £23bn last month to help pay for capping energy bills at £2,500, according to City analysts’ consensus forecast. Fresh numbers out from the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday are expected to show the gap between what the government generates in revenue from taxes and spends on public [...]
FTSE 100 live: Flat morning in London as miners and gloomy retail sales offset consumer gains April 21, 2023 The FTSE 100 struggled to get off the mark in early trading on Friday as losses for industrial miners and gloomy retail sales data offset gains for some consumer and healthcare stocks.