HSBC, Natwest and Barclays shares plunge as FTSE 100 downturn deepens April 4, 2025 The FTSE 100’s ‘Big Five’ banks were back in the red on Friday as tariff woes intensified. Shares in Natwest and Barclays slumped nearly ten per cent after China announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, making them the index’s top fallers. HSBC lost over eight per cent. Lloyds and Standard Chartered were not far behind [...]
Construction output drops again despite Rayner’s planning reforms April 4, 2025 Construction activity has suffered a further decline and confidence is low despite minister Angela Rayner’s planning reforms getting a thumbs up from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Rayner’s Ministry of Housing is introducing broad changes to planning rules as it hopes to deliver the UK’s construction sector an extra boost. Its planning reforms have [...]
Reeves’ £25bn tax grab to become ‘toxic reality’ for British business, firms suggest April 4, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £25bn tax grab from employers will become a “toxic reality” for British businesses from Sunday as higher costs risk stunting firms’ income, one of the UK’s largest industry bodies has warned. Reeves’ has pinned her hopes for improving the state of public finances on growing the UK economy but more firms have [...]
How will Trump’s tariffs impact the UK economy? April 3, 2025 The US president holds up a sandwich board in the Rose Garden. On it is a list of countries. Next to each country are two columns: one for “tariffs charged to the USA” and one for “USA Discounted Reciprocal Tariffs”. The leader of the free world is cooking up a storm. “Our country has been [...]
Fear over Labour plans to allow firms to extract cash from pension schemes April 3, 2025 The vast majority of pension scheme members are “afraid” of government plans that would allow firms to take cash from defined benefit (DB) schemes for investment. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves signalled earlier this year that “trapped surplus funds” in DB pension schemes would be unleashed for firms to invest. But a [...]
S&P 500 and Dow Jones plunge as banks drive FTSE 100 slump April 3, 2025 The S&P 500 and Dow Jones joined the FTSE 100 in the red as US markets opened following Trump’s tariff onslaught. The S&P plummeted over three per cent in early trading, whilst the Dow slid nearly three per cent marking a loss of 1,200 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Exchange, which includes Tesla and Apple, slumped [...]
UK to consult on ‘retaliatory tariffs’ as Tories call for employment reforms to be scrapped April 3, 2025 The UK will consult businesses on “possible retaliatory action’ including on US products that could face tariffs, in response to Donald Trump’s sweeping global import taxes. Jonathan Reynolds made the announcement to MPs in the House of Commons, stating: “To enable the UK to have every option open to us in the future, I am [...]
Luxury brands Watches of Switzerland and Burberry suffer on Trump tariffs April 3, 2025 The share prices of high-end retailers Watches of Switzerland and Burberry both slid today in the wake of Trump’s tariff announcement. Watches of Switzerland saw its share price drop more than 15 per cent, while Burberry’s share price fell by nearly seven per cent. “There are heavy losses for the luxury sector,” Kathleen Brooks, research [...]
Week in Business: Will Donald Trump’s trade war blow up the UK economy? April 3, 2025 Liberation Day, Independence Day, the greatest day in American history? Or the end of the global economic order and the start of a dangerous new world? In the end it was classic Trump, sometimes reading from an autocue as if for the first time, sometimes veering off script in erratic directions, calling out supporters in [...]
UK services and composite PMIs underwhelm economists April 3, 2025 The UK service sector saw a “modest expansion” in March but economists overestimated S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) readings for the month. S&P Global’s latest composite PMI reading, which takes an average of manufacturing and services output for the month, came in at 51.5. The figure points to a slight expansion in UK output [...]