February retail sales dampen hopes of post-election bounce February 25, 2020 Retail sales were broadly flat in February, according to the latest research, dampening hopes that the decisive General Election result has sparked a surge in consumer spending. The CBI’s monthly distributive trades survey showed that a net balance of one per cent of retailers reported a jump in sales volume in the year to February, [...]
Should the Bank of England consider an emergency interest rate cut in response Covid-19? March 11, 2020 Should the Bank of England consider an emergency interest rate cut in response Covid-19? Vicky Pryce, former joint head of the Government Economic Service and author of It’s the Economy, Stupid, says YES. This is an emergency situation and emergency measures are needed. The Budget needs to focus on providing short-term help, but a joint [...]
Investors believe coronavirus lockdown will return with a rocky road to recovery April 24, 2020 The majority of investors believe the coronavirus lockdown will return, implying a precarious road to economic recovery. A Peel Hunt survey of investors and corporate managers reveals uncertainty over timing and severity of the lockdown, but the strong view is that it will likely return. Last week the foreign secretary Dominic Raab extended the UK’s [...]
Will the Bank of England change its tune on the UK economy? August 5, 2020 The Bank of England will announce its latest monetary policy decision tomorrow, but investors and policymakers will be focused on whether Threadneedle Street has become more pessimistic about the UK economy. Two months ago, the BoE’s monetary policy committee (MPC) raised some eyebrows when it said the UK economy would suffer an unprecedented crash but [...]
World Trade Organization: Global trade to drop ‘precipitously’ May 20, 2020 The World Trade Organization (WTO) has said international trade is set to drop “precipitously” in the first half of 2020 as coronavirus wreaks havoc on global supply chains and consumer demand. The WTO’s gauge of the health of global trade fell to 87.6, its lowest reading since the goods trade barometer was launched in 2016. [...]
The wheels come off: Are car sales still a bellwether for the UK economy? January 21, 2020 Route planning is always tricky. For investors, charting a path through the busy roadworks of the UK economy in 2020 can be especially hard, so markets are quick to pounce on any data that might provide a turning signal for the future. That’s why figures released earlier this month by the Society of Motor Manufacturers [...]
Future students won’t forgive universities for poor learning technology August 17, 2020 This year’s intake of undergraduates to universities around the UK are already changing the world. It is the first time where, for most of the first year, their experiences will be fuelled by often remote, digitally-driven courses rather than the typical immersion into a physical campus. Some of the UK’s higher education institutions had some [...]
Can asset management’s Covid-19 response help regain public trust? November 27, 2020 The tenth anniversary of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) back in 2018 sparked a deluge of articles recalling the days the financial system stared into the abyss. They questioned just how close we came to complete collapse, but also whether it could happen again. Had anything changed in the decade that followed? From some perspectives [...]
Brits spent an extra £1.9bn in stockpiling spree before coronavirus lockdown March 31, 2020 Brits made over 79 million extra trips to supermarkets in the four weeks leading up to the coronavirus lockdown, as people rushed to stock up on groceries ahead of restrictions being introduced, according to industry data. The stockpiling drove a 20.5 per cent jump in supermarket sales up to 21 March, with customers spending an [...]
UK PMI: Manufacturing output jumps but coronavirus looms March 2, 2020 Britain’s manufacturing sector grew at its fastest rate in ten months in February, UK PMI survey data has shown, although coronavirus has begun disrupting the industry. The IHS Markit/Cips manufacturing purchasing managers (PMI) index hit 51.7 in February, up from 50 in January, with a score above the 50 mark indicating expansion. The reading was [...]