Will the recent slide in the Volatility Index continue? July 11, 2022 With earnings season kicking off this week amid the backdrop of US inflation, consumer confidence and industrial production data, where next for the VIX? Volatility Index (VIX) outlook The Volatility Index (VIX) is again coming off its relatively high 30+ reading as it has done every month year-to-date, except in April, but is another spike higher around [...]
London businesses hold out hope for bumper Christmas trade November 18, 2021 Three in 10 businesses anticipate this Christmas will be their most successful in the past five years, according to exclusive data from Barclaycard. Some 54 per cent of firms said they felt neutral or optimistic about the UK economy, meaning worries rage on for many businesses across the city. However, Barclaycard’s fourth quarter barometer found [...]
Today: Bank of England to push interest rates to 13-year high to slow cost crunch and inflation May 5, 2022 Interest rates are expected to be hiked once again later today to their highest level for 13 years as the Bank of England battles to cool rocketing inflation. The Bank’s policymakers are predicted to increase rates from 0.75 per cent to 1 per cent – a level not seen since early 2009 – and ramp [...]
UK government interest bill swells at fastest rate in over a decade December 21, 2021 Soaring inflation is swelling the government’s interest bill at the fastest rate in over a decade, reveal official figures published today. Interest payments on debt held by the government climbed over £15bn, or 54.1 per cent, over the last financial year to November, the fastest rate of acceleration since 2010, according to the Office for [...]
Restaurant groups suffer £673m in losses as bosses call for tax relief January 10, 2022 The country’s top restaurant groups saw losses skyrocket in a year, hitting £673m, as bosses have called for more cash to help ailing venues. The top 100 groups saw losses increase 174 per cent in the year to the end of September 2021, according to an analysis of company accounts by accountancy firm UHY Hacker [...]
UK consumer confidence holds up in May despite Brexit impasse May 31, 2019 Consumers were feeling more upbeat about the British economy in May than they were in April despite Brexit, a new survey has shown, although confidence was well below the longer-term average. Read more: Warm-weather pub trips boost tepid consumer spending growth in April Meanwhile, more people felt positive about their personal financial situation than during [...]
London markets deflate following interest rate hike February 4, 2022 London markets have contracted a day after the Bank of England pushed ahead with interest rate hikes at successive meetings for the first time since 2004.
US inflation smashes expectations in sign Fed will waive through further steep rate hikes June 10, 2022 US inflation has smashed expectations in a sign the Federal Reserve will waive through a series of steep and rapid rate hikes to prevent high prices from embedding in the American economy. Prices climbed 8.6 per cent over the last year, higher than Wall Street’s forecasts of 8.3 per cent, according to fresh figures published [...]
London house prices fall but still almost double national average according to Halifax property index March 7, 2023 London house prices have fallen by almost one per cent from January, but property in the capital still costs £240,000 more than the national average. Halifax’s latest house price index for February showed the rate of annual national growth slowed across the UK, with the average property now sitting at £285,476. In the capital however, [...]
Euro 2020 pushes retail sales above pre-Covid levels July 23, 2021 Retail sales surged above pre-pandemic levels last month as consumers rushed back to high streets to buy products that were unavailable amid Covid lockdowns and splurged on pints during matches at Euro 2020, new figures released today reveal. The volume and value of retail sales in June were up 9.5 per cent and 10.6 per [...]