At 11am (not 12am) on 31st January 2020 the UK will leave the EU After more than three years of indecision, procrastination and paralysis – the United Kingdom will finally cut away from the European Union. Deadline The withdrawal agreement will now come into effect, as the UK moves intoRead More →
The coronavirus outbreak has been declared an emergency In a press conference on Thursday 30th January 2020, WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is reported to have praised China’s efforts to contain the outbreak. He went on to say, that there was no need to interfere with travel and tradeRead More →
U.S. GDP fourth quarter reading released today, 30th January 2020 held steady at 2.1% – on consensus. The U.S. economy grew 2.1% in the fourth quarter. The economy grew overall 2.3% for the year (full). This was below the 2.9% increase from 2018 and the 2.4% gain in 2017. AndRead More →
BoE decision After much media hype surrounding the ‘will they won’t they cut interest rate debate’, the Bank of England‘s Monetary Policy Committee – (MPC) decided Thursday 30th January 2020 to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.75% This is Mark Carney’s final rate call as the UK commences Brexit stageRead More →
The World Health Organisation (WHO) will meet again on Thursday 30th January 2020 to decide whether to declare an international public health emergency over the coronavirus outbreak. Affect on businesses reported so far as global stocks react to the virus outbreak LVMH, owner of luxury brand Louis Vuitton says itRead More →
Scheduled market events U.S. – The Federal Reserve due to announce interest rate decision at: 19:00 GMT followed by press conference at: 19:30 GMT. U.S. current interest rate is: 1.75% – the consensus is for it to remain at 1.75% Germany – consumer confidence survey data due UK – NationwideRead More →
Stocks rebound Global stocks recover lost ground after falling on Monday 27th January 2020. European stocks pick up The FTSE 100 closed Monday at: 7412 down 174 points but picked up Tuesday by 77 points to close at: 7481. Germany’s Dax dropped Monday by 372 points to close at down:Read More →
Earnings season As fears of the coronavirus outbreak push global stocks into reverse, U.S. companies prepare to unleash their results on the markets. Fourteen of the thirty companies making up Dow Jones industrial Average (DJIA) are due to report this week including Apple and Microsoft. S&P 500 The S&P 500,Read More →
Persoanal loans Personal borrowing through loans last month was 14% higher than in December 2018 according to data released by UK Finance. Credit cards Credit card spending climbed 7.3% over the year to £11.8 billion in December 2018. Borrowing on cards is currently growing at 2.4% a year. Residential mortgagesRead More →
Stock markets fall Asian stocks drop as mounting concerns of the coronavirus take hold and investors fret over the potential harm to global economies. Markets around the world fell sharply on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei index fell by 2%. The FTSE 100 was down by 1.75%. European indices also suffer bigRead More →