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☆ Bank of England downgrades UK economic forecasts, holds interest rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —The Bank of England downgraded its forecasts for UK economic growth Thursday and kept interest rates unchanged, even as it warned that the Israel-Hamas war could push up energy prices and inflation won’t return to target for another two years. “There are increasing signs that higher interest rates are weighing on economic activity and we see that in weaker activity data and in a range of business surveys,” Governor Andrew Bailey told reporters. Inflation is still too high,” Bailey said, also pointing to the risk that the Israel-Hamas war could lift energy prices. “We will keep interest rates high enough for long enough to make sure we get inflation all the way back to the 2% target,” he added. Inflation still a concernThe Bank of England expects inflation to continue easing, but warned of risks to that outlook.

Persons: Andrew Bailey, ” Bailey, “, Rishi Sunak, Bailey, ”, Martin Beck Organizations: London CNN —, Bank of England, The, Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, of England, Office, National Statistics, The Bank of England, UK Locations: Israel, United Kingdom

The preliminary reading of the UK S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the services sector sank to its lowest since the pandemic lockdown of January 2021 and below all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists. PMIs for the euro zone picked up a little but still suggested a recession was approaching. Official data showed retail sales rose in August, partially recovering from a rain-induced plunge in July, and a measure of consumer confidence climbed to its highest since January 2022. However, data company S&P Global said its survey was consistent with a drop in quarterly economic output of 0.4%. "The disappointing PMI survey results for September mean a recession is looking increasingly likely in the UK," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global.

Persons: Molly Darlington, BoE, Sterling, Martin Beck, Beck, Chris Williamson, Samuel Tombs, Andy Bruce, Toby Chopra Organizations: REUTERS, P, CBI, Bank of England, P Global, U.S, Confederation of British Industry, PMI, Pantheon, Thomson Locations: Altrincham, Britain

☆ Bank of England pauses interest rate hikes as inflation falls
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —The Bank of England paused its historic interest rate hiking campaign for the first time in nearly two years Thursday after inflation fell unexpectedly in August. The Federal Reserve also kept rates on hold Wednesday, as did Switzerland’s central bank earlier on Thursday. The Bank of England did not rule out further rate increases, however, although it said it expected headline inflation to “fall significantly” in the near term, reflecting lower energy and food inflation. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast inflation would rise to 7% — from 6.8% in July — because of higher oil prices. “There is an air of underlying weakness,” chief UK economist at Capital Economics Paul Dales said about July’s GDP data.

Persons: Martin Beck, insolvencies, Capital Economics Paul Dales Organizations: London CNN —, Bank of England, Federal, Reuters, Office, National Statistics, Capital Economics Paul Locations: United Kingdom, —

☆ Global business activity showed signs of slowdown in August -PMIs
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Jonathan Cable | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Germany's services sector contracted for the first time this year and France's shrank more than first estimated. Japan proved an outlier as service sector activity expanded there at its quickest pace in three months, underpinned by robust consumer spending as inbound tourism regained momentum. "August's services PMI pointed to a contraction in UK private sector activity. ASIAN PAINChina's Caixin/S&P Global services PMI dropped to 51.8 in August from 54.1 in July, the lowest reading since December when COVID-19 confined many consumers to their homes. The data broadly aligned with the official services PMI released last week, which showed the sector continued to trend downwards.

Persons: Henry Nicholls, Adrian Prettejohn, Martin Beck, Duncan Wrigley, Jonathan Cable, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: REUTERS, European Union, RBC, P Global, Capital Economics, PMI, Bank of Japan, Pantheon, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, India, Japan, Asia, July's, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, COVID

☆ GLOBAL ECONOMY Global business activity showed signs of slowdown in August -PMIs
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Jonathan Cable | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Euro currency bills are pictured at the Croatian National Bank in Zagreb, Croatia, May 21, 2019. The services component sank to 48.3 from 50.9, its first time below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction this year. The single currency weakened after the German data, hitting its lowest level against the dollar since June 15 at $1.0805. "The decline in services activity was a sharp move and we've seen a soft euro environment," said Niels Christensen, chief analyst at Nordea. The spot yuan opened at 7.2870 per dollar on Wednesday and was last changing hands at 7.2899.

Persons: Antonio Bronic, Niels Christensen, Martin Beck, Jerome Powell's, Powell, Nordea's Christensen, Colin Asher, Samuel Indyk, Ankur Banerjee, Kim Coghill, Mark Potter, Chizu Organizations: Croatian National Bank, REUTERS, P, European Central Bank, PMI, Bank of England, Reuters, Federal, Japan's Ministry of Finance, Mizuho, Thomson Locations: Zagreb, Croatia, Britain, July's, U.S, Europe, tenterhooks, Tokyo, London, Singapore

☆ UK borrows less than thought but Hunt pledges budget discipline
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Although borrowing remains high after the shocks of the coronavirus pandemic and last year's energy price surge, the budget deficit in June stood at 18.5 billion pounds ($23.8 billion), down by 0.4 billion pounds from June 2022. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to higher borrowing of 22 billion pounds last month. "Now more than ever we need to maintain discipline with the public finances," Hunt said after Friday's borrowing figures. As this week's fall in inflation showed, we will start to see results if we stick to our plan to halve inflation, grow the economy and get debt falling." However, a measure of consumer confidence fell in July for the first time since January as households felt the hit from higher inflation, borrowing costs and taxes.

Persons: Hunt, Jeremy Hunt, Rishi Sunak, Samuel Tombs, Tombs, Martin Beck, Beck, David Milliken, Angus MacSwan Organizations: LONDON, Conservative Party, National Statistics, Conservatives, Pantheon, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Britain

☆ Blackstone to invest $150 million in London-based hedge fund Astaris
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters) - Blackstone Group LP is to invest $150 million in London-based Astaris Capital Management which will be split between the firm's existing hedge fund and a new pool of capital with a drawdown structure, two sources said. He was also a founding partner at hedge fund Sothic Capital, which invested in European distressed assets. The firm's investment approach does not rely on any specific part of the economic cycle. Blackstone will fund both the existing hedge fund and the new fund with $75 million each, signaling its strong commitment to Astaris, according to the sources familiar with the investment but are not permitted to discuss it. Blackstone, which invests $81 billion through its hedge fund unit Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, is making the investment with cash from its Strategic Alliance Fund IV, which has over $1 billion in assets, they said.

Persons: Astaris, Martin Beck, Blackstone, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Emelia Sithole Organizations: YORK, Blackstone, Astaris Capital Management, Centerbridge Partners, JPMorgan, Asset Management, Strategic Alliance, IV, Strategic Alliance Fund, Astaris, Svea, Thomson Locations: London, Europe

☆ UK house prices fall by most since 2009, higher rates to bite-Nationwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - British house prices fell by the most since 2009 in the 12 months to May and the country's housing market faces further headwinds after a recent jump in borrowing costs, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Thursday. Compared with May last year, the average house price was down 3.4% after a 2.7% annual fall in April, Nationwide said. House prices edged down by 0.1% in May from April after a monthly 0.4% rise in April, Nationwide said. Martin Beck, an economist with the EY Item Club, a forecasting group, said the 4% fall in house prices from last August's peak was modest compared with the 7% rise in house prices over the past two years. Analysts at Capital Economics said prices would fall another 8% while Pantheon Macroeconomics said they would drop 4%.

Persons: Liz Truss's, Headwinds, Robert Gardner, Gardner, Martin Beck, BoE, Beck, William Schomberg, Muvija M, Paul Sandle, Christina Fincher Organizations: Nationwide, Bank of, Capital Economics, Thomson Locations: Bank, Bank of England

☆ UK inflation surprises for all the wrong reasons
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Britain’s stubbornly high inflation is a major drag on its economy because it increases the cost of everyday goods and services, dampening consumption. At the same time, interest rate hikes to combat inflation make loans and mortgages more expensive, which further weighs on spending by businesses and consumers. “The indirect impact of energy prices on business costs means lower gas and electricity prices should eventually feed into lower core inflation. But strong wage growth is likely to keep services inflation high throughout this year,” he added. But it cautioned that high inflation is still a considerable risk to the UK economy.

Persons: Grant Fitzner, Britain’s, ” Paul Dales, Martin Beck, ” Organizations: London CNN —, National Statistics, Bank of England, International Monetary Fund, Bank, Capital Economics, IMF, Bank of England’s Locations: United Kingdom

☆ UK inflation stays at 10% as bread rises at record clip. Here’s why it’s proving hard to beat
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

London CNN —UK inflation remained above 10% in March, far higher than in the United States and Europe, as bread prices rose at a record pace. Energy an ‘Achilles’ heel’The United Kingdom is a net importer of energy, unlike the United States. UK inflation to fall sharplyThe good news is that UK inflation is expected to fall rapidly through the remainder of the year, as lower wholesale gas prices feed through to household energy bills. From April, “UK inflation might start to drop faster than in Europe,” he said. But core inflation could take longer to fall in the United Kingdom, according to Gregory of Capital Economics.

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - Finance minister Jeremy Hunt presented less gloomy forecasts for Britain's economy at his Spring Budget on Wednesday. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsROSIER OUTLOOKA rout in global banking stocks on Wednesday overshadowed many UK-specific moves. Investments announced by Hunt such as a corporate spending tax break, a boost for defence and extra childcare support were not viewed as particularly inflationary. Unlike in the last budget, noise around windfall taxes on oil and gas companies was muted in the run-up to the budget since energy prices have fallen dramatically since then. "In general, the budget is not the big story for gilts right now, global drivers are in the driving seat," said James Smith, economist at ING.

☆ Headwind of energy price shock receding in euro zone and UK, economic advisor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHeadwind of energy price shock receding in euro zone and UK, economic advisor saysMartin Beck, chief economic advisor at EY ITEM Club, weighs in on the day's PMI data and the story it tells about the euro zone and U.K. economic outlook.

☆ UK factories face tough 2023 after December weakness
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A member of staff works on the production line at Jaguar Land Rover’s factory in Solihull, Britain, December 15, 2022. "Output contracted at one of the quickest rates during the past 14 years, as new order inflows weakened," S&P director Rob Dobson said. The figures broadly chime with a gloomy outlook issued last month by trade association Make UK, who forecast output in the sector would fall 3.2% in 2023. "These results are the latest in a series of weak indicators ... which suggest that GDP likely fell again in Q4 2022. But factories still cut jobs by the most since October 2020, as orders fell from both domestic customers and clients in China, the United States, mainland Europe and Ireland.

☆ Political chaos tips British firms into deeper slide - PMIs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - British businesses are suffering their worst month since January 2021, when they were under a COVID-19 lockdown, as the country's political upheavals compound concerns about inflation and rising interest rates, a survey showed on Monday. German business activity declined at a faster rate than in Britain, although France fared better than both. "More evidence of economic weakness, combined with signs of less heated inflationary pressures, should, all else equal, tone down the (BoE's) appetite to raise interest rates substantially in its November meeting," Beck said. Truss has said she will resign once her successor is chosen at the end of this week. "As night follows day, investment and employment will suffer in the months ahead as companies adjust to the increasingly challenging environment," Williamson said.

☆ How to Choose the Best High-Yield Savings Account for You
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-09 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +9 min

By Beth PinskerIf you search for the best available high-yield savings offers, it can be hard to tell whether what you see advertised is being offered by an actual bank. High-yield savings accounts offer a much higher return for customers on savings than the national average, although there’s no fixed scale. What should you look for in a high-yield savings offer? What is FDIC insurance and why is it important for high-yield savings accounts? Which banks can I trust for a high-yield savings account?

☆ How to Choose the Best High-Yield Savings Account
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-09 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +9 min

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