DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Reactions: Britain's finance minister unveils "mini budget"
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Britain's blue-chip stocks (.FTSE)remained mired in the red, in line with a broader equity-market decline. FOREX: Sterling extended losses, falling 1.9% on the day to around $1.1047, having hit a new 37-year low earlier on. British homebuilders and household goods makers hit session highs, buoyed by the prospect of consumers getting tax breaks. The tax-cutting budget and ‘go for broke’ growth aims are unlikely to change the longer-term bearish GBP trend." If you get more fiscal stimulus and less monetary stimulus, that’s something that’s buoyant for the currency.

☆ UK targeting medium term growth of 2.5% - finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterFILE PHOTO: Workers pass by a sales person as they walk towards the City of London financial district, during the morning rush hour in London, Britain, September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo/File PhotoLONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng said on Friday he was targeting economic growth of 2.5% over the medium term. Our aim over the medium term is to reach a trend rate of growth of 2.5%," he said during a fiscal statement to parliament. The fiscal statement was not accompanied by independent growth forecasts. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by David Milliken and William James, editing by Elizabeth PiperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ New UK finance minister Kwarteng seeks end to "cycle of stagnation"
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank, said Truss and Kwarteng's tax cuts could be the largest since 1988, and risked putting Britain's public debt on an unsustainable path. The IFS, together with U.S. bank Citi, estimate household energy subsidies will cost about 120 billion pounds over two years, while six months of business energy subsidies will cost 40 billion pounds. read moreThese are a one-off, and the bigger concern for the IFS is around 30 billion pounds of permanent tax cuts - starting with 14 billion pounds in reduced payroll taxes, confirmed on Thursday, and 15 billion pounds of cuts to corporation tax. For Kwarteng, tax cuts and deregulation are a way to end what he calls "a cycle of stagnation" that led to tax rates being on course for their highest level since the 1940s. "We will liberalise planning rules in specified agreed sites, releasing land and accelerating development," Kwarteng is expected to say.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng walks outside Number 10 Downing Street, in London, Britain September 7, 2022. REUTERS/Phil NobleLONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng said on Thursday a 1.25 percentage point increase in payroll tax that took effect earlier this year would be reversed from Nov. 6, setting out the timeline for a previously promised move. To raise living standards for all, we need to be unapologetic about growing our economy," Kwarteng said in a statement. Kwarteng will also scrap from April 2023an increase to dividend tax rates which had been brought in alongside the payroll tax increase to raise contributions from those who are paid through different channels. The extra money needed to make up for the shortfall caused by cancelling the tax will come from general taxation, the Treasury said.

☆ Sterling idles near 37-year low ahead of Fed, BoE meetings
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Wads of British Pound Sterling banknotes are stacked in piles at the Money Service Austria company's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, November 16, 2017. At 0933 GMT, the pound was little changed against the dollar at $1.1432, just above last week's 37-year low of $1.1351. Money markets fully price in a half-point rate hike from the BoE on Thursday, with around a 75% chance of a larger 75 basis point rate rise, according to Refinitiv data. Meanwhile, economists polled by Reuters expect a 50 basis point hike this week and for the Bank Rate to end 2022 at 3%. Expectations of a hike of at least 75 basis points have been keeping the dollar index elevated near its highest level since 2002.

The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, September 16, 2022. They also indicate a real chance that rates could hit 4.5% as the Fed is forced to tip the economy into recession to subdue inflation. However, most assets have suffered this time, perhaps due to the surge in inflation and abrupt policy change." (.SX8P) read moreS&P 500 futures lost 0.9%, and Nasdaq futures fell 1%. read moreChina's central bank went its own way though, and cut a repo rate by 10 basis points to support its ailing economy.

The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, September 16, 2022. However, most assets have suffered this time, perhaps due to the surge in inflation and abrupt policy change." read moreChina's central bank went its own way, though, and cut a repo rate by 10 basis points to support its ailing economy, leaving blue chips (.CSI300) up 0.1%. The dollar index , which measures the currency against six counterparts, was 0.4% stronger at 110.03. Oil prices slid, pressured by the stronger dollar Brent crude fell 1.3% to $90.18.

☆ Dollar robust as Fed headlines big week for central banks
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Dhara Ranasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. One dollar banknotes are seen in front of displayed stock graph in this illustration taken, February 8, 2021. Still, the dollar maintained its firm tone, given expectations that the Fed would maintain its aggressive rate-hike path to contain uncomfortably high inflation. Markets fully price in a 75 basis point Fed rate hike this week and a roughly 20% chance of a 100 bps increase. read moreCanada's dollar in early European trade fell to its lowest in almost two years at 1.3311 per U.S. dollar . read moreChina's yuan kept to the weaker side of 7 per dollar as economic worries and the possibility of more benchmark interest rate cuts loomed on Tuesday.

☆ Bonus cap scrap would be dubious Brexit dividend
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A person points to the City of London financial district from a viewing platform in London, Britain, October 22, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKayLONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UK finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng wants to make the City more competitive. That means UK banks and foreign ones operating in London might have to keep their compensation policies broadly the same to retain staff. Bringing the highly charged issue to the fore means Kwarteng might have less cover to push ahead with more meaningful changes, like getting rid of the bank levy. CONTEXT NEWSBritish finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng is seeking to scrap Britain’s cap on bankers’ bonuses, the Financial Times reported on Sept. 14.

☆ Sales of heated blankets and portable heaters are soaring in Europe despite a record heatwave, as people try to avoid sky-high winter fuel bills
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-25 | by ( Kate Duffy | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Europeans are rushing to buy portable heaters and heated blankets ahead of energy bill hikes this winter. Portable electric heaters sales from two Swiss retailers are up 300% this year, per Tagesanzeige. Sales of portable electric heaters from Swiss retailers Microspot and Interdiscount are up 300% this year compared with 2021, a spokesperson told Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeige. The companies sold the most of the heaters in July, the spokesperson told Tagesanzeige. The spokesperson told Insider that: "The following is speculation, but in Switzerland we are currently expecting gas shortages in winter.

Search resuls for: "British Finance"

10 mentions found