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☆ British furniture retailer Made.com fails as consumer squeeze bites
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - British online furniture retailer Made.com (MADE.L) said it would appoint administrators after it ran out of cash, becoming one of the first retailers to fail as a result of the squeeze on household budgets this year. The group said on Tuesday it intended to appoint administrators after talks to find a buyer failed. The online retailer grew during the pandemic when shoppers stuck at home in lockdowns spent money on sofas, coffee tables, lamps and the other items it sold, and it listed in London in June 2021. But this year, Britain's economy has tanked, and retailers across the board are now bracing for a difficult period. Made.com said its shares had been suspended from trading and would in due course be cancelled.

☆ Analysis: European retailers are on investors' naughty lists this Christmas
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Joice Alves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

On stock markets, the European retail sector (.SXRP) has lost 40% of its value so far this year, more than twice the hit on the broader regional share index (.STOXX). Yet, JPMorgan and other strategists say the worst is yet to come for consumers and retailers alike. European retailersSURGING COSTSHigher energy bills and wages and elevated freight and fabric prices have pushed up costs for euro zone companies by more than 40% this year, according to Eurostat data. "A lot of these retailers are running with elevated inventory levels, in order to clear that you'd expect a lot more promotions and discounting. "Our exposure to retailers has remained highly selective all year," he said, adding that he prefers discount retailers, which could benefit from consumers trading down.

Separate official data showed Britain's borrowing grew by more than expected, underscoring the challenge facing new finance minister Jeremy Hunt and whoever succeeds Liz Truss as prime minister next week. Sales volumes fell by 1.4% from August - almost three times the 0.5% fall in a Reuters poll of economists. Separate data published by the ONS showed Britain borrowed 20.01 billion pounds ($22.37 billion) in September, more than the 17.1 billion pounds expected in the Reuters poll of economists. So far in the 2022/23 financial year, which began in April, borrowing stands at 72.5 billion pounds, down about 26% from the same period last year but almost 36 billion pounds more than in the April-September period of 2019, before the pandemic. He said borrowing this year could be almost 200 billion pounds, double the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.

☆ UK stocks hit by weak retail sales, rising yields
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Sruthi Shankar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index (.FTSE) fell 1.0%, while the midcap FTSE 250 (.FTMC) slipped 1.6%. Truss quit on Thursday after the shortest and most chaotic tenure of any British prime minister, forced out after her unfunded tax cut proposals crashed the pound and sent British borrowing costs soaring. Former finance minister Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and former prime minister Boris Johnson are among the likely candidates. UK's retail index (.FTNMX404010) fell 4.1%, heading towards a more than two-year low hit last week. read moreMeanwhile, U.S. and European government bond yields surged further as investors priced in aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.

☆ Morning Bid: Tbond tension snaps sentiment
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

China's onshore yuan fell to another 14-year low despite major state-owned banks selling dollars on Friday. read more read moreThe economic backdrop darkened. read moreAfter Tesla's disappointment earlier in the week, the U.S. earnings season took another negative twist from the digital sector overnight. read moreIn banking, shares Credit Suisse slid again ahead of next week's big announcement on its restructuring plans. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

"The MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) is likely to respond relatively promptly to news about fiscal policy," Broadbent said in the speech delivered at Imperial College in London. Despite falling in recent days, the expectations financial markets for the BoE's Bank Rate to peak at about 5.25% was "by some distance the largest rise in market interest rates between MPC forecasts since the Committee was founded," Broadbent said. Investors further reined in their expectations of a full percentage-point interest rate increase by the BoE next month and British government bond future prices rose as Broadbent spoke. Rate futures put a 17% chance on a 100 basis-point increase on Nov. 3, down from 25% earlier on Thursday. A whole percentage-point rate hike was seen as a near certainty before Truss was forced to backtrack on her unfunded tax cut plans.

☆ Truss resigns: What you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

She said she will remain as Prime Minister until a successor had been chosen within a week. Following are latest events, comments and context:Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterPOLITICS* The text of Truss' resignation speech at Downing Street. * Truss said the Conservative party she heads would hold a leadership election to be completed within a week. * Truss's resignation came after she lost her interior minister, Suella Braverman, less than a week after she fired her finance minister. Reuters GraphicsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterCompiled by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Truss and UK market turmoil: What you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Following are latest events, comments and context:POLITICS* Truss is meeting with Graham Brady, the head of the 1922 Committee of Conservative lawmakers, a source in Truss's Downing Street office said. The Guardian's political editor Pippa Crerar said on Twitter that Truss had called the meeting. * Conservative lawmaker Simon Hoare, in parliament for seven years, said Thursday and Friday were crunch days for the government. * Truss has promised disciplinary action against Conservative lawmakers who abstained or failed to support her party in a vote about fracking amid a total breakdown of unity and discipline. * Truss has lost her interior minister, Suella Braverman, who quit on Wednesday, less than a week after she fired her finance minister.

☆ Sterling weakens as Truss clings to power, markets dial back rate-hike bets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Lucy Raitano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

British Prime Minister Liz Truss battled to retain her grip on power, a day after a second top minister quit and rowing and jostling broke out among her lawmakers in parliament. Analysts said a dialling back of aggressive rate hike bets following comments from the BoE's Ben Broadbent also weighed on sterling. Investors reined in further their bets of a full percentage-point interest rate increase by the BoE next month following the comments. "The dip in sterling is more driven by monetary policy than politics," said Colin Asher, senior economist at Mizuho Bank. "Broadbent noted that the policy rate may not need to go up as much as markets are pricing and short-term gilt yields and sterling both declined."

☆ Pound sterling rallies after PM Truss quits
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsPound sterling rallies after PM Truss quitsPostedThe UK's currency recovered recent losses on Thursday (October 20) and investors reined in their bets on a big Bank of England interest rate hike, as UK Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation just six weeks after being appointed. Angela Johnston reports.

☆ Investors rein in BoE rate hike bets on Broadbent comments
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Such a big increase in Bank Rate looked a near certainty before Truss was forced to backtrack on her unfunded tax cut plans this month. The 30-year gilt yield was up by about a basis points at 4.000% at 9:51 am (0851 GMT), having touched a session high 4.103% earlier. The yield on 20-year British government bonds similarly rose on Thursday, up about two basis points on the day, having also fallen sharply on Wednesday. Two-year gilt yields were up by 11 basis points on Thursday. But the difference in yield between gilts and similar German and U.S. government bonds remains significantly wider than before the crisis began.

☆ Sterling rallies as pressure on UK PM Truss mounts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Lucy Raitano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

British Prime Minister Liz Truss is meeting Graham Brady, the head of the 1922 Committee of Conservative lawmakers, a source in Truss's Downing Street office said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterAgainst this backdrop, the pound rose 0.5% to $1.1260 , having earlier traded 0.4% down. Analysts said a dialling back of aggressive rate hike bets following comments from the BoE's Ben Broadbent also weighed on sterling. Investors reined in further their bets of a full percentage-point interest rate increase by the BoE next month following the comments. Rating agencies S&P and Moody's review UK sovereign ratings on Friday, another potential headwind for British markets.

☆ Wall Street ends sharply higher, dollar dips on UK U-turn, strong earnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., October 26, 2020. All three major U.S. stock indexes rallied to end the session 1.9% to 3.4% higher while and the dollar lost ground against a basket of world currencies. "The catalysts that have triggered in the markets year-to-date are well-known," said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 1.83% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) gained 2.09%. Emerging market stocks rose 0.32%.

☆ U.S. stocks surge, dollar dips on solid earnings, UK policy U-turn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., October 26, 2020. A broad-based rally sent all three major U.S. stock indexes sharply higher, while Treasury yields eased and the dollar lost ground. European stocks closed sharply higher on the UK's financial policy reversal. Emerging market stocks rose 0.37%. The euro and sterling gained strength following Hunt's announced policy reversal, causing the greenback to lose ground against a basket of major world currencies.

☆ Wall Street rallies, dollar dips on solid earnings, UK policy U-turn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., October 26, 2020. "More and more economists are embracing recession," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. "Usually when the market has discounted everything - and I believe it has - usually (the last months of the year) are positive for the stock market." Emerging market stocks rose 0.42%. Treasury prices rose, tracking similar moves in the UK bond market, pushing benchmark Treasury yields lower for the first time in three days.

WisconsinDemocrats see Republican Sen. Ron Johnson as a vulnerable incumbent. Barnes has espoused progressive views in office, but his Senate campaign has focused more on pocketbook issues such as inflation and taxes. Vance appears locked in a tight Senate race against Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, despite running in a red-leaning state that Trump won handily in 2020. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan's approval ratings have fallen, including among unaffiliated voters who make up a major chunk of the state's electorate. FloridaFormer Orlando police chief and Democratic Rep. Val Demings aims to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.

Hunt, appointed on Friday to fix the public finances after Truss's economic plan hammered the value of British assets, said the country needed to generate confidence and stability before it could seek to grow the economy. He said changes to planned tax cuts would raise 32 billion pounds ($36 billion) every year. While he had been expected to reverse some of the tax cuts, the change to the energy support scheme had been unexpected. Truss had announced a two-year subsidy scheme to support households and businesses through the period of surging energy prices, costing 60 billion pounds in six months. Hunt would still deliver a fuller medium-term fiscal plan as scheduled on Oct. 31, alongside forecasts from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, the Treasury said.

☆ Massive fiscal U-turn leaves UK in political funk
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

By the tax year ending in April 2027 this should help the government claw back 32 billion pounds of the 45 billion pounds a year Kwarteng and Truss had planned. Beyond that, the scheme, which the government had estimated might cost some 60 billion pounds over six months, will become less generous. The pound strengthened against the U.S. dollar while yields on 10-year UK government bonds declined by nearly 45 basis points. But they remain at 12-year highs, suggesting that the UK has much to do to regain credibility with global investors. Government spending cuts will also be required to narrow a hole in public finances that the Sunday Times reported was as big as 72 billion pounds ($81 billion).

☆ Posh ice cream, craft beer in vogue as Chinese downsize their love of luxury
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Casey Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SHANGHAI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Chinese consumers are typically known for lavish spending on high-end handbags, clothes and accessories that sustain Western luxury brands. Brands that have jumped on the trend include Kweichow Moutai (600519.SS), best known for $300 bottles of baijiu, the Chinese spirit popular at banquets. It debuted baijiu-infused ice cream at $10 a cup in May, racking up 2.5 million yuan ($350,000) of sales on the first day. Chinese consumers are "spoiling themselves with those little things and they're loving something novel," said Mark Tanner, founder of marketing agency China Skinny. "When times aren't so good, people want to feel better, guilty pleasures like ice cream can help," said Low.

☆ H&M to cut costs as profits hit by inflation, cautious shoppers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Anna Ringstrom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Pretax profit in the June-August period, the Swedish group's fiscal third quarter, fell to 689 million crowns ($60.9 million) from 6.09 billion a year-earlier. Five analysts polled by Refinitiv had on average forecast a 2.98 billion crown profit. "Overall, these factors had a substantial negative impact on profit for the quarter," CEO Helena Helmersson said. "We have chosen not to fully compensate for the increased costs, which is reflected in the gross margin." Market leader Inditex (ITX.MC), the owner of Zara, which has been weathering the tough market conditions better than H&M, increased sales in its May-July quarter.

☆ BlackBerry takes a knock as cybersecurity revenue drop clouds automotive demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A sign is displayed on the building Blackberry's offices in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, May 29, 2018. The company said in an earnings call that cybersecurity segment revenue in the third quarter is expected to be flat year-on-year. BlackBerry's QNX software is now embedded in over 215 million vehicles worldwide, helped by surging demand for electric vehicles and connected-car technologies. read moreTotal revenue fell 4% to $168 million for the quarter ended Aug. 31, compared with a consensus estimate of $166.7 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Excluding items, the company posted a loss of 5 cents per share, narrower than analysts' expectations of loss of 7 cents.

☆ The 'real cure' for inflation has gone ignored, Steve Forbes says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Su-Lin Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In focusing on raising interest rates to cool inflation, central banks and governments have overlooked the importance of maintaining stable currencies, said Steve Forbes, chair of Forbes Media. Currencies are weakening against the U.S. dollar as interest rates in the United States continue to rise. It's about depressing the economy to fight inflation," Forbes said at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Singapore on Monday. "They do it by artificially raising interest rates. Forbes suggested using gold to stabilize currencies — for example, tying the U.S. dollar to gold so the dollar has a fixed value.

☆ Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay leaked online, Bloomberg reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc is seen for sale in a store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., February 7, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterSept 18 (Reuters) - A hacker released gameplay from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc's (TTWO.O) Grand Theft Auto VI in one of the biggest leaks in gaming history, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. https://bloom.bg/3R1OKAURegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterRockstar Games, a video game studio owned by Take-Two, is the developer of Grand Theft Auto, one of the best-selling videogame franchises of all time. Take-Two Interactive did not respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The Queen Is Everywhere. What Will the Royal Makeover Cost?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Isabella Simonetti | Rebecca Lieberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

Since her death this month, Queen Elizabeth’s face has been all over nonstop news coverage. There are around 115,500 mailboxes throughout Britain and 61.4 percent of those, which date to the reign of Queen Victoria, bear Queen Elizabeth’s royal cypher, according to the Royal Mail Group. All mailboxes and those already in production with Queen Elizabeth’s initials will remain intact, the service’s website says. Its designs include Queen Elizabeth, an orange and white corgi, Big Ben, and now, King Charles and Camilla, queen consort. So far this month, however, it has sold 60 Queen Elizabeth ornaments and eight of King Charles.

☆ Starbucks soars after its investor day. Here's what Wall Street analysts had to say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

BTIG Starbucks' investor day "lived up to expectations," according to BTIG analysts Peter Saleh and Ben Parente. Ivankoe noted that, in December 2016, Starbucks released a five-year strategic plan that called for annual EPS growth between 15% and 20%. "We think investors had also expected more conservative guidance to provide room for the incoming CEO and return to a beat & raise story," the analysts wrote. Wedbush Wedbush analysts Nick Setyan and Michael Symington were more muted in their reaction to Starbucks' investor day. China, a view that, to us, seems equally out of place given ongoing global macro headwinds," the analysts wrote.

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