By Greg Smith on Monday, January 23rd, 2023
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Retail sales fall by 1% adding to the gloom Last week, December retail sales posted a big fall of 1% and the GfK consumer confidence measure fell 3 points in January. This data will give policymakers some cause for concern. The CBI and retail surveys will give more of an indication about retail trading […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, January 16th, 2023
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – GDP increases by 0.1%, which could see the UK avoid recession Last week, we were expecting to see another fall in GDP, but instead, November GDP rose by 0.1%. This was unexpectedly positive and means that we may not see a contraction in the fourth quarter. This may also see the UK avoid a […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, January 9th, 2023
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Positive markets as inflation peak seen The markets have generally had a positive start to the year. Equity markets in Europe and Asia have posted solid gains. Bond markets are also higher with yields falling on the hope that we are close to a peak in interest rates. The monetary policy update in […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, December 19th, 2022
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Dovish split as Bank of England hikes 0.5% Last week we saw the latest flurry of central bank meetings. The Bank of England raised interest rates again, but by a smaller 0.5% compared to the previous 0.75%. This was very much as expected, though the questions remain over how much further rates will […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, December 5th, 2022
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Inflation data suggests further consumer pain The British Retail Consortium data last week showed a further acceleration in general shopping and food price inflation. There was also data from the Bank of England showing a continued slowdown in mortgage activity and consumer borrowing. All of this activity has fed into recent surveys showing […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, November 28th, 2022
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Markets calmer with slowing in monetary policy hikes expected The volatility has reduced somewhat over the last few weeks, with the markets calmer with the government and budget. The markets are expecting an earlier easing in the pace of monetary policy tightening. This has seen 10-year gilt yields fall below 3% for the […]