Market Buzz
Market buzz: Some analysts see four Fed hikes, Fed funds futures still say otherwise
1847: Northern Ireland talks collapse. DUP's Arlene Foster points to disagreements over a "stand alone" Irish Language Act as the main stumbling block, BBC reports.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: RBS, Zuma, Putin
MPs are planning to make an unprecedented use of their parliamentary powers to publish a report into the mistreatment of thousands of small and medium-sized companies by Royal Bank of Scotland. Nicky Morgan has asked the Treasury select committee, which she chairs, to support the release of the confidential document, having used parliamentary privilege to obtain it from the Financial Conduct Authority. - The Times.
Market buzz: Sky and BT win most Premier League TV rights
1920: English Premier League football TV broadcasting rights for the three seasons beginning 2019/20 have been decided - well most of them. BT Sport and Sky Sports have defended well, keeping most of the games for a cost of £4. 46bn, with two of the seven live broadcasting packages still to be confirmed by the EPL, which said there was "interest from multiple bidders". BT Group has secured a package of 32 games per season for a total across the three seasons of £885m.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Carillion, Trump, RBS, algos
MPs have accused the “big four” accountancy firms of “feasting on what was soon to become a carcass” as it emerged they banked £72m for work linked to collapsed government contractor Carillion in the years leading up to its financial failure. Less than a fortnight before Carillion’s auditor KPMG is due to face questions from MPs on two select committees, the accountant and rivals Deloitte, EY and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) submitted evidence to the inquiry.
Market buzz: Fed apparently not stressing
1630: Fed not stressing, Michael Gapen and Pooja Sriram at Barclays believe, telling clients: "US equity markets falling into correction territory in recent days begs the question of how far equities would have to fall, or volatility to rise, for the Fed to consider a delay to its policy plans. We think it is too early for the Fed to consider altering course and we believe the committee will likely take some comfort in the tightening in financial conditions as it will reduce the risk of a hard landing over time.
Monday newspaper round-up: Aldi, Warren Evans, Tesco, Lloyds
Discount grocer Aldi has taken over from upmarket rival Waitrose as Britain’s favourite supermarket according to an influential shopper survey. The fast-growing German discounter has impressed shoppers with the quality of its fresh and own-label food as well as its special offers, according to the annual best and worst supermarket satisfaction survey by Which?. – Guardian.
Market buzz: FTSE flops after market's worst week since 2008
1650: By the close on Friday, the FTSE 100 had fallen 78. 26 points or 1. 09% to end at 7,092. 43, which is a fall of almost 5% for the week and almost 8% from the high of mid-January. Swissquote analysts added their tuppenceworth: "Markets remain on edge as growing unease over higher inflation and policy rates have sent equites into a tailspin. Global stocks sold off-across the board, bond yields rallied while volatility, hibernating until now, surged. Yet, signs of real 'normalization' remain distant.
Friday newspaper round-up: Premier League, Talktalk, Carillion challenge, Brexit
Facebook, Google and Netflix are not submitting bids for the next round of Premier League TV rights, with most analysts believing Sky and BT will remain the major players. It had been thought the Silicon Valley tech giants could intervene and cause a price hike from the £5. 1bn Sky and BT combined paid in 2015 but the Guardian understands they are not yet ready to get involved in live sport rights in the UK. - Guardian.
Market Buzz: Stocks fall back as MPC rewrites script
1700: Close The Footsie gave back the lion's share of the previous session's gains as a more hawkish-than-expected MPC saw 10-year Gilts slump, pushing their yield up by as much as 11 basis points to 1. 66% at one point. However, some analysts cautioned that markets might be getting a little ahead of themselves. Thus, and on the more dovish side of things, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch told clients: "So we now expect a 25bp Bank Rate hike in May and another in February 2019.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Tesla, energy cap, RBS
The boss of Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, has urged the government to sign a two-year transition deal by April to ensure the industry can cope with the impact of Brexit. Emma Walmsley, GSK’s chief executive, said the tight deadline was key to giving businesses the clarity needed to invest. “The most important thing is that we get a transition period of at least two years, starting from March 2019, but … secured by April 2018, and we need to make sure that the negotiations that are ongoing are very clearly focused on patient safety and the continued supply of medicines to patients.
Market buzz: Calm returns but 'risk appetite yet to reappear'
European equities are higher on Wednesday morning, following a rebound overnight in the US that continued in Asia.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Tesco, UK growth, Boeing, Carillion
Tesco is facing a demand for up to £4bn in back pay from thousands of mainly female shopworkers in what could become the UK’s largest ever equal pay claim. A law firm has launched legal action on behalf of nearly 100 shop assistants who say they earn as much as £3 an hour less than male warehouse workers in similar roles. Up to 200,000 shopfloor staff could be affected by the claim, which could cost Tesco up to £20,000 per worker in back pay over at least six years.
Market buzz: Wall Street regains its nerve
After two days of blood-letting that sparked a global stock market selloff and worries that more was to come, Wall Street held its nerve on Tuesday after an initial lurch lower and ended the session in the green.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Retailers, Brexit, Carillion, London property prices
Britain’s retailers battled through “tough” trading conditions in January as consumers preserved their cash for essential food shopping and shunned big ticket purchases. Non-food sales declined by 1. 2% in the three months to the end of January with furniture sellers, shoe shops and high street clothing retailers recording their worst performance since 2009, according to British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG data. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: BoE rates, Brexit compromise, bitcoin, Heathrow
The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates twice this year after a surprisingly strong showing from the economy at the end of last year and a brightening outlook in 2018, leading economists say. Although the Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee seems almost certain to keep its rate at 0. 5 per cent when it meets on Thursday, it is widely expected to display a hawkish shift in outlook by leaving the door open to a rise in May. Many economists expect a further rise in November.
Friday newspaper round-up: Bitcoin, Apple, Woodford, Chappell
The UK’s food regulators are launching nationwide review of all meat cutting plants in the wake of “serious incidents” at 2 Sisters Food Group and Russell Hume. The announcement comes days after the Food Standards Agency was criticised by a committee of MPs for failing to take “definite action” to improve food standards following a Guardian and ITV undercover investigation last year. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Facebook, Capita, Amazon
Facebook’s profits soared 61%, spurred by growth in mobile users at the end of last year, the company announced on Wednesday, as co-founder Mark Zuckerbergsaid 2017 had been one of the company’s more difficult years as a public company. Zuckerberg has vowed to fix the issues at the social network, including concerns it was used as a platform for Russian meddling in the US elections. Facebook was also criticised over censorship and the addictive qualities of social media.