The governments of the developed world are being held back by the crushing responsibility of repaying huge debt piles at elevated interest rates. This debt has been accelerated in the past 15 years through the buying out of banks in…
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GDP growth in the US continued to surprise on the upside while inflation maintained its steady decline. The resilience of consumers in both the US and UK has meant that the ECB, Fed, and BoE have been cautious about their…
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Equity markets started 2023 with a recovery in tech stocks pushing US equities to the best January performance in 20 years. Stocks were lifted by positive sentiment over the opening of China and economic activity that appeared to reduce the…
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Headline CPI inflation fell from 10.1% in March to 8.7% in April, but this fall was less than the BoE had expected. Meanwhile the figures for core inflation which exclude the currently expensive heating and food costs which are considered…
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We are now over 12 months on from the commodity price jumps that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Due to this there was a big drop in European headline inflation from 8.5% to 6.9% in March. European inflation has lagged…
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The corporate governance reforms first introduced by former Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe are starting to see progress in the Japanese stock market. Sadly, Mr Abe who was Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister till he stood down on health grounds…
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The Bank of England followed the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank in raising its base interest rate by 0.25% to 4.5%. While it appears, the Fed is pausing its interest rate hiking cycle, the BoE and ECB could…
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UK annual headline CPI inflation for April was reported at 8.7% down from 10.1% in March. Core inflation (excluding food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco) was 6.8% up from 6.2% in March. In the week that Andrew Bailey, Governor of the…
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When central banks raise interest rates then something comes under pressure. Businesses take time to adjust to rate rises and if they are rapid as we have seen over the past 12 months the more likely it is that something…
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