Screaming for a Deal   In its August 2 MPC meeting, the Bank of England held its policy rate fixed at 0.75 percent keeping it stable for a year after it was hiked by 25 basis points in August 2018. Since then a lot has changed. Hope of an EU withdrawal deal has translated into…

UK Manufacturing and Services Sector PMI in July July’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) came out as 48.0, slightly better than the expected 47.7. Results were the same as in June that saw manufacturing PMI drop to a six-year low last seen in February 2013. On the other hand, UK’s July services PMI came out…

The Retail Sector in 2019: Can Debenhams follow the strategy of Next? Companies in the retail sector have not been at their best lately, with major names such as toys retail giant Toys R’ Us officially closing down last year. Following a disastrous end in 2018 for the entire sector, where the General Retailers Index…

Half-year boosts for traditional banks and more woes for challengers It’s been an interesting week for banking, as half-year results have been posted and the battle between traditional and challenger banks and lenders, wages on. Barclays announced its highest profit for nine years, in H1, despite the sharp fall of the pound and the undercurrent…

We have been seeing a lot of speculation on how the rates would be cut by the US Federal Reserve (FED) in their July meeting. Will it be 50bps or 25bps? Yesterday, the Fed announced first rate cut of 25 basis points in over a decade. The US is the world’s biggest economy and thus…

Whilst the new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been reaching out to the four corners of the UK, the PM’s trips to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland coincide with economic news that the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit is affecting the pound. The Bank of England has given a one in three chance of…