By Greg Smith on Monday, February 22nd, 2021
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Johnson to unveil lockdown roadmap With new Covid cases falling, attention continues to turn towards the easing of lockdown restrictions. Tonight, Boris Johnson will unveil an easing ‘roadmap’ for England. This is expected to be cautious and prudent. Media reports suggest that schools will reopen on 8th March. There are suggestions that restrictions […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, February 8th, 2021
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Bank of England held rates The UK continues with the relatively speedy distribution of vaccines. Along with the US, this raises hopes of an easing of lockdown restrictions. The UK government has promised a ‘roadmap’ on the easing of restrictions on 22nd February. The expectation is that measures will start to be eased […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, February 1st, 2021
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Bank of England to hold rates The Bank of England policy update will be a key focus for UK financial markets. The Bank will also update its forecasts and issue its quarterly Monetary Policy Report. Markets expect rates to be left on hold at 0.1% with the target level for asset purchases at […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, January 25th, 2021
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Unemployment to rise The target remains to have the top four priority groups vaccinated by mid-February with over 5 million vaccinations so far. The Covid lockdown restrictions may continue for longer with only a gradual relaxation with concerns about the new variants. The PMI figures suggest that the impact of restrictions on the […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, January 18th, 2021
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Data shows lockdown impact The fall in GDP for November was smaller than expected, at -2.9%. This was mainly due to a fall in services activity. Manufacturing and construction both rose. There were also revisions to previous months which suggest the rebound from Spring was stronger than previously thought. This week, we will […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, January 11th, 2021
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Lockdown affected GDP A successful rollout of vaccines is hoped to move us toward pre-Covid normality. The new Covid variant is however resulting in a serious escalation in infections and hospitalisations. The government is targeting two million jabs a week to reach about 13 million of the most vulnerable by mid-February. The hope […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, January 4th, 2021
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Brexit deal struck, Covid lockdowns increase The UK struck the historic Brexit deal with the EU on Christmas Eve, just days before the no-deal deadline. Boris Johnson confirmed that a trade deal worth £660bn a year had been reached. The Brexit deal was then voted on by parliament, with a comfortable margin of 521 […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, December 21st, 2020
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Tier 4 restrictions imposed The past week has seen further worrying Covid news, with cases continuing to rise sharply in many countries. Most worrying is the new strain that is prevalent in the South East of England. This strain appears to be far more transmissible and has led to much tighter Tier 4 […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, December 14th, 2020
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Bank of England meet Continued uncertainty about the relationship between the UK and the EU has been a dominant theme in the last week as Brexit talks continue. GDP growth slowed to 0.4% in October leading up to further Covid restrictions. We have timely December data this week, including GfK consumer confidence and […]
By Greg Smith on Monday, December 7th, 2020
in Blog, Market Insights
GBP – Vaccine rollout starts Optimism that an end to the pandemic crisis is getting closer has given a boost to financial markets. The UK is out of national lockdown and is the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Other vaccines may be approved soon, though it will take some time for a […]
