Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news Markets rally as bond yield sell-off fades FTSE 100 jumps 1.3% in early trading China’s factory growth slows 8.22am GMT The smaller FTSE 250 index, which includes more UK-focused companies, has jumped by 1.5% in early trading. Luxury carmaker Aston Martin is the top riser, […]
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The Queen’s bank pulled out all the stops to rescue clients stranded abroad, while moving its elite services online Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Workers at Coutts, the private banking division of NatWest, are used to booking lavish parties and vacations for their millionaire clients. But once Covid struck, the […]
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Northern MPs tell chancellor his budget should protect high street and tax online retailers such as Amazon Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure from Conservative “red wall” MPs to go beyond existing support for the UK economy in Wednesday’s budget and cut taxes for thousands of retailers. MPs across the political spectrum are increasingly […]
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The tax break on house purchases saw prices rise by 8.5% – but is it really the best way to address the housing shortage? Reports last week that the stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland is to be extended were met with unsurprisingly little consternation, surprisingly. I mean that I wasn’t surprised […]
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Watering-down stock market rules might sound outrageous, but the success of these companies matters to the market Financial technology, or fintech, firms like to present themselves collectively as the very model of a 21st-century industry: slick, disruptive, growing rapidly and vital for national prosperity. That self-image was endorsed on Friday by Ron Kalifa, former […]
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Rishi Sunak rejects comparisons between himself and George Osborne. But the view from local government is very different There are plenty of ways to measure austerity. Before, during and after the budget this week, voters will hear Rishi Sunak herald the end of tight spending as the government builds a bridge from the pandemic […]
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Employees’ reluctance to return to full-time commuting after a year of Covid means change is afoot for companies Susanna* has spent most of lockdown in back-to-back Zoom meetings. It is a major change for the senior banker, who used to commute to London from her home in rural Lincolnshire and regularly travelled across the […]
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Treasury says low-deposit mortgages have virtually disappeared since 2008 financial crisis The chancellor is expected to unveil a mortgage guarantee scheme that aims to help first-time buyers get their foot on the property ladder in next week’s budget. Rishi Sunak is attempting to incentivise lenders to provide mortgages to first-time buyers, along with current […]
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Expect measures to help economic recovery but watch out for capital gains tax and other tax rises Rishi Sunak’s budget on 3 March is set to unveil a range of measures to help support the recovery of the UK economy, but tax rises are in the offing too. Here is what we can expect. […]
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UK FTSE was down 2.5%, its biggest one-day fall in percentage terms since the end of October Global stock markets ended February deep in the red, as fears of higher inflation sparked a sell-off in government bonds and spread anxiety across financial markets. The UK’s FTSE 100 index fell 168 points to 6,483, a […]
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