Morning Roll Call

Tuesday was a busy day for news from the USA. But firstly the news that the UK is hiring in the service sector, at the fastest rate for six years, adds more fuel to the belief that the UK economy is recovering at a better pace than many would have predicted at the start of […]

According to Markit Economics U.S. private sector activity increased in November after slowing during the previous month, whilst new orders grew at their fastest pace since April 2012. Financial data firm Markit stated that its preliminary composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), a weighted average of its manufacturing and services indexes, rose to 57.1 in November

The DJIA rose more than 100 points and finally closed above 16,000 for the first time in history. The index crossed that psychological milestone earlier this week, but then sold off for three days as the index closed in the red. The S&P 500 also closed up, while the Nasdaq rose more than 1%. The

Perhaps the most illuminating comment in the latest FOMC meeting minutes, published late Wednesday evening, was the commitment that; “the Committee today reaffirmed its view that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends”. This appears to suggest that even if (when) the

Tuesday proved to be a fascinating day for news that wasn’t previously pencilled in as high impact news events. The OECD issued another estimate with regards to global economic growth, whilst the troika is (as predicted) having difficulty in agreeing new terms with the Greek government in relation to further bailout funds. Germany’s ZEW index

The Dow Jones industrial average eventually hit a new record high on Monday, creeping over the critical psyche number of 16,000 for the first time shortly after the start of trading on Wall Street. The Dow rose 61 points in early trading to hit 16,023, up 0.4%. The S&P 500 also hit record highs, up

There were plenty of high impact news events on Thursday to keep analysts on their toes. The USA unemployment claims came in worse than expectations, the USA balance of payments increased sharply, Janet Yellen gave evidence to a senate hearing during her confirmation hearing, Ireland came in for praise for how it’s handled its austerity

The ECB cut interest rates to 0.25% last week and kept the deposit rate at zero. The euro came under pressure on Wednesday after an ECB board member, Peter Praet, hinted the central bank could authorise negative interest rates, or buying assets from banks in the form of quantitative easing, in order to hit its

The UK’s inflation figures were the surprise statistic of the day on Tuesday, and coming in below expectation caused a quick calculation (by many in the analyst community) that the BoE MPC would not be raising interest rates any time soon, causing an immediate sell off in Sterling. Moreover the news was recognised as ‘good’

Britain’s inflation rate could drop to a six-month low when the monthly measure of the cost of living is released this morning. Many analysts are predicting that the UK’s Consumer Prices Index will drop to 2.5% in October, down from 2.7% in September. This is close to the Bank of England’s 2% target, but still