Inflation ‘may mean UK interest rates rise next year’; China’s exports jump; bitcoin slides – as it happened
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- Afternoon Summary
- Latest: Bitcoin tumbles in crypto selloff
- UK rates could rise if recovery continues and inflation looks persistent
- Cleaning company McBride hit by raw material cost surge
- Takeovers of UK companies by foreign buyers jumped in Q2
- Pound dips as employers warn national insurance hike will cost jobs
- China’s exports beat forecasts in August, up 25.6%
- German investor confidence hit by supply chain shortages
And finally (I think), European stock markets have ended lower, as growth worries weigh on stocks.
The FTSE 100 shed almost 38 points, or 0.5%, to end at 7149, away from yesterday’s three-week highs.
It has been a relatively subdued day in the markets even though we saw some interesting economic announcements. US traders returned to work following their long weekend, and it seemed as if their European counterparts were content sit on their hands this morning as they waited for the Americans get involved. European indices are a little lower as stocks handed back some of the solid gains that were posted yesterday. Sentiment in the US is a little weak too as the S&P 500 is 0.3% lower.
China posted strong trade data last night as imports and exports grew by 33.1% and 25.6% respectively. Both reports showed increases on the previous readings so that suggests that domestic and international demand is on the increase. Two months ago, the Chinese central bank lowered the reserve requirement ratio in a bid to encourage business activity, and now that imports are growing at a faster rate, it could be a sign the policy has worked. Typically, when China reveals robust reports it often lifts sentiment in western markets, but that has not been the case today.
Crypto currencies took a big plunge today, before dip buyers stepped in to cause prices to stage an impressive bounce from the lows, writes Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Think Markets.
At one point, Bitcoin was down over 18%, Ether was some 20% lower, Doge had shed 30% and Cardano’s ADA had lost a quarter of its value.
However, at the time of writing, crypto prices had started to rebound. Bitcoin was around 10% off its lows, but still remained well in the negative territory.
