Afternoon summary
With US markets closed for Labor Day, it’s time to wrap up.
A quick reminder of the key developments…
Globla shares have rallied today as investors welcome Beijing’s efforts to stabilise its economy, and hope that the Federal Reserve has finished raising U.S. interest rates.
The UK’s FTSE 100 hit a three-week high, before sliding back in afternoon trading, Mining companies were among the risers, on hopes of increased demand from China, along with luxury goods firm Burberry.
Traders were cheered that Chinese developer Country Garden has agreed a delay on debt repayments with its creditors, offering some respite from the country’s crisis-hit property market.
Traders were also encouraged that China’s is setting up a special bureau to promote the development and growth of the private economy, following last week’s push to encouraged lenders to lower rates on existing mortgages.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, explains:
[Friday’s] US jobs data hinted at a finally loosening jobs market, while Chinese stocks rallied on further measures deployed by the Chinese government to support the country’s faltering property market.
In fact, the latest news suggests that more than 1800 new homes were sold in Beijing on Saturday alone after the government eased mortgage rules last week (vs. around 3100 homes were sold in Beijing during the entire August). The Hang Seng index jumped more than 3% this Monday before paring gains.
In other news…
About 7,000 businesses are likely to fail every quarter in 2024 as high interest rates cause financial strain and the UK economy enters recession, according to a thinktank.
MPs have raised concerns that Asda’s ownership structure could be limiting the supermarket’s ability to support shoppers through the cost of living crisis.
Ryanair has reported its best month ever for passenger numbers even though it was forced to cancel hundreds of 350 flights because of the air traffic control systems failure in Britain.
Rail passengers travelling to and from Huddersfield station have been the most likely to see their plans thwarted by cancellations, according to an analysis of Great Britain’s trains.
More than one in five Britons have cut their pension contributions or stopped paying in altogether as the cost of living crisis forces households to make difficult decisions.
JP Morgan analysts have predicted that office buildings in London’s financial district will lose a fifth of their value this year.
The head of the European Central Bank has said it is critical to convey monetary policy communications clearly, to keep inflation expectations anchored….
…while inflation in Turkey has jumped to almost 60%.
And shares in fashion chain Superdry have dropped over 10% to a record low, as trading resumes after last week’s suspension.
More than one in five Britons have cut pension payments in living cost crisis
More than one in five Britons have cut their pension contributions or stopped paying in altogether as the cost of living crisis forces households to make difficult decisions, according to a study.
The research coincides with the head of one of Britain’s biggest fund managers, Abrdn, calling for a doubling of minimum pension contributions for millions of workers in order to avert a “very real” retirement incomes crisis.
With real wages falling and bills rising sharply, millions of people have been looking for ways to reduce spending and boost their incomes, with some concluding that they cannot afford to save for retirement at the moment.
According to a UK survey by the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, 22% of people have either stopped (14%) or cut back (8%) on pension contributions during the cost of living crisis.
