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2024

US Banks

Goldman Sachs topped estimates for third-quarter profit and revenue on strong results from its stock trading and investment banking operations. The bank said profit surged 45% from a year earlier to $2.99 billion, or $8.40 per share, as revenue climbed 7% to $12.7 billion.

Bank of America reported a smaller drop than expected in third-quarter profit. Earnings per share of $0.81 were down from $0.90 in the same quarter last year but were higher than the $0.77 cents average estimate from Wall Street.

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2024

New £550m investment to tackle housing crisis

Sir Keir Starmer has announced a significant £550m private investment aimed at addressing the UK’s housing shortage. Schroders, Man Group, and Resonance are among the firms launching new impact investment funds to support the construction of tens of thousands of homes. The money, spread around 54 local authorities, is expected to deliver 5,200 homes on sites such as former car parks and industrial land that can be difficult to build on. Additionally, the Government will allocate £68m to local councils for developing homes on brownfield sites, contributing to the goal of building 1.5m new homes over the next five years.

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2024

Chancellor plans £40bn in tax rises and spending cuts

Treasury officials believe the Chancellor will need to find £40bn through increased taxes and cuts to spending in order to avoid real-terms cuts to government departments. According to the Financial Times, Rachel Reeves has been told that filling the reported £22bn black hole will only keep public services standing still. The Chancellor is hoping to make a major investment in the NHS and other public services, telling her colleagues: “The budget will be about protecting working people, starting to fix the NHS and rebuilding Britain. We cannot turn around 14 years of damage in one budget, but we can start to deliver on our promise of change.” The news comes as Ms Reeves faces a major backlash over plans to hike employers’ NI contributions.

Jeremy Hunt, the shadow chancellor, said in a piece for the Telegraph: “It appears that the new Labour Government’s first Budget will mean lower growth, lower wages, and fewer jobs – with working people paying the price. It’s a bad sign they are abandoning their manifesto promises so quickly. This is shaping up to be one of the most damaging Budgets in memory.”

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2024

Small business owners lament lack of time

Research reveals that small business owners are losing an average of £4,000 annually due to time constraints affecting their financial management. A study of 500 SME owners found that 68% have not updated their expenditure management strategies, with 9% concerned about unnecessary monthly spending between £1,000 and £3,000. The research, commissioned by Smart Energy GB, highlights that 33% struggle with excessive responsibilities. To combat these issues, 89% of owners are open to new approaches, with 57% adopting technology to enhance productivity.

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2024

Inflation surprises

UK inflation fell unexpectedly to 1.7% in the year to September, the lowest rate in three-and-a-half years. Lower airfares and petrol prices were the main drivers behind the surprise slowdown, official figures showed. Even stubborn services inflation eased too to 4.9% from 5.6% (5.2% had been estimated).

It means inflation – the rate prices rise at over time – is now below the Bank of England’s 2% target, paving the way for further interest rate cuts.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected the headline rate to come in at a higher 1.9% for the month, in the first dip of the print below the Bank of England’s 2% target since April 2021.

Inflation has been hovering around that level for the last four months, and came in at 2.2% in August.

Core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, came in at 3.2% for the month, down from 3.6% in August and below the 3.4% forecast of a Reuters poll.

With inflation falling lower than most economists expected, markets have been beting on interest rate cuts when the Bank of England next meets in November, boosting the market and hitting the pound.

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