By Richard Pickering, Head of Futures Strategy
Ups and downs Presenting to the Treasury Committee yesterday, Mark Carney explained away the poor Q1 growth figures on ‘idiosyncratic factors’ (e.g. the weather). On that basis, his forecast for the full
By Richard Pickering, Head of Futures Strategy
Interest rates With a degree of predictability (markets implying 90% chance), the Bank of England last week held the base rate at 0.5%. Nevertheless, this would have been a big surprise just
By Richard Pickering, Head of Futures Strategy
Local council elections Last week the nation went to the ballot boxes in 150 Local Authority areas. The result was a rather underwhelming increase for Labour, taking a net 77 new seats.
By Richard Pickering, Head of Futures Strategy
Inclement outlook? The Q1 economic data is out, and the result (0.1% real GDP growth) is pretty miserable, compared with the already tempered expectation of 0.3%. This puts quarterly growth at its
By Richard Pickering, Head of Futures Strategy
Customs crunch The Brexit debate is starting to focus on a single overriding issue – the Customs Union. Theresa May (perhaps against her own private position) is committed to a path that
