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FTSE 100 has worst day since 2016
A flare-up in Brexit concerns handed UK stocks their biggest one-day drop in more than three years on Wednesday, exacerbating a growth led sell-off that has characterised the start of the fourth quarter, write FT reporters.
The reverberations saw Wall Street sell off and Treasuries rally, marking the first time since December the S&P 500 dropped by at least 1 per cent for two consecutive sessions.
UK stocks took a hit with the FTSE 100 down 3.2 per cent for its biggest one-day drop since January 2016, while Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 shed 2.7 per cent.
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Crisis in UK retailing is reshaping employment
Almost 60,000 retail jobs were lost in the UK over the past year, prompting calls from industry bodies for more action to help high streets, despite evidence that many of the people affected found alternative employment, write Jonathan Eley and Robert Wright.
Retail employment is difficult to measure accurately because it is highly seasonal, but the British Retail Consortium, the retail trade association, estimates that a net 57,000 jobs were lost in the year to June.
The number, which was based on an analysis of the latest Office for National Statistics figures, contrasts with the wider picture of almost full employment in the UK, and the BRC is frustrated that retail job losses do not receive the same attention as lost manufacturing jobs.
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Group of 100 business women launch equal pay campaign
A group of more than 100 women high up in UK business and the government have launched a campaign, #MeTooPay, for equal pay in the workplace., write Archie Hall and Eva Szalay.
The campaign calls for “radical and rapid action,” and has set up a website that it hopes will become a hub for news, advice, and information about the issue.
Moya Greene, the former chief executive of Royal Mail, was prompted to launch the initiative following media coverage of sex discrimination and unequal pay at BNP Paribas.
She said she realised after FT coverage of an employment tribunal case won by a former BNP Paribas employee Stacey Macken “how pervasive this issue is across different sectors and across industries and how unequal pay affects women in theatre, film and finance, everywhere”.
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Martin Gilbert to leave Standard Life Aberdeen next year
City veteran Martin Gilbert will step down from Standard Life Aberdeen next year, closing a chapter on one of the longest careers in asset management, write Siobhan Riding and Peter Smith.
Mr Gilbert, who founded Aberdeen Asset Management 36 years ago and was instrumental in pushing through its £11bn merger with Standard Life in 2017, will not seek re-election as vice-chairman of the FTSE 100 asset manager at its annual meeting in May. He will quit the group entirely by September 30.
His decision to leave SLA comes as shareholders grow increasingly impatient for signs that the merger has delivered value. Since the tie-up, SLA has been dogged by heavy outflows and persistent underperformance that has slashed its market capitalisation from £13bn at its peak to £6.7bn.
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Household finances look healthier after student loans shift
Household finances are healthier than previously thought, following a revision in official data, writes Valentina Romei.
Economists said the largely technical revision of data by the Office for National Statistics published on Monday allayed fears that overstretched consumers, who have been propping up the flagging economy, would stop spending.
The main change came from the reclassification of students’ loans as government debt, which helped push up the household saving ratio — a measure of the amount available to save as a proportion of income. The ONS adopted the new approach in recognition of the fact that “a significant proportion” of loans will not be repaid.
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FCA widens checks on property funds
The UK’s financial regulator has increased its checks on property funds as it steps up its no-deal Brexit contingency planning amid fears of another liquidity crunch in the sector, write FT reporters.
The Financial Conduct Authority has widened the pool of open-ended property funds subject to daily monitoring, following a surge in investors withdrawing their cash on the back of growing jitters about a no-deal Brexit at the end of October.
Smaller property funds, as well as larger funds that suffered following the 2016 Brexit referendum, must now deliver daily cash flow updates, according to three people familiar with the situation.
Total assets in open-ended UK property funds are worth around £21bn.
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