Are we in a Recession?
Taking Stock on Tuesday 24th October 2023
Taking Stock: Is a look at today's top business news & investment views plus we cover the winners, losers, the most read company news & the most followed. Today this includes:
Are we in a Recession?
UK businesses stuck in reverse in October
Britain's businesses reported another decline in activity this month and cost pressures have cooled further, underlining the risk of recession as the Bank of England's prepares for its interest rate decision next week.
The "flash" preliminary reading of the UK Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the services sector fell in October to 49.2 from 49.3 in September, the lowest reading since January and below the 50 no-change mark for a third month.
"This supports our view that a mild recession is underway and that the Bank of England has finished hiking interest rates," said Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics.
Unemployment rate held steady at 4.2% under a new calculation that accounts for dwindling survey responses from households, the number of employed people fell by 82,000 and unemployed rose by 74,000.
The latest ONS estimate showed employment fell by 133,000 in the three months to July, compared with 207,000 in its previous estimate.
Companies mentioned today include:
SCS Group #SCS 06:45
Quantum Blockchain Tech #QBT 07:50 & 09:15
Argo Blockchain #ARB 08:30
Barclays #BARC 11:20
Greenroc Mining #GROC 12:50
Upland Resources #UPL 15:11
Cab Payments #CABP 15:40 & 18:40 & 26:10 & 27:30 & 37:35
Greatland Gold #GGP 15:55
Alba Mineral Resources #ALBA 17:00
Volex #VLX 17:15
Cornerstone FS #CSFS 20:40
Equals #EQLS 21:00
FD Technologies #FDP 28:18
System1 Group #SYS1 30:23
Avacta #AVCT 31:20
Angling Direct #ANG 31:58
Cordel #CRDL 36:13
Equals #EQLS 38:55
MOST FOLLOWED
Upland Resources #UPL
Quantum Blockchain Technologies #QBT
Atlantic Lithium Limited #ALL
MOST READ RNS
Greatland Gold #GGP - Havieron Update
Volex #VLX - Update on H1 Trading and Cyber Incident
Alkemy Capital Invs. #ALK - VSA lifts target price to £15.30 per share
GreenRoc Mining #GROC - Statement re: China Restricting Export of Graphite
TOP BUSINESS STORIES
Workers on voluntary Real Living Wage see 10% pay rise
Hundreds of thousands of UK workers will see a 10% pay rise from Tuesday, because their employer is signed up to the voluntary Real Living Wage scheme.
The rise - from £10.90 to £12 an hour outside London - would be a "lifeline" for low-paid workers, the Living Wage Foundation said.
Employers can choose to pay the real living wage, a rate that is higher than the government-set minimum wage.
But a business group warned there was "a limit" to what firms could afford.
World shift to clean energy is unstoppable, IEA report says
The world is on an "unstoppable" shift towards renewable energy but the phase down of fossil fuels is not happening quickly enough, a new report says.
The International Energy Agency, the global energy watchdog, predicted renewables would provide half of the world's electricity by 2030.
But it warned that emissions were still too high to prevent temperatures rising above a key threshold of 1.5C.
And the report said investment in fossil fuels needed to be cut in half.
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest
The information, investment views and recommendations in this article are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engaging in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the writer but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. Vox Markets may receive payment from companies mentioned for enhanced profiling or publication presence. The writer may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.