London equity markets are flat this morning, following a close in the red for Wall Street. The weak retail sales and industrial production data in China are also weighing on investor sentiment, as several recent indicators showed that economic recovery is slowing down.
As autumn approaches, the number of infections remains high in the UK, and fears are growing that the government may be forced to implement new lockdowns despite vaccines.
In addition, although concerns about high inflation somewhat eased in the US with yesterday’s figures, U.K. data indicated that annual CPI inflation reached 3.2%, topping the 2.9% consensus.
According to the IMF, in 2020, the average inflation rate in the United Kingdom was at about 0.85 percent compared to the previous year. It is expected to slowly rise to reach 2 % by 2024. But recent trends may prove otherwise.
Source: Statista
Source: Reuters
Things to read:
- China is on its way to building the best cars in the world (The Conversation).
- Big Tech's next battle: Amazon's healthcare bet is starting to take shape (Financial Times).
- For the Fed, Inflation Doesn’t Matter...for Now (WSJ)