Britain's new £1 suffers teething problems; US stock market ends losing run - as it happened

Graeme Wearden (now) and Nick Fletcher

from on 2017-03-28 20:10 (#2HA9A)

We've road-tested the new 12-sided coin, and found that some ticket and vending machines don't actually accept it

9.09pm BST

Breaking! The Dow Jones industrial average has ended its eight-day long run of losses, and avoided its worst losing streak in almost 40 years.

The benchmark index has closed up around 0.75%, as Wall Street regained its poise after some nervous sessions.

One of the most fundamental drivers of the backdrop is employment. What we just got from the Conference Board's consumer confidence report should embolden those that believe continued labor market tightening (and accelerating wage growth) is in the offing.

8.50pm BST

With just 10 minutes to go, the Dow Jones industrial average is on track to break its losing streak.

The Dow's currently up 160 points, or almost 0.8%, at 20,712 points. Surely nothing can shake the rally?....

Looks like that 8-session losing streak on the Dow is about to end with a triple-digit bang https://t.co/zYTqeTuBjH pic.twitter.com/kOFj6J0YMc

8.42pm BST

Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Equity Capital Markets in New York, believes improved economic data (such as today's consumer confidence figures) are helping share prices today.

He says (via Reuters):

This market is driven by two things - the hope of policy agenda getting put into place and improving fundamentals.

7.49pm BST

Here's our news story about Britain's newest coin, and the challenges we faced when trying to use it...

7.22pm BST

Wall Street might avoid racking up its worst run of losses since 1978.

The main indices are all in green right now, meaning the Dow Jones Industrial Average is on track to avoid its ninth fall in a row.

6.35pm BST

Back in South Africa, the rand remains under pressure as investors continue to fret that finance minister Pravin Gordhan could be replaced soon.

5.50pm BST

A weaker pound ahead of the triggering of Article 50 on Wednesday boosted the FTSE 100, which is packed with overseas earners who benefit from any slip in sterling. Positive results from building materials group Wolseley also helped matters, as did an early rise on Wall Street after eight days of decline. Meanwhile European markets were also recovering, while oil prices moved higher after problems with supplies in Libya. The final scores showed:

5.28pm BST

The pound has slipped back further following McCafferty's comments, and is now down 0.46% at $1.2497. Investec's chief economist says:

By the way, sterling has been falling due to relatively dovish remarks by MPC's McCafferty. (Emphasis should be on relatively...).

5.13pm BST

BoE's McCafferty asked by caller into LBC radio if he will vote for hike: "The straight answer to that is I don't know"

BoE's McCafferty: We have to strike balance between rise in inflation we see in our fcast but with expectation the economy is also slowing

5.00pm BST

No deal after Brexit could mean a "couple of years in which the economy would probably perform quite badly" says BoE's McCafferty

BoE's McCafferty: expect UK economy to slow but a "slow-motion slowdown" so growth becomes "anaemic" rather than a sharp recession

BoE's McCafferty: BoE has not looked at a second Scottish independence vote and its implications for the economy

4.52pm BST

Ian McCafferty, a member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, is on radio station LBC's phone in at the moment. My colleague Katie Allen is following the broadcast:

BoE's McCafferty says a "little early" to be talking about guarantees or assurances on passporting and deals for banking sector after Brexit

BoE's McCaffert says inflation will pick up further as a result of fall in the pound. says econ not strong enough right now for rate rise

BoE's McCafferty says "We did get it wrong last August" on the forecasts for downturn made after Brexit vote

McCafferty: "we can rebuild trust by trying to get it right. It's not as if we ever try to get it wrong" but Brexit vote unique set of circs

4.39pm BST

A cry of excitement went up at Chapel market as a new pound coin was used to pay for eight tangerines.

But John, who has run the neighbouring picture framing stall for more than twenty years, said he was disappointed by its appearance. "It looks like a token, not a proper coin. it seems unfair to me that businesses such as Arcade owners etc are having to pay for the costs of converting machines. That should be a cost that the Government covers."

4.34pm BST

Back with our test drive of the new pound coin:

At Chapel market in Islington, north London, a busy shopping centre where major supermarkets fringe an old-fashioned fruit and vegetable market, no shoppers had yet seen the new coin and there was no information from retailers informing them of it.

4.04pm BST

Capital Economics suggests that the triggering of Article 50 - finally - could actually give some support to the pound. Economist Jonathan Loynes said:

While the triggering of Article 50 is a major step along the road to Brexit, it will hardly come as a shock. Any suggestions that the UK might not actually leave the EU disappeared months ago. And the 52% of referendum voters who wanted Brexit will presumably be pleased to see the process finally commence.

Indeed, it's perhaps more likely that the formal commencement of Brexit will give the pound another boost. If the UK government's letter announcing Article 50 contains conciliatory language, and this is echoed in the response from the EU, then hard Brexit worries could certainly dissipate somewhat further.

3.43pm BST

With Article 50 to be triggered on Wednesday, the pound is suffering some pre-Brexit jitters. Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said:

The pound [fell] by 0.3% against both the dollar and the euro after having been in the green before the bell rang on Wall Street. This in turn freed up the FTSE, which rose by 20 points to re-cross the 7300 mark it had been struggling with at lunchtime.

It is going to be interesting to see how sterling behaves on Wednesday; Article 50 isn't like a Fed meeting, where a surprise could be sprung. It is almost just a formality, if, admittedly, one that carries a rather nasty reminder about the years of volatility and insecurity investors can expect as the Brexit negotiations officially get underway.

3.34pm BST

US consumers seem to be taking things in their stride, with the latest confidence figures hitting their highest level since December 2000.

The conference board consumer confidence index jumped from 116.1 in February to 125.6, with board director Lynn Franco saying:

Consumers' assessment of current business and labour market conditions improved considerably. Consumers also expressed much greater optimism regarding the short-term outlook for business, jobs and personal income prospects. Thus, consumers feel current economic conditions have improved over the recent period, and their renewed optimism suggests the possibility of some upside to the prospects for economic growth in the coming months.

The incredible hike in consumer confidence will be a huge boost to US business, with the figures jumping to an unexpected 16-year high.

3.22pm BST

Over in the US, and it looks like being touch and go whether the Dow Jones racks up its longest losing streak for nearly 40 years.

After an opening fall, the Dow is now up 25 points although there is a long way yet to go. After the Trump rally following the US election result in November and the expectation that the new president would boost the economy with tax reforms and infrastructure spending the doubts have set in. The failure of Trump's healthcare bill has investors wondering whether he will be able to pass any of his other proposals and the uncertainty is taking the shine off the market, as well as weakening the dollar. But last night's recovery from its worst levels seems to be giving the US market some support at the moment.

3.04pm BST

The new 1 coin has passed its last test...it works in the luggage trolleys outside Kings Cross station.

2.51pm BST

The parking meters in Lincoln's Inn Fields near the High Court in London also don't take the new pound coin.

But there's better news at Holborn underground station; the new coin works in the ticket machines, so we've topped up an Oyster card.

2.46pm BST

Car drivers who try to park in Liverpool today will struggle to use the new 1, judging by this photo:

2.31pm BST

All you need to know about Britain's new 1 coin, in just one minute:

2.13pm BST

Eva Karras-Balint, receptionist at the London School of Economics' Old Building, likes the look of the new pound coin.

She tells us:

"It's gorgeous. It's definitely an improvement. It looks a bit like the 2 coin and I like the way it looks."

The new quid does not work in a hot drinks vending machine at the London School of Economics. It falls straight through.

1.37pm BST

Chris Whittall of the Wall Street Journal reckons the Dow could rack up its longest losing run in almost 40 years today, if it closes in the red again.

Fun fact: If the Dow ends lower today (futures -0.15% currently) it would be the longest losing streak since 1978!!!

1.36pm BST

Wall Street is expected to open cautiously in around 50 hour's time, as investors continue to digest Donald Trump's failure on healthcare reform.

After eight falls in a row, the Dow is tipped to shed a few more points at the open.

US Opening Calls:#DOW 20527 -0.12%#SPX 2339 -0.10%#NASDAQ 5372 -0.02%#IGOpeningCall

Today, US index futures are currently pointing to a slightly weaker open, with European markets struggling to hold onto their earlier gains. So, there seems to be some stability in the markets at the time of this writing.

But the lack of any major news or other fundamental events, there's little or no reason for the on-going 'risk-off' mood to turn decisively positive. Thus, equities could fall back later on today or this week, even if technically the markets look more stable. Put another way, safe haven assets like gold and Japanese yen may remain underpinned.

1.32pm BST

Source	RSS or Atom Feed
Feed Location	http://feeds.theguardian.com/theguardian/business/economics/rss
Feed Title
Feed Link	http://feeds.theguardian.com/