UK Budget Surplus Lower than Expected in July as Multiple Threats to Public Finances Loom on Horizon

The UK manufacturing sector saw output stabilise in August after a multi-month period of declines that saw it subtract notably from economic growth, which was negative in the second-quarter, reinforcing forecasts from some economists that growth should rebound in the current quarter. 

The German economy is now seen in the City as teetering on the brink of recession after official data revealed a contraction in growth for the second-quarter, which has strengthened the case for the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut its interest rate and restart its quantitative easing program from September. 

“We prefer to have hard assets or things that are linked to hard assets. Gold is one of the best performing hard assets this year. And invest in countries where real rates of inflation are still high like some emerging markets, like Russia, Mexico or Brazil” -  Alberto Gallo, Algebris Investments.

New data from Tinsa shows Spanish house prices rose 3.67% year-on-year in May 2019, reinforcing a recent slowdown in the growth rate.

China is unlikely to make a quick deal with the U.S, a leading authority on China has said, but instead they will play the ‘long game’ and want to see if the current trade situation hurts the U.S. economy sufficiently to improve their negotiating position.

The total trade deficit - the difference between the export and import in goods and services - narrowed £16.0 billion to £4.3 billion in the second quarter of 2019 due largely to falling imports of goods, reports the ONS.