Welcome to taking stock on.... Tuesday 5th September 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:
What are you? a buyer, seller or holder?
MOST READ RNS
88 Energy Limited - Hickory-1 Well Flow Test – Rig Contract Executed
KEFI Gold and Copper plc - Ethiopia Operational Update - Tulu Kapi Gold Project Nears Construction Startup
Gfinity PLC - Director/PDMR Shareholding
Tissue Regenix Group - New sports medicine product launch
TOP BUSINESS STORIES
UK businesses hit by fastest slowdown since January
The UK private sector has shrunk for the first time since January, with firms hit by weakening activity as higher interest rates hit demand.
The latest survey of UK purchasing managers, just released, shows that the UK services sector shrank slightly in August, due to weaker business and consumer spending.
New orders fell, as higher borrowing costs hit client demand.
This pulled the S&P Global / CIPS UK Services PMI down to 49.5 in August, down from 51.5 in July and the lowest since January. Any reading below 50 indicates a contraction.
Services PMI (Aug)
Actual: 49.5
Forecast: 48.7
Previous: 51.5
This follows a sharp fall in the manufacturing PMI last Friday, which raised fears that the UK could be falling into recession.
Composite PMI (Aug)
Actual: 48.6
Forecast 47.9
Previous: 50.8
New car market enters second year of growth as August registrations rise 24.4%.
It’s official: UK new car registrations rose by 24.4% year-on-year in August, as the new car market enters second year of growth.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has reported that 85,657 new vehicles were registered last month, almost 16,800 more than a year earlier. It’s the 13th monthly rise in sales in a row, as expected (see opening post).
But, that still leaves the market around 7.5% below its pre-pandemic levels.
Battery electric cars took their highest monthly market share for the year, accounting for 20.1% of new cars reaching the road – with 17,243 BEVs registered in August.
UK consumer spending growth slows in August despite 'Barbenheimer' boost
British consumer spending growth lost pace last month, adding to signs of a weakening economy, despite a doubling in cinema takings after the release of the films "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer", Barclays data showed on Tuesday.
Annual growth in consumer spending on credit and debit cards slowed to 2.8% in August from 4.0% in July, which the bank blamed on a continuation of the previous month's rainy weather.
Part of the slowdown also reflected falling inflation - and in particular a 20% year-on-year drop in the cost of vehicle fuel - as spending on essentials such as food and fuel grew just 1.0%, the least since April 2020.
Spending on cinema tickets was up 101% on a year earlier, driving a broader rise in spending on entertainment.
However, with consumer price inflation still running at 6.8% in July - the highest of any major economy - the data suggests overall household consumption continues to fall in real terms.