There were a number of key meetings and announcements today that looked to give some indication on the financial state of Britain and the Euro Zone.
Kicking things off at 12:PM, the BoE announced its interest rate decision and there were no surprises as the rate was held at 0.50%. Following on from that, more positive news flowed from the US as unemployment claims were down to 469000 from 472000. A slight dampener to the US party was productivity and labour costs were worse than the market expected.
Moving to the Euro Zone, the some positive comments came forth from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet who said that the austerity measures put forward by Greece look convincing. However, we should approach that with caution as both Germany and Italy have voiced their opinion by stating that offering funds for a Greek bailout is not a priority of theirs. Greece countered by threatening to go to IMF, which is not really a credible option as it opens the door for other nations to take more a lax approach to handling a budget deficit.
As I am sure you are aware actions speak louder than words and unfortunately all we have so far is some petty name calling in the Euro Zone. After a long day which saw me watch a “fairly” convincing speech by Alistair Darling (at my local chamber of commerce) I’m off for a beer.
One final note, before anyone else emails me he definitely has white hair and bushy black eyebrows! Have a great evening.
