The FTSE 100 has gotten off to a soft start to the new week with the index trading lower by around 20 points at the time of writing. The pound is fairly mixed on the whole with an early foray higher against the US dollar being met with some resistance around the 1.3150 level.
Chinese growth concerns may return
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Open account Try demo Download mobile app Download mobile appIt seems a long a time ago now that fears of a Chinese hard landing back in late 2015 and early 2016 saw global stock markets experience significant declines, but growth concerns surrounding the world’s 2nd largest economy are beginning to return. News that the Chinese central bank injected $74B in cash into the banking system this morning through loans to commercial banks appears to be the latest attempt to ease monetary policy to offset an economic slowdown. The Chinese economy great at 6.7% in Q2, its slowest pace since 2016 and the escalating trade war with the US could provide further headwinds going forward.
Ryanair shares drop as earnings slump
There’s been a notable move lower in Ryanair shares today, with the stock seeing some selling and falling more than 4% after a disappointing set of results. A 22% drop in pre-tax profit to €345m has been blamed on strikes, the rising price of fuel and air traffic controllers. Staff costs increased by a remarkable 34% to €245m after the airline offered pay rises to pilots and other members of staff and CEO Michael O’leary has cautioned that the firm may cut back on their winter schedule if strikes continued. Compared to the prior period, the strikes by air traffic controllers hit the airline hard, causing more than 2,500 flights to be cancelled, which affected almost half a million passengers, and contributed to a 40% increase in the related compensation payments.
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