The new trading week in the UK commenced on a relatively subdued note, lacking significant market-moving economic news and prominent corporate revelations on Monday. Investors seemed optimistic, managing to push the FTSE 100 index up by 0.55% at the close of trading. For the UK, the economic landscape is expected to be relatively quiet until Wednesday, when the government is set to release lending data for July.
In the latter part of the week, Thursday will see the release of flash private sector data for August by S&P Global, alongside industrial trends orders data from the Confederation of British Industry. To wrap up the week, a timely update on consumer confidence, courtesy of the GfK index, will be unveiled on Friday. In light of forthcoming economic updates, Capital Economics made noteworthy remarks regarding the most recent inflation metrics for the UK.
They pointed out a decrease in both core and services inflation figures, despite an increase in the headline inflation rate. "Both core inflation and services inflation - which better reflect domestic price pressures and are more closely monitored by the Bank of England - have shown a downward trend," the independent economic research firm stated. Capital Economics speculated that following the recent initiation of an easing cycle during their earlier meeting this month, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is anticipated to maintain interest rates at their current level in the upcoming meeting scheduled for September.
However, they foresee potential 25 basis point cuts during the meetings set for November and December. Turning to corporate news, Barratt Developments ($BDEV) has waived the requirement for clearance from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority regarding its acquisition of fellow UK housing developer Redrow ($RDW).
This pivotal waiver is reported to eliminate uncertainties linked to the transaction, which is expected to conclude later this week, adhering to the initially outlined timetable. Despite this cancellation of conditions, Barratt Developments has mentioned its continuous dialogue with the competition regulator to avert the deal from being escalated to a phase 2 investigation.
Furthermore, the company expressed intentions to initiate a full integration of Redrow at the earliest feasible opportunity and in compliance with regulatory permissions. At the close of trading on that day, Barratt saw a share increase of 3.40%, while Redrow experienced a rise of 4.54%..