020 7898 0500There are some sentences you just never think you’re going to write and ‘Trump lands in Essex and is met by Liam Fox’ is definitely one of them. Still, that’s what happened yesterday as Trump began a four-day visit to the UK. Over the course of the next few days, he will speak with Theresa May, meet The Queen and avoid mass protests in London.
The world’s press will no doubt be hanging on his every word and it will be interesting to see whether he can provide any insights into what is happening in the UK at the moment. Quite what he will make of England’s disappointing exit from the World Cup is currently anyone’s guess, but he has already admitted to reading up on Brexit in the past few days.
Core inflation hit 2.3% in June, while headline inflation hit 2.9% in the same month. Both were in line with expectations, but show that prices have risen for consumers. The question is whether Trump’s tariffs will continue to drive prices even further up and, if so, what the knock-on effects will be.
Initial jobless claims up to 7 July came in much better than expected. They decreased by 18,000 to 214,000 when a reading of 225,000 had been predicted by analysts. It is the lowest reading since the week ending 5 May, although it is worth noting that the period includes the Independence Day holiday so volatility was to be expected.
Today we will have the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment for July which is expected to hold steady at 98.2.
