Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as the UK officially falls into recession
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
We’re about to discover quite how badly the UK economy fared during the Covid-19 lockdown, and whether it is on the road to recovery. The latest GDP report, due at 7am, is expected to show that activity slumped dramatically in April-June, plunging the UK into a technical recession. The slump is expected to be deeper than in many other advanced economies. Economists predict that GDP contracted by around 21% in the second quarter, following a 2.2% fall in Q1. That would be the deepest quarterly slump on record, putting the UK on track for its worst year in decades.
The uk will plummet into recession today for first time since 2008 with GDP expected to have slumped by a record 21% in the run up to June @GMB
The US and the eurozone have already been confirmed in recession as the global economy grapples with the sharpest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. However, China, at the heart of the original outbreak, avoided recession after it returned to growth in the second quarter.
The slump in Britain is expected to be the biggest quarterly drop of any G7 economy due to the later launch of lockdown controls and the slower removal of harsh restrictions.
#Gold collapseds below $1,900 an ounce extending the precious metal’s slump into a second day, to head for its biggest two-day loss in more than seven years as investors step back from one of the hottest trades of 2020 as Treasury yields rise. https://t.co/ORjPA5me7O pic.twitter.com/SPbcOwCIwC
