The Monday note - 15 April 2019

• The FTSE 100 was steady last week, closing at 7,437.1 on Friday, as the Brexit delay boosted the shares of travel firms and airlines. The ten year Gilt yield stood at 1.22%. 
• Import prices in the US jumped for a third consecutive month in March, driven by an increase in fuel costs. A rise in inflation could prompt the Fed to review its current stance of holding interest rates steady. 
• PwC found Britain's top 500 high streets lost a record 2,481 shops in 2018, as closures outnumbered new openings. 
• Britain’s de facto deputy Prime Minister, David Liddington, admitted in a TV interview that the issue of a second Brexit referendum has come in every meeting between the Government and the Labour party on Brexit. 

Chief Economist comments: 

Contrary to expectations, talks between the government and the Labour party on a Brexit plan are still in progress. A deal with Labour would certainly involve staying in the customs union, and probably a second referendum. This is poison to Conservative Eurosceptics, however they are not suggesting a workable alternative. The other option is a return to indicative votes, with hints that the ‘no’ option could be taken away; perhaps by having all the choices on the same ballot paper. This is now an exercise in painting into a corner the politicians who object to everything.