The Monday note - 30 July 2018

• The FTSE 100 climbed 22.5 points last week to a close at 7,701.3 on Friday. The index was boosted by an 8% surge for consumer products giant, Reckitt Benckiser. The 10-year gilt yield stands at 1.28%.
• In a BBC interview, the Republic of Ireland’s foreign minister said he would support any future request from the British government to extend the article 50 deadline for leaving the EU. 
• The US economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.1% in Q2 2018, its fastest rate of growth since 2014. This is up markedly on the 2.2% figure recorded for Q1. 
• Deutsche Bank has symbolically moved a large part of its Euro clearing activity from London to Frankfurt, without transferring any jobs. 

Chief Economist comments: 

The global economy is gaining momentum, yet the UK continues to under-perform. Glib talk of a ‘no deal’ outcome for Brexit is bad for business confidence and investment. Late July is media silly season, so the ‘no deal’ reports do need to be taken with a pinch of salt. The announcement of the stage one Brexit agreement last December seemed to emerge out-of-the-blue after several weeks of reports of deadlock. The Parliamentary recess presents the government with an opportunity for off-the-record negotiations with the EU. There is still time to close a deal.