Reuters Insider - Reuters Today: One chance in four of hard Brexit - poll; TSB chief resigns

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04/09/2018 11:40

Click the following link to watch video: https://share.insider.thomsonreuters.com/link?entryId=1_bgaa80j8&referenceId=1_bgaa80j8&pageId=ReutersNews
Source: Reuters Insider

Description: There's a one in four chance Britain will leave the European
Union without a deal, showed the latest Reuters poll. Paul Pester has stepped
down as CEO of TSB after a major IT failure at the bank. Bank of England
Governor Mark Carney and other top officials appear before lawmakers. WPP
shares fell on lower margins.
Short Link: https://reut.rs/2ChmQj6

Video Transcript:

Good morning and welcome to Reuters Today. I am Angeline Ong. There is a one
in four chance Britain will leave the European Union without a deal. This
finding from a Reuters poll conducted in the last week comes as UK Prime
Minister Theresa May is struggling to sell her Brexit plan to the country and
even to her own divided party. Meanwhile, Sterling has had a rollercoaster
ride along with UK stocks. Earlier we spoke to IG's Chris Beauchamp and asked
him if investors should be as nervous as they have. br/  br/ They increasingly
so. We know how unpopular UK stocks has been about from fund managers for
months now. So we don't go near an area where it could be easily thrown into
turmoil very, very quickly. We are running down on time very rapidly here. The
rejection of the Checquers panel, the apparent rejection of the Checquers
panel sends a signal that the EU's position remains solid. It's not about to
budge in the UK. It needs to find a new approach here. And because the current
one just isn't working. br/  br/ Well, there was certainly a softening of
relations between Brexit negotiators Dominic Raab and Michel Barnier. Both
last week saying they were still aiming to agree on a blueprint ahead of the
October summit. And for both sides, an orderly Brexit was the priority.
However, key issues like the Irish border issue remain unsolved and time is
running out. EY ITEM Club's Howard Archer says that even when we think it's
''more likely than not that the UK and EU will come to a deal, it could be
uncomfortably late for ratification by March 2019." Now the Reuters poll also
found that respondents thought the Bank of England will wait until after
Brexit before raising borrowing costs again. Well, Governor Carney and other
top officials appear before lawmakers today. They're likely to be asked to
explain why they raised interest rates last month, especially with all the
uncertainty and little sign of inflation pressures building.  br/ There've
also been reports by the BBC that the UK central bank and the Treasury are
trying to get Carney to stay as governor beyond June 2019, when he is due to
end his tenure. Meanwhile, the unusually warm summer in the UK has taken its
toll on retailers. More consumers hit the pubs and restaurants than the shops
as Britons revelled in the sun. As a result, shops reported total spending was
up just 1.3% on a year earlier in August, according to numbers from the
British Retail Consortium. This is the weakest growth since November last
year, apart from a big dip in April. Numbers from Barclaycard also showed that
spending in pubs saw an almost 12% year-on-year jump last month. Well, let's
take a look at the movers and shakers for you. And WPC shares fell sharply
after the company reported higher revenues - but flagged a squeeze on margins.
Dalata Hotels is also falling after warning that the threat of a rise in VAT
in Ireland on hotel stays could reduce revenues. Satellite coms firm Inmarsat
is also lower after RBC cut the stock to 'sector perform'. Now shares in
Dialog Semi have hit a three-month high. The broker Bankhaus Lampe says it
expects Apple products, such as the Apple watch, to contain more of the
company's content. Scor is surging. It's rejected a takeover offer by Covea,
but says it's interested in a friendly tie-up. And the financial transactions
provider Ingenico is also a strong riser - after an upgrade by HSBC from
'hold' to 'buy'. Now Paul Pester has stepped down as CEO of TSB after a major
IT failure at the bank. A botched data migration earlier this year left
thousands of TSB customers without access to their accounts. TSB chairman
Richard Meddings will take on the role of executive chairman until a new chief
executive is found. Well, let's turn now to the markets to see how we stand in
early trade. And European shares have rebounded somewhat in morning trading,
at least some of them, following a late rally in Chinese stocks. The
FTSEurofirst 300 is down a touch now.  br/ The DAX is down a touch as well;
while the FTSE 100 just managing to stay in the positive area. And that's it
for now. I'm Angeline Ong, and this is Reuters