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A pedestrian inspects the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) trading board in Sydney today.
Photograph: Ben Rushton/AAP
9.37am GMT
UK services sector growth hits 16-month low
Newsflash: Growth in Britain’s service sector slowed sharply last month, as Brexit fears hit
companies.
That’s according to data firm Markit, whose UK service sector PMI fell to 53.0 last month,
down from 54.2 in December and closer to the 50-point mark that shows stagnation.
This is the weakest reading since September 2016.
Service sector bosses reported a slowdown in new work -- due to “the loss of existing clients
and lingering concerns surrounding the UK’s exit from the EU”.
Last week, Markit reported that UK manufacturing slowed in January , while construction
slipped towards stagnation .
Chris Williamson , chief business economist at IHS Markit , says Britain’s economy seems
to have slowed.
“The pace of UK economic growth slowed sharply at the start of the year as January saw a
triple- whammy of weaker PMI surveys.
“Service sector expansion slid to a 16-month low, reflecting a marked waning in growth of
demand for business and consumer-facing services such as hotels and restaurants.
Demand for transport and communication services was down for the second straight month.
“The softer service sector growth follows news of the manufacturing upturn losing
momentum at the start of the year and a near-stagnant construction sector. All together, the
PMI surveys point to the slowest pace of expansion since August 2016.
“While the fourth quarter PMI readings were historically consistent with the economy
growing at a resilient quarterly rate of 0.4-0.5%, in line with the recent GDP estimate, the
January number signals a growth rate of just under 0.3%
Quite a contrast with the eurozone, which posted its strongest month in over 11 years ....
Updated at 9.41am GMT
9.26am GMT
No sign of a recovery in the markets. After almost 90 minutes trading the FTSE 100 is still
down 80 points , with most shares in the red.
9.16am GMT
UK car sales fall again
The slump in British car sales has continued.
The number of new car registrations shrank by 6.3% year-on-year in January, with 163,615
vehicles driven away.
Diesel sales suffered another sharp slump, down 25.6% during the month. The Society of
Motor Manufacturers and Traders blamed “confusion over government policy” towards
diesel cars, following the emissions scandal.
The SMMT says:
Demand fell across the board, with registrations by business, private and fleet buyers down
-29.7%, -9.5% and -1.8% respectively. Meanwhile, continuing the trend of recent months,
dual purpose cars (SUVs) were the only vehicle segment to see growth, with demand up
6.6% to account for a fifth (20.2%) of all new car registrations.
Demand in all other segments fell, with the biggest declines affecting the mini, MPV and
executive segments.
Petrol sales rose by 8.5%, while electric cars surged by 23.9% compared with a year earlier.
UK car sales shrank in 2017, for the first time in five years .
Demand for petrol and alternatively fuelled vehicles rises in January, but fails to offset fall in
new diesel registrations https://t.co/oBfNmpMyZy pic.twitter.com/rdAerFre61
— SMMT (@SMMT) February 5, 2018
Updated at 9.18am GMT