An article in the UK Telegraph today is drawing attention as another Gbp-negative factor, keeping Cable down near the session lows of 1.5940 in early European trade. The report centres on the warnings from [FITCH] that Britain and France risk losing their AAA rating unless they articulate credible fiscal consolidation programmes over the coming year. Fitch highlight the unpleasant fiscal arithmetic which faces the said countries, warning that none of the arguably benchmark AAA states can safely rely on their top rating for much longer, suggesting also that Europeans need to curb their spending.
FRENCH NOV H'HOLD CONSUMPTION] dipped 0.1% m/m, slightly disappointing the f/c for a flat read and leaving the y/y rate to dip to 3.2%. Nov's fall stands in contrast to recent evidence that the consumer side is catching up with production that has been powering ahead but is now starting to stabilise. Recall, Dec's business sentiment dipped slightly to 89 from 90 prev while consumer sentiment jumped to -30 from -34, the best read in 2 years. Unemployment, meanwhile, stabilised at 9.5% in Q3, but is still forecast to climb further to just above 10% next year, putting pressure on French consumers. Adding to French woes is Fitch warning France to take strong and credible fiscal action to not risk its AAA rating as the debt is f/c to climb to near 90% of GDP by 2011 while the deficit is seen to blow out to 8.5%/GPD, a sizeable amount given that the recession in France has been relatively mild.
FRENCH NOV H'HOLD CONSUMPTION] dipped 0.1% m/m, slightly disappointing the f/c for a flat read and leaving the y/y rate to dip to 3.2%. Nov's fall stands in contrast to recent evidence that the consumer side is catching up with production that has been powering ahead but is now starting to stabilise. Recall, Dec's business sentiment dipped slightly to 89 from 90 prev while consumer sentiment jumped to -30 from -34, the best read in 2 years. Unemployment, meanwhile, stabilised at 9.5% in Q3, but is still forecast to climb further to just above 10% next year, putting pressure on French consumers. Adding to French woes is Fitch warning France to take strong and credible fiscal action to not risk its AAA rating as the debt is f/c to climb to near 90% of GDP by 2011 while the deficit is seen to blow out to 8.5%/GPD, a sizeable amount given that the recession in France has been relatively mild.
those who can, do. those who cant, talk about those who can
