Aurelia Butler

UK retailers have been increasing the prices of their own-label grocery ranges faster than those of branded goods, even as customers turn to such ranges, which are often marketed as “budget”, in the cost of living crisis. So-called private label goods have risen in price by 16.3 per cent in the past 12 weeks, analysis by data group Circana revealed — ahead of branded goods increasing by 10 per cent. The gap has widened slightly on a four-week basis, with retailers’ private labels going up in price by 17 per cent, the report showed. The findings come as a greater number of cash-strapped shoppers have turned to cheaper ranges to keep their grocery bills down. The appetite for own-brand products in chilled, fresh and ambient food had been particularly high amid the cost of living crisis, the report said, as well as for items such as laundry and hygiene items. Sales of private label goods rose 46 per cent year on year, according to recent figures from data company Kantar. “Retailers are clearly winning on many fronts. While not always the least expensive . . . private labels offer a range of benefits that meet their [needs] and can be trusted as much as national brands sitting on adjacent shelves,” said Ananda Roy, a senior vice-president at Circana.Tesco, J Sainsbury, Asda, Co-op, Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, Lidl, Aldi and Ocado did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Morrisons said that it had cut prices on a number of products this week that it made or prepared itself. “As a British foodmaker, we are on the front line of commodity prices — and we’ll look to pass on any easing to our customers quickly,” chief executive David Potts said.Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: “With food production costs rising significantly over the last year owing to high energy costs, global food prices and labour shortages, we have seen a knock-on impact to prices on the shelves. As these costs begin to fall, we expect to see food price inflation falling away in the coming months.” More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Treasury Department reiterated Monday it expects to be able to pay the U.S. government’s bills only through June 1 without a debt limit increase, increasing pressure on congressional Republicans and the White House to reach a deal in coming days. In her second letter to Congress in two weeks, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen confirmed that the agency will be unlikely to meet all U.S. government payment obligations by early June, triggering the first-ever U.S. default. The debt ceiling could become binding by June 1, she said.The new date reflects further data on revenues and payments received since Yellen’s told Congress on May 1 that Treasury would likely run out of cash to pay government bills in early June, and potentially as early as June 1. It comes a day before U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for talks, and ahead of an overseas trip for the President that starts Wednesday. The actual date Treasury exhausts extraordinary measures could be a number of days or weeks later than these estimates, Yellen said in today’s letter, a shift from May 1’s letter that warned only of “”a number of weeks later.” She said she will provide an additional update to Congress next week as more information becomes available.Biden travels to Japan on Wednesday for a Group of Seven leaders summit, then to Australia, a trip that will take about a week. McCarthy said Monday there had been no progress in marathon talks at the staff level throughout the weekend.Yellen has repeatedly warned that failure by Congress to raise the $31.4 trillion federal debt limit could spark a “constitutional crisis” and would unleash an “economic and financial catastrophe” for the U.S. and global economies.The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office last week said the United States faces a “significant risk” of defaulting on payment obligations within the first two weeks of June without a debt ceiling hike, with payment operations uncertain throughout May. Some analysts, including the Congressional Budget Office, have suggested that Treasury could last as long as August without a default if it can access June 15 quarterly tax payments and new borrowing measures that become available June 30.Yellen urged action as soon as possible in Monday’s letter. “We have learned from past debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise short-term borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States,” Yellen said. She said Treasury’s borrowing costs had already increased substantially for securities maturing in early June”If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, it would cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests,” she said. More

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s peso currency flexed its muscle on Monday to reach its highest value against the U.S. dollar in seven years, following nearly two years of interest rate hikes aimed at taming inflation that has seen consumer prices edge down. Some analysts chalk up the peso’s latest gains, however, as mostly the flip side of a weakening greenback. The peso gained 0.95% on Monday to trade at 17.42 pesos per dollar, its strongest level since May 2016.Over the last few years, the Mexican currency has mostly hovered around 20 pesos per dollar, but over the past year it holds the distinction of the currency that has gained the most against the U.S. dollar, or up nearly 11%. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador repeatedly touts the peso’s strength as evidence of sound macroeconomic policies, especially his administration’s budget austerity and pledge to avoid taking on new debt.But Franklin Templeton portfolio manager Luis Gonzali cited other factors as being behind the peso’s latest surge, including the sliding value of the greenback, most recently on fears of a potential default if U.S. lawmakers do not raise the country’s debt limit in order to cover already-approved spending.”A big part of (the peso’s strength) is the dollar’s weakness,” he said, adding that the Mexican economy further benefits from growing flows of fixed investments into the country.But Mexico City-based Gonzali also acknowledged Mexico’s healthier finances, relative to other emerging markets where currencies have not benefited as much as the peso due in part to more public expenditures, higher debt or looser monetary policies.”Mexico has shown itself to be the least ugly person at the party,” quipped Gonzali, helping it attract more dance partners.On Thursday, the Bank of Mexico is seen maintaining its benchmark interest rate at 11.25%, halting a cycle of hikes that began in June 2021, according to a Reuters poll of analysts. More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New Jersey’s two Democratic senators and the state’s governor said on Monday they are seeking to halt a plan by New York City to adopt a congestion pricing plan in Manhattan, which would be the country’s first.Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker urged U.S. Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg not to grant final approval to environmental reviews needed to implement the congestion pricing plan after his department gave a key approval on May 5. Menendez said separately that he is introducing legislation this week that would cut 50% of New York state federal highway grant funding if the plan moves ahead.The plan “would shift New York’s financial and environmental burdens onto New Jersey families and institutions,” the senators wrote.Governor Phil Murphy said he would work “to halt implementation of this misguided tolling plan” and said the state is assessing legal options.Buttigieg’s office did not immediately comment.Earlier this month, USDOT approved release of the final environmental assessment for New York’s congestion pricing plan for public review.New York said drivers could face a traffic congestion charge of up to $23 a day. A study projected would reduce the number of cars entering Manhattan by 15% to 20%.The city wants to charge a daily variable toll for vehicles entering or remaining within the central business district, defined as between 60th Street in midtown Manhattan and Battery Park on Manhattan’s southern tip.After the public review expires June 12, USDOT’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will make its final decision. Following entry into a tolling agreement, tolling could begin up to 310 days later, the city said on Friday.New York, which has the most congested U.S. traffic, would become the first major city in the country to follow London, which began a similar charge in 2003.New York lawmakers approved the plan in 2019 to provide funding to improve mass transit by using tolls to manage traffic in central Manhattan and was originally projected to start in 2021. The federal government under President Donald Trump did not take any action. More

(Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever.A barrage of Chinese economic data on Tuesday will give investors a clearer picture of whether their growing fears over the health of Asia’s largest economy lately are justified.If the April snapshots of retail sales, urban investment and industrial production come in weaker than expected – and consensus forecasts are for solid rebounds from the month before – the China bears and doomsters will be in the ascendancy. Broader market sentiment may be reasonably well supported after Wall Street eked out modest gains on Monday despite alarming slump in a key index of U.S. factory activity and another day of deadlock in the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations.On the Chinese data, the forecasts from Reuters polls of economists are for: retail sales to rise 21% year on year, double the pace from March; urban investment to rise 5.5%; and industrial production to rise 10.9% year on year, more than twice as fast as March.China’s growth momentum has slowed sharply, reflected most dramatically in the collapse in imports and inflation, and Citi’s Chinese economic surprise index on Monday fell below 100.0 for the first time since March 9.But Chinese stocks snapped their recent losing streak on Monday – the blue chips index rose 1.5% for its best day since Feb. 20, and second best day this year – as investors turn their attention to three key earnings reports this week.Tech giants Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) and Tencent report Q1 results on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, and Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) releases full-year 2023 results on Thursday.The Hang Seng tech index has significantly underperformed the Nasdaq this year – it is down 5% while Wall Street’s major tech index is up 18% – but it has rallied for the last four sessions, its best run since March.Elsewhere in Asia, the Thai baht on Monday posted its biggest rise against the dollar in three weeks, lifted by stronger-than-expected GDP growth figures, although investors were braced for political uncertainty after the opposition secured a stunning election victory on Sunday.Meanwhile, convention around blackout periods ahead of policy decisions are a little different in the Philippines from the United States, as shown by remarks made by the central bank governor on Monday just three days before the next meeting.Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla told reporters that the central bank could pause its interest rate hikes this week, after inflation in April eased again.The Philippine peso on Monday slipped to its lowest against the dollar in almost a month.Here are three key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday:- Australia consumer sentiment (May)- China investment, retail sales, industrial output (April)- Euro zone GDP (Q1, flash estimate) (By Jamie McGeever; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) More

AMELIA ISLAND, Florida (Reuters) -Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin on Monday said he is not convinced inflation is on a steady decline back to the U.S. central bank’s 2% target or that overall demand in the economy has been curbed enough to ensure it gets there.Barkin said he remained open-minded on whether the Fed at its June 13-14 policy meeting should raise the benchmark policy rate for an 11th straight time or leave it at the current range between 5.00% and 5.25%. Some data does build the case that the economy is cooling, Barkin said, including “flattish” credit card spending and aspects of the job market, while stress in the banking industry, the implications of that for lending, and an ongoing debt ceiling stalemate argue for caution.”You could tell yourself a story where inflation comes down relatively quickly … with only a modest economic slowdown,” Barkin said in comments to Reuters on the sidelines of a conference on Amelia Island, Florida.But “I’m not yet convinced … I do wonder whether we’re not going to need more impact on demand to bring inflation down to where we need to go,” Barkin said, laying out a potential case for further rate increases.It’s an issue he won’t decide, he said, until closer to the Fed’s meeting next month, with data still to come on jobs, prices, and credit, and a potential resolution – or not – of the debt limit fight between President Joe Biden’s administration and Republicans in Congress.Barkin said he is comfortable overall with the Fed’s move earlier this month to a meeting-by-meeting, data-dependent approach after having raised the policy rate by 5 percentage points since March 2022 in an effort to lower the highest inflation in 40 years.That has begun to show some impact, but Barkin said the economy remains resilient in many ways..”On the unemployment side, I think you could fairly say it’s moved from red hot to hot, right?” Barkin said. “There’s nothing about 3.4% unemployment that feels … cool.””I’m still seeing data that suggests a hot job market and enduring inflation,” he said. “I continue to believe that inflation will last longer than perhaps market measures of inflation compensation would suggest. And so I’m still looking to ask myself the question whether we need to do more.”In announcing their latest rate hike on May 3, Fed officials also signaled they may be at a point where they could pause further increases to gauge the impact of their previous actions as well as from what is expected to be tighter conditions caused by the recent run of bank failures. More