The Week in Numbers: anarchy in the UK
STORY: From a market meltdown over UK tax plans, to a big fine for Wall Street banks, this is the Week in Numbers.
Just above $1.03 was the record low versus the dollar hit by sterling on Monday.
The pound has plunged and UK borrowing costs have soared amid alarm over last week’s mini-budget.
Traders fear the plan to slash taxes and ramp up borrowing could fuel inflation and threaten public finances.
Up to $69 billion in new bond buying was the response from the Bank of England on Wednesday.
The central bank stepped in amid signs that the turmoil had some pension funds in trouble.
Samuel Tombs at Pantheon Macroeconomics says any relief for sterling may be short lived:
''Well, I think the pound is going to have to be sacrificed in order to protect the economy. At the moment, the pound's value is based on an assumption that the Bank of England will increase interest rates all the way to 6% early next year. But I think that's simply implausible. That would entail too much pain for households and businesses.”
$1.8 billion is the total fine imposed on 16 financial firms by U.S. regulators for using personal devices and apps to discuss deals.
The SEC says official business must be done in a transparent, traceable way.
About $194 billion is the size of Germany’s new economic defensive shield.
That’s a package of measures, including a gas price brake, to protect consumers and companies from soaring costs.
And over 4% was the tumble in Apple shares on Wednesday.
That after reports it was ditching plans to ramp up output of the latest iPhone.
Some investors took the news as further evidence that a cost-of-living crunch is killing consumer demand.
