Thursday 27 March 2025
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: UK house prices increase by 4.9 per cent
Business: Wall Street bonus pool rises to record $47.5 billion
Markets: Tesla shares fall by 6 per cent as European sales fall by 40 per cent
Foreign Affairs: ex-President of Brazil set for trial over alleged coup
Security and intelligence: France holds Ukraine summit but US focuses on China
Domestic politics: UK Chancellor delivers Spring Statement
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 8,689.59 (up 0.3%)
S&P 500 = 5,712.20 (down 1.12%)
Nasdaq = 17,899.02 (down 2.04%)
CAC40 = 8,030.68 (down 0.96%)
£1 = $1.29 / €1.20
*The Mighty Memo is now on Bluesky. Follows us on @themightymemo.*
The Mighty Detail
Economics: Average UK house prices increased by 4.9 per cent in the year to January. The average UK house price now stands at £269,000. The increase was fastest in the northwest of England, where growth reached 9.1 per cent. It was slowest in London at 2.3 per cent.
Business: Average bonuses on Wall Street rose by nearly one third to a record $244,700 in 2024. The total bonus pool paid out rose to $47.5 billion. This is the largest bonus pool since 1987 when records began. It comes as profits in financial services almost doubled last year.
Markets: Shares in Tesla fell by nearly 6 per cent during trading yesterday. It comes on the news that new Tesla registrations fell by 40 per cent in Europe in the year to February 2025. It also came ahead of President Trump’s announcement that he would impose 25 per cent tariffs on all cars “not made in the United States”.
Foreign Affairs: The former President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been ordered by the country’s Supreme Court to stand trial for allegedly attempting a coup after his election defeat in 2022. The coup reportedly included a plan to poison the current President and to kill a Supreme Court judge. Bolsonaro claims that the case against him is politically motivated.
Security and intelligence: Ahead of a meeting today in Paris to discuss Ukraine, President Macron said that a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine would respond if attacked by Russia. In a sign of different priorities to Europe, the US intelligence community published its Annual Threat Assessment report yesterday and said that China remained the top military and cyber threat to the US. It added that China seeks to replace the US as the top AI power by 2030.
Domestic politics: The UK Chancellor delivered her Spring Statement yesterday in which growth is forecast to halve this year from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. Other key points include:
· Inflation to increase to 3.2 per cent in 2025 before falling to 2.6 per cent in 2026
· Budget to move from a deficit of £36.1 billion this year to surplus of £6 billion in 2027
· Universal Credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants
· Tighter eligibility for disability benefits
· Voluntary redundancy for civil servants to save £3.5 billion by 2029
· Defence to receive an extra £2.2 billion next year
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
Transport Questions in the UK Parliament
France hosts meeting on Ukraine and European security
UN Security Council discusses the Democratic Republic of Congo
US GDP data (Q4 2024)
US jobless claims (weekly)
Japan CPI inflation data (March)
Company results from: NEXT, H&M
Lookahead to tomorrow
Private Members’ Bills in the UK Parliament
Reform UK launches local election campaign
Former Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson in court on bribery charges
UK GDP data (Q4 2024)
UK retail sales data (February)
US personal income and spending data (February)
Eurozone consumer confidence data (March)
Germany unemployment data (March)
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Sunny spells in most of England but still a little cloudy in the southwest. High of 17C and low of 8C in London. Heavy rain in Belfast and Edinburgh.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“No one knows enough to be a pessimist.” – Wayne Dyer, motivational speaker
Mighty takeaway: If you look at your worries, are you ever 100 per cent certain they will come true? The answer has to be no, because you can’t see into the future.
That’s it for this morning. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you again soon.
Bye!
The Mighty Memo team