A late PS: P&O Ferries first passenger trip from Dover to Calais since cross-channel tourist services were suspended in March is underway. The Spirit of Britain departed the Port of Dover this afternoon, having arrived frrom Calais earlier as cross-Channel sailings restarted. The Spirit of Britain (right) passes the Pride of Canterbury as it leaves the Port of Dover in Kent. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA As explained earlier, it has been crossing the English channel for just under a week, carrying freight-only traffic, but will now carry passengers too.

It is due to return from Calais back to Dover this evening, now that the boat has passed safety inspections. However, three other vessels cannot run on the service yet. The Pride of Kent is unable to sail having failed a safety inspection, while Pride of Canterbury and Spirit of France haven’t been inspected yet.

The Australian dollar had a strong day, after the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked rates by 0.25% - the first rate rise in 11 years. The central bank lifted its cash rate target from the record low 0.1% it had hovered at since November 2020, during the depths of the Covid pandemic. It was raised more than expected to 0.35%, and the RBA signalled more rises to come. RBA governor Philip Lowe said in a statement that: “The board judged that now was the right time to begin withdrawing some of the extraordinary monetary support that was put in place to help the Australian economy during the pandemic,” Reserve Bank interest rates: RBA lifts official cash rate to 0.35% in first rise since 2010 In November, the RBA signalled the first rate-hike might not be until 2024, so this goes to show how much things have changed in the past six months. Australia, like other countries is dealing with high inflation, which hit 5.1% - its highest mark in 20 years. This hike comes at a time when the Chinese economy is cooling. Australia is dependant on China for trade, so higher domestic interest rates, plus a slowing Chinese economy does not bode well for Australia.

European markets all ended the day higher, as they shrugged off Monday’s losses. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC both gained around 0.7%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB jumped 1.6%. 🔔 European Closing Bell 🔔



🇬🇧 FTSE 100 Up 0.1% (vs. Friday's Close)



🇪🇺 STOXX 50 Up 0.6%



🇪🇺 STOXX 600 Up 0.4%



🇩🇪 DAX Up 0.6%



🇫🇷 CAC 40 Up 0.6% pic.twitter.com/z14sFdzqCx — PiQ  () May 3, 2022 Yesterday’s selloff was partly due to worries over the global economy, the prospect of a hike in US interest rates tomorrow, and jitters after a Citigroup trader accidentally caused a brief flash crash. Citigroup says trader made error behind ‘flash crash’ in Europe

In the City, BP has ended the day as the top riser on London’s index of blue-chip shares. BP climbed 5.8% by the close to end the day at 414.25p, the highest since 14 February, despite calls for the firm to face a windfall tax to help strugging familes. City traders piled into BP shares after it beat underlying profit forecasts and pledged to return $2.5bn to shareholders through buybacks this quarter. Investors were not troubled by BP reporting a loss of $20.4bn, as the $25.5bn cost of exiting Russia and ditching its shareholding in Rosneft was largely priced in. #BP sticking to its financial frame. Despite much higher oil prices and strong cash flows, it's keeping to its $14-16bn capex budget and diverting that additional cash flow to more share buybacks. https://t.co/RcGcPPTy5V — Jon Mainwaring () May 3, 2022

UK energy suppliers who hiked their customers direct debit payments unfairly have been warned that they could be fined. Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has revealed that household energy suppliers face a crackdown on direct debit payment demands, as customers grapple with record bills for gas and electricity.

Kwarteng tweeted that some companies had been increasing direct debit payments “beyond what is required”, and that regulator Ofgem had launched a compliance review which could results in financial penalties. Some energy suppliers have been increasing Direct Debits beyond what is required.



I can confirm has today issued Compliance Reviews. Suppliers have three weeks to respond.



The regulator will not hesitate to swiftly enforce compliance, including issuing substantial fines. — Kwasi Kwarteng () May 3, 2022 In March, consumer campaigner Martin Lewis told MPs that some companies had unfairly increased direct debits in a bid to improve their cash flow at the expense of their customers. The founder of moneysavingexpert.com said the move could breach energy companies’ licence conditions. Energy firms using sharp practices to boost cashflow, says Martin Lewis

Mortgage giant Halifax has jumped the gun ahead of Thursday’s UK interest rate decision. Halifax has apologised for sending emails in error to customers, wrongly telling them that the Bank of England base rate had changed today. Customers of Halifax and Lloyds Bank, which is in the same banking group, were affected by the blunder.

perhaps you should have waited until after the interest rate meeting before sending this email to your customers! #interestrates pic.twitter.com/NHpJimkqO8 — Ryan M&C Saatchi Talk () May 3, 2022 also seem to think the are going to rise interest rates today! #interestrates pic.twitter.com/hEpUItSslD — Ryan M&C Saatchi Talk () May 3, 2022 The emails state “we want to help you understand what this could mean for you”, and go on to explain the differences between fixed and variable rate mortgages. They also highlight the support available if customers are struggling with their repayments. The base rate is currently 0.75% after three hikes in a row, and economsts widely expect another rise on Thursday to 1% as inflation remains inflation. “We are sorry for any confusion caused by an email issued in error this morning. “The email had been prepared in advance of Thursday’s MPC (Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee) decision so that in the event of a rise we could quickly advise customers and help them understand how that might affect their mortgage. “We are emailing customers today to apologise and confirm that there are no changes to their mortgage or rates.”

US job vacancies hit record as more Americans quit US job vacancies have climbed to a fresh record high, as firms continue to struggle to hire workers.

There were a record 11.5m job vacancies available at the end of March, the latest JOLTS report shows, the highest since the survey began in 2000. That’s up from 11.3m at the end of February, showing that America’s labor market remains unbalanced. It's tight!

JOLTs data shows a record 11.5 million job openings.

There were 1.9 jobs for every unemployed worker in March, up from February.  pic.twitter.com/Inru7c4fTx — Ritika Gupta () May 3, 2022 Job openings increased in retail trade, with an extra 155,000 positions available, and in durable goods manufacturing (up 50,000, as factories try to hire staff to handle those rising orders). Job openings decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-69,000); state and local government education (-43,000); and federal government (-20,000). With so many vacancies on offer, the number of Americans quitting their jobs also hit a record high, at 4.5m. That may be a sign workers are moving to better-paid positions, as they look to protect themselves from the highest inflation in around 40 years. JOLTS job openings surged in March to record 11.55M vs. 11.2M est. & 11.34M in prior month (rev up from 11.27M) … quits rate edged up to 3% vs. 2.9% prior; separations moved up to 4.2% vs. 4% prior; hirings stable at 4.5% pic.twitter.com/THDiMBzc4R — Liz Ann Sonders () May 3, 2022 OK, just no chance Powell goes dove tmrw. PMI/ISM>50, factory orders firm, and 11.5M (!) jobs open. If you believe Fed is targeting asset prices to incentivize workforce participation, that JOLTS is most hawkish # u can get. Also implies wage growth too — Oliver Renick () May 3, 2022

Back to manufacturing.... and US factories had a stronger March than expected. Orders for manufactured goods jumped by 2.2% during the month, twice as fast as forecast, up from a 0.1% rise in February (revised up from a 0.5% fall). Durable goods orders rose 1.1%, led by computers and electronic products, while non-durables were up 3.2%. That suggests demand for goods held up at the end of the first quarter, even though US GDP shrank unexpectedly by 0.4%. 🔔#Economic data: US Factory Orders (Mar) actual: 2.2%, expectd: 1.2%, previous: -0.5%. Clearly, US factory order numbers have started to indicate a stronger outlook for the US economy. Watch the Euro/dollar forex pair.



71% of Retail CFD accounts lose money. pic.twitter.com/a4apn4B8gk — AvaTrade () May 3, 2022

Source: The Guardian

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