Tuesday newspaper round-up: Pound, Scotland independence, China
Hedge funds have sold $100bn of sterling over the past month.
Hedge funds have sold $100bn of sterling over the past month. Analysts are now warning that the Bank of England may have little choice but raise rates much sooner than expected. For the first time since the beginning of the euro area's crisis hedge funds now hold net short positions in sterling versus the dollar, according to the Paris-based Lyxor Asset Management, The Times reports.
The Scottish independence referendum and its implications continue to monopolise the first pages on Tuesday. David Cameron has warned that a vote for independence could end the UK “for good, for ever”, reports The Guardian.
In his last visit to Scotland before Thursday’s referendum, the prime minister highlighted the costs of what he said would be a “painful divorce” if Scotland decided to leave the union. Cameron’s words came on the same day as a Guardian/ICM poll showed that 63% of voters in England and Wales oppose the idea of sharing the pound with an independent Scotland.
Cameron’s remarks find space on The Daily Telegraph too but the broadsheet goes a step further and, citing a report from a security thinktank, suggest that even a ‘no’ vote would raise questions over Britain’s future.
“A ‘no’ vote would also have significant implications for future UK foreign and defence policy,” says the report and could “increase the likelihood of the UK voting to stay in the EU” as people north of the border tend Scots tended “to view the EU more favourably than those living in other parts of the UK.”
The Financial Times, meanwhile, says world economies could be bracing themselves for a “triple shock”, with events in Scotland, Ukraine and Syria likely to send shockwaves through the, British, European and US economies.
China is to impose ban on low-grade coal, reports the Financial Times. New restrictions on ash and sulphur content will come into effect in 2015, as the Chinese government has brushed aside warnings of a credit crunch and looks determined to push through a series of reforms, adds the Daily Telegraph.
British phone retailer Phones 4u has hit out at Vodafone and EE over stores closures, reports The Guardian.
After losing a contract with EE, Phones 4u closed 550 stores on Monday and entered administration, putting more than 5,000 jobs at risk but the retailer’s owner, private equity firm BC Partners said Vodafone and EE were responsible for the group’s collapse.
"Vodafone has acted in exactly the opposite way to what they had consistently indicated to the management of Phones 4u over more than six months. Their behaviour appears to have been designed to inflict the maximum damage to their partner of 15 years, giving Phones 4u no time to develop commercial alternatives,” said BC executive Stefano Quadrio Curzio.
Clients who signed up to receive the iPhone 6 ahead of everyone else havebenetold they may have to wait until next month as the manufacturer copes with high demand. Following the start of advance, and in just 24 hours, sales Apple logged over four million orders for its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets, writes The Times.