All the day’s economic and financial news, including new data showing how Germany’s economy is performing * US jobless claims edge higher * US Treasury Secretary: Tax reform by August * UK retailers worried about the future * German GDP rises by 1.9%, overtaking UK * The agenda: UK retail sales, Barclays, French jitters 5.07pm GMT Over in Greece,. and finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos has said that new concessions the government has agreed to make in return for further bailout loans will not be without cost. The warning came as IMF chief Christine Lagarde also warned that Greece will have to reform before debt relief can be discussed. Our correspondent Helena Smith reports from Athens: Making his first public intervention since Monday’s eurogroup meeting, Euclid Tsakalotos said it was inevitable that pre-legislation of further pension and income tax measures would bring pain for some and gain for others. “Some may lose out but some will gain,” he told the Greek parliament this afternoon. “Some who we do not assist at present – and we should help them - will gain,” he said. Tsakalotos had been roundly criticised for not addressing the public in the wake of the Monday’s eurogroup where the government, under mounting pressure to resume stalled bailout negotiations, was perceived to have caved in to demands for further measures. Following talks with the German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, the IMF’s Christine Lagarde said it was now incumbent on Athens to implement the reforms if the IMF was to sign up to the programme. 4.35pm GMT Stock markets appear to be pausing for breath, with all the major indices - including the Dow - in negative territory. The FTSE 100 was among the weaker markets, with a strong pound taking the shine off dollar earners and Barclays reversing earlier gains. Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: With the pound having a strong afternoon - ....gains against the dollar joined by a 0.6% rise against the euro – the FTSE completely lost its way as the session wrapped up, tumbling around half a percent. The index wasn’t helped by the reversal of Barclays’ earlier growth; the bank, which announced this morning that it had nearly trebled its annual profit year-on-year, shifted from a 3.5% rise to a 3% loss, investors displeased at the cautious tone and conduct charge-littered outlook outlined by the bank in its full year statement. It finally looks as if the downside is getting some traction across markets, with the FTSE 100 breaking lower and US markets posting small losses in the early part of the session. It is probably too early to announce the demise of the rally, but at some point something had to give, and in recent days it had become clear that the risk appetite that was so unstoppable a week ago had given way to nervous selling. Continue reading...
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