Britain is at risk of a major economic downturn next year according to one of the world’s biggest active bond fund managers.
Daniel Ivascyn, chief investment officer at Pimco, warned that his company is running larger than usual bets on UK government bonds compared to the US as he expects the British economy to struggle in 2024.
It comes as Britain grapples with interest rates at 15-year highs of 5.25pc, while the Bank of England expects growth to be flat.
“In the case of the UK — a smaller, open economy, with a consumer that’s feeling the brunt of central bank policy far more than their US counterparts — you just have a higher probability of more significant economic deterioration,” Mr Ivascyn told the Financial Times.
“We do think there’s potentially more hard landing risks.”
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What happened overnight
Tokyo stocks closed higher as the yen slipped against the dollar after the Bank of Japan maintained its super-loose monetary policy.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 1.4pc, or 460.41 points, to 33,219.39, while the broader Topix index added 0.7pc, or 16.95 points, to end at 2,333.81.
The Japanese market started with losses in cautious trade ahead of the BoJ policy decision, as speculation had been swirling for weeks that officials would shift away from negative interest rates and a tight grip on bond yields as inflation picks up.
The Nikkei strengthened in afternoon trade after the central bank announced it was sticking to its easy monetary policy during the midday trading break. The yen slipped against the dollar after the announcement.
Asian shares were mixed elsewhere after a seven-week winning streak on Wall Street slowed down.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney added 0.8pc to 7,486.90, while South Korea’s Kospi was nearly unchanged, at 2,566.30.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 0.6pc to 16,527.75 and the Shanghai Composite index fell less than 1 point to 2,930.18.
Bangkok’s SET also was little changed, while Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.7pc.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 leading American companies finished essentially flat at 37,306.02. The broader S&P 500 gained 0.5pc, reaching 4,740.56, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite added or 0.6pc to 14,904.81.
Retailers and big technology companies were among the big gainers. Amazon.com rose 2.7pc and Etsy climbed 4.7pc for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 2.4pc, while Meta added 2.9pc and Netflix closed 3pc higher.
Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields were up 1.5 basis points to 3.943pc, from 3.928pc late Friday.
