European stock markets started Wednesday on the back foot after the price of Bitcoin (BTC-USD) surged as much as $1,000 (£786), before later dropping, following a fake tweet that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
In London, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was trading 0.2% lower after opening, while the CAC (^FCHI) lost 0.1% in Paris, and the Frankfurt DAX (^GDAXI) was also almost 0.1% down.
Bitcoin saw some significant volatility last night after the SEC tweeted that it had given approval for a Bitcoin ETF, a decision on which is expected today, before subsequently claiming that it had been hacked and had done no such thing.
Soon after the initial post appeared, SEC chair Gary Gensler, said on his personal account that the SEC’s account had been compromised and that “the SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products”. Gensler called the post “unauthorized”.
The price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency fell back to $45,500, losing $63bn in market value over just a matter of minutes.
Read more: Cheapest supermarket of 2023 revealed
“Since the end of last year and the strong gains leading up to the end of last month markets have exhibited none of the same enthusiasm to carry the momentum higher, with trading activity subdued and a relatively negative bias so far year to date,” said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst of CMC Markets.”
“It’s hard to assign a singular reason for the lack of enthusiasm so far month to date apart from a great deal of uncertainty around the prospects for the global economy and the timeline for central bank rate cuts.”
Read more: Why tax cuts in 2024 might not leave you paying less
On Tuesday, the World Bank outlined a bleak outlook for the global economy over the next few years with predictions that growth was likely to slow for the third year in a row in 2024. The organisation nudged their estimate for this year down from 2.6% to 2.4%.
Last night on the back of the news, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed almost 0.2% lower on the day, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 0.1% higher. The Dow Jones (^DJI) slipped 0.4% in New York, ending at 37,525.16.
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Greggs shares surge amid expansion plans
A customer leaves the Greggs store in Piccadilly Circus, central London. (Aaron Chown, PA Images) Shares in Greggs surged over 7% as the high street bakery reported a 9.4% rise in like-for-like sales across its own-managed shops in the fourth quarter.
Greggs said it does not plan to hike prices over the year ahead, but is unlikely to be able to offer price cuts as rising wages keep costs under pressure.
The group said 2023 sales rose 19.6% to £1.81bn from £1.51bn the year before and with like-for-like sales growth of 13.7%.
Greggs revealed plans to open up to another 160 stores in the year ahead and cheered a strong end to 2023.
The group opened a record 220 new shops over 2023, with 33 closures and 42 relocations leaving it with 145 new sites on a net basis and taking its total estate to 2,473.
Greggs is set to open between 140 and 160 new shops on a net basis in 2024 as it looks to give customers more convenient access to its stores.
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Dollar strengthens
Pile of new design US dollar bills as background. Top view point. 100 Dollars with a portrait of the President. (Oleg Polonskii) The US dollar is trading softer after closing the previous session with more than a quarter per cent gain against a basket of other major currencies.
This strengthening of the greenback comes as expectations fade of a speedy unwinding of the Fed’s monetary tightening.
Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades, said:
“In the run-up to the end of 2023, after a surprisingly dovish Jerome Powell all but announced the end of the fight against inflation, the dollar weakened as investors priced in a first rate cut in March, with several more expected throughout 2024.”
“However, the resilience of the US economy and the defiant tone of some Federal Reserve officials, who refused to claim victory in the fight against inflation, meant that the optimism of mid-to-late December evolved into uncertainty in a dynamic that is dollar positive.”
“Against this background, tomorrow’s US CPI numbers will be crucial in determining the short- to medium-term dollar price action.”
“These inflation figures can either consolidate the view that it is too early to announce the end of monetary tightening or, should they read below expectations, revive risk appetite and cancel the dollar gains of the last two weeks.”
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Cheapest supermarket of 2023 revealed
NUERNBERG, GERMANY – CIRCA JUNE 2022: Aldi Sued Storefront Sign (CHROMORANGE RM) Aldi has been crowned the cheapest supermarket of 2023, beating its rival Lidl, according to consumer group Which?
My colleague Pedro Gonçalves writes…
December’s results show a basket of 43 groceries was £74.83 at Aldi, narrowly cheaper than at Lidl where it cost £76.74.
Aldi was the cheapest supermarket for 11 months of the year, with Lidl beating the rival discounter for one month in October, the consumer group said.
Waitrose came in nearly £20 more expensive than Aldi last month at £94.94, and Which? found it was the most expensive supermarket each month of 2023.
The watchdog said the findings demonstrated that shoppers could make considerable savings depending on where they bought their groceries.
Which? retail editor Ele Clark said: “With food prices continuing to put immense pressure on household budgets, it’s no surprise to see many people turning to discounters like Aldi and Lidl.
Which? also compared the cost of a larger trolley of more than 100 items each month. Aldi and Lidl are never included in this comparison as they do not always stock some branded products.
Asda was the cheapest supermarket for a larger trolley for 11 months of the year, apart from in July when Morrisons came out top.
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