Labour Party Conference

This morning’s headlines are dominated by the Labour party conference, which kicks off today in Liverpool. Amid developments over senior members of government accepting freebies, the party will hope that a message of ‘optimism’ will detract attention away from such criticisms (though of course that will be easier said than done).

At noon today, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver a key-note speech, in what is expected to mark a departure from the more pessimistic tone that No.11 have stuck over the last few months given the state of the nation’s finances.

While Reeves will, in all probability, cite the £22bn “black hole” that she argues was left by the Conservatives, it is also expected that she will speak of the great level of potential across the country. For example, writing in The Times this morning, Reeves maintained that she has “never been more optimistic about our country’s fortunes”. Her caveat – something which will be a key theme of today’s speech – is that such growth is first and foremost contingent on the country balancing its books.

Hence, Reeves is expected to say later today that “Stability, paired with reform, will forge the conditions for business to invest and consumers to spend with confidence. Growth is the challenge, and investment is the solution.”

Such balancing will be underpinned by “tough decisions”, she argues, and business, households and markets will be paying close attention to any indication of what such decisions may look like.

For example, the topic of winter fuel payments remains a salient issue going into the conference, with Reeves ruling out any U-turn on the plan to scrap it, despite pressure from some within her party. (This measure is expected to see 10m pensioners who do not receive pension credit lose the winter fuel payment of up to £300).

This morning, The People’s Bank of China reduced its 14-day reverse repurchase rate by 10bps, in a move that was widely unexpected by the markets. The decision of the central bank brings the rate down from 1.95% to 1.85%.

The decision marks the latest move to ease monetary conditions and follows the PBoC’s cuts to their long and short term benchmark interest rates delivered in July.

The central bank continues to grapple with an economy facing headwinds in the form of a downturn in consumption, fragility in local government debt and a precarious property sector. An increasingly tempestuous relationship between Washington and Beijing has also got many concerned over the extent to which this could impact transpacific trade between the two economic powerhouses.

As attention turns to the release of PMI data from the Eurozone, UK and US this morning, French figures published this morning indicates that the EU’s second largest economy suffered a post-Olympics slump during September.

Against forecasts of 52.7 for French services PMI, the print slowed to 48.3, as manufacturing came in at 44.

Accordingly, overall business activity levels fell at the fastest pace since January. Here, the report cited “an accelerated contraction in new orders, which panellists attributed to slowing market conditions and a shrinkage in customer numbers”.

Attention now turns to the release of PMI data from elsewhere throughout the course of the day.