Tuesday, 11th July: Having sent the supermarkets into frenzy last month after announcing a £10.7bn deal on American grocer Whole Foods Market, this month Amazon have got their eyes set on India. The term ‘mom-and-pop’ stores refers to the family-owned, controlled, and operated small business which account for the largest share of grocery sales in India, offering potential growth for larger players, cue Amazon. Amazon’s current operations in India include Amazon Pantry, where retailers sell various products through the platform. India’s growing economy and Amazon’s expanding operations go hand in hand, and if successful, could be a game changer in the grocery market in India.
Making a more humble move back in the UK is Aldi. We’ve been speculating its rapid growth over the years along with its compeer Lidl, and on Tuesday we discovered their plans to introduce 4,000 jobs in Britain, and their commitment to opening 1,000 stores by 2022. The German discounters are certainly working their way through British homes and leaving a good impression.
When it comes to Brexit, HSBC are ready. If we are hit with a ‘hard’ Brexit, HSBC are ready to send 1,000 of their 43,000 jobs, that’s just above 2%, over to Paris. They aren’t the only ones preparing for a hard Brexit either, as the likes of Standard Chartered, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and more have suggested plans to secure their access to the EU’s single market by moving jobs out of the UK.
The FTSE started the day ever so slightly higher, but quickly reversed the small gains and continued to drop throughout the afternoon by 0.76% at 7313 by mid-day as the sterling rose prior to the BoE policymakers’ meeting. GBP/USD was up 0.22% at $1.2908, and GBP/EUR was up 0.21% at €1.1326. By the end of the day they had only recovered a marginal amount compared to the mid-day trading, and finished the day down 0.63% at 7323.