FTSE up, oil down as Brexit weighs

The FTSE rose again this morning after falling 2 percent on Tuesday over fears that the UK is swinging towards a Brexit.

The index is up 0.90 percent in early trade, with the pound – which also dropped dramatically yesterday – following suit, up half a cent at $1.4167.

However, oil has hit its lowest price in three weeks, as Brexit worries and a surprise build in U.S. inventories pushed prices down.

U.S. crude CLc1 fell to $47.55, with Brent LCOc1 hitting its lowest price in two weeks, at $49.29 a barrel.

Roll-Royce CEO urges a “Remain’ vote

The CEO of British engineering company Rolls-Royce has urged its staff to vote to Stay in the EU, saying that a Brexit would “limit any company’s ability to plan and budget for the future.”

“We have taken the public position that as a company Rolls-Royce believes our customers, suppliers and employees benefit from the UK’s membership of the European Union and that it is in the company’s interests to remain a member,” East said.

He continued, “We have a very interconnected operation around Europe… We’re making investment decisions all the time about where to place various parts of our operation… and uncertainty created by Brexit puts a lot of those decisions on hold, and that pause is something that our US competitors don’t have to cope with.”

Rolls-Royce is Britain’s premier engineering company and employs 37,000 people.

UK inflation sticks at 0.3 percent

The UK’s inflation rate remained unchanged in May at 0.3%, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

A fall in the price of clothing offset rising transport costs, keeping inflation well below the 2 percent target set by the Bank of England.

The continued low inflation makes it unlikely that rates will be raised in the near future.

15/06/2016