British economy shows signs of recovery

David Miles, an incoming member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England, said there were signs that the British economy was recovering, stated The Times.

His comments came as a result of the European stock markets increasing led by Nokia and Harley-Davidson. Moreover, the outcome was caused by the remarks of Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, who said that the Wall Street company was already able to repay the $25 billion (£16.7 billion) borrowed from US taxpayers in October; and Bob Diamond, head of Barclays Capital, the investment bank, who predicted that the sector's performance in the past three months would not be a “one-off”.

At the same time, stock markets are rising, with the FTSE 100 rising by 84.58 points to 4,052.98 (a gain of 2.1 per cent); the CAC 40 index in France rose by 1.76 per cent and the Dax index in Germany rose by 1.31 per cent. Furthermore, industrial average on Wall Street the Dow Jones closed at 8,125.43 points, up 95.81, or 1.2 per cent, whereas JPMorgan Chase reported net income of $2.1 billion for the three months to March 31, down from $2.4 accordingly. 

Bank of America Merrill Lynch monthly survey showed that optimism about growth has reached 26 per cent its highest level since early 2004.