Consumer holds key to UK economy

As we start a new year, the crucial question facing UK investors in UK equities this year is whether...

As we start a new year, the crucial question facing UK investors in UK equities this year is whether consumer spending will hold up sufficiently to offset the weakness seen in parts of the manufacturing and the financial sectors. This weakness partly reflects the geopolitical pressures facing the global economy. Sceptics believe that conditions cannot get any better for the consumer, while house prices have been rising too fast for too long and a bubble must pop. Optimists point out that unemployment and interest rates are near record lows, with neither likely to shift much in the for...