Barclays share price falls as wealth management arm Barcap is slapped with $13.75m penalties December 30, 2015 Barclays shares slumped 0.7 per cent to 220.95p per share this morning, after a US regulator found its former wealth and investment management arm made unsuitable mutual fund switches between 2010 and 2015. The US financial industry regulatory authority (Finra) ordered Barclays Capital to pay more than $10m (£6.7m) in compensation to the customers affected, and a [...]
Sterling outperformed four out of five currencies this year – but exotic holidays to the Seychelles and the Maldives became more expensive December 30, 2015 The strong performing UK economy, a global commodity rout and the economic slowdown in China led to sterling outperforming four out of five currencies in the past year, giving British holidaymakers more bang for their buck when they're abroad. The pound increased in value against 48 of 61 currencies, including the euro, Brazilian real, Turkish lira and Australian dollar, [...]
CIPD: The Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility are wrong about wage growth in 2016 December 30, 2015 Wage growth next year won't be as optimistic as the Bank of England and Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) anticipate, the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) has warned. Despite the introduction of the National Living Wage, wage growth will remain at two per cent in 2016, the organisation said – much lower than [...]
FTSE 100 index opens down on miners and oil companies December 30, 2015 The FTSE 100 index opened lower this morning, led by mining and oil companies which extended losses made yesterday. The UK's top blue-chip index opened 0.51 per cent lower at 6,280 points, with BHP Billiton and Glencore leading the pack lower. The pair fell 1.47 per cent to 764.8p per share and 1.57 per cent to [...]
Moody’s slices Noble’s rating to junk as commodity rout deepens December 30, 2015 Moody's downgraded Asia-focused commodities trader Noble to junk status with a negative outlook yesterday, due to concerns about the company's profitability in the face of the plunging commodities prices. Moody's cut Noble's senior unsecured bond ratings to Ba1, which is junk status, from Baa3. It also gave a Ba1 corporate family rating to Noble, despite its cost-cutting efforts such as [...]
US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump will “spend $2m a week on campaign” December 30, 2015 Donald Trump has said he will spend $2m a week on his campaign, as the year of the US presidential election looms. Speaking to CNN, Trump said: "I'll be spending a minimum of $2m a week and perhaps substantially more than that." The multi-billionaire said he will do "substantial" adverts in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, [...]
UK house price growth hit an eight month high in December, Nationwide House Price Index finds December 30, 2015 December was a bumper month for property as house prices experienced their biggest monthly rise in eight months, new figures reveal. House prices in the UK grew 0.8 per cent on November, the largest increase since April when prices rose one per cent on the previous month, with the average price coming in at £196,999 at the [...]
House prices: The UK’s homes rose in value by £1.4bn a day in 2015 December 30, 2015 Like big numbers? Read on… The UK's homes rose in value by £1.4bn a day in 2015, giving our collective bricks and mortar a total value of £7.76 trillion by the end of the year, according to figures by online property portal Zoopla. That figure is £519bn – or 7.2 per cent – higher than last [...]
Amazon share price touches record high after adding three million Prime members over Christmas December 29, 2015 Shares in Amazon have touched a record high after a stellar performance over the Christmas period. In morning trading, Nasdaq-listed shares in the online retailer and increasingly jack-of-all-trades touched $694.55, an intraday all-time high, after reporting record sales of devices and Prime membership over the festive season. More than three million members joined Amazon Prime in the third [...]
Boardroom diversity: Slow progress for gender equality at FTSE 100 executive level despite Lord Davies’ Review December 29, 2015 For Britain’s most powerful firms, women in executive positions continue to be about as common as unicorns, new analysis has revealed. Boardroom diversity has soared in recent years, but despite this, not much has changed at executive level. Following Lord Davies’ target for FTSE 100 firms to have 25 per cent women at executive level [...]