FTSE 100 close: Blue chip index ends higher as disappointing retail sales figures fail to dent JD Sports, Frasers and Burberry January 20, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 index closed the week marginally higher, clawing back some some of this year’s earlier gains following a poor performance yesterday. The capital’s premier index climbed 0.3 per cent to 7,770.59 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index rose 0.7 per cent to close at 19,702.63. JD Sports, Frasers and Burberry were [...]
Davos round-up: Optimism, the dangers of forecasting and subsidy competition January 20, 2023 Optimism As Davos draws to a close, participants will likely leave feeling more optimistic than when they arrived. There was a mood of gentle optimism throughout, stoked by China’s reopening, rising hopes Europe can avoid a recession and continuing signs US inflation has passed its peak. IMF managing director Kristilina Georgieva cautiously joined the chorus [...]
Markets Wrap January 20, 2023 | City Talk Another eventful week of trading comes to a close, and we end the week quite differently to how we started it. Last week we saw solid upside in stocks with no real fundamental driver, as banks kicked off the Q4 earnings season and the US posted a relatively strong Michigan consumer sentiment figure. The theme [...]
Govt to funnel £300m towards British Steel in bid to save struggling metal maker from collapse – reports January 20, 2023 The Government is poised to funnel nearly a third of a billion pounds towards British Steel to save the struggling metal maker from collapse, according to reports. Sky News said that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is prepared to hand the company £300 million in instalments over the next few years if it meets certain conditions. The [...]
Tech Nation ‘working round clock to secure future’ after Govt strips it of £12m contract and awards it to Barclays January 20, 2023 Start-up body Tech Nation said it is facing an existential crisis and was scrambling to secure funding for its future today, after the government stripped it of a major £12m government contract and handed it to Barclays. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) confirmed it had handed the new tech deal to Barclays [...]
Starmer tells Davos Labour would ban oil and gas projects, as critics say it jeopardises net zero and energy security January 20, 2023 Labour risks the UK's energy security by calling for no further investment new oil and gas projects in the North Sea, OEUK warned.
Britain looking for buyer or it faces losing £6m ancient Egyptian sculpture once owned by King George III January 20, 2023 Britain is at risk of losing a rare 2,400-year-old ancient Egyptian sculpture worth £6m and once owned by King George III because a buyer cannot be found. The limestone statue depicting the priest Mehernefer of the vulture goddess Nekhbet seated next to his standing son, who bore the same name and was the priest of [...]
UK signs export finance deal with Egyptian construction titan in boost to post-Brexit trade with Africa January 20, 2023 UK Export Finance has agreed a post-Brexit deal with one of Egypt’s biggest construction and engineering firms, Hassan Allam Holding, to increase cooperation across Africa. Hassan Allam is one of the largest firms in the country, spanning areas including investment and development companies in Egypt. It has a vast a portfolio of projects ranging from [...]
Close Brothers share price falls as sets aside £90m for legal loans January 20, 2023 Close Brothers will set aside an additional £90m in its 2023 financial statements against bad loans from legal-finance specialist Novitas Loans. Close Brothers acquired Novitas in 2017. In 2021 Close Brothers ceased approval of new loans from Novitas and let existing loans run off. In a statement today, the merchant banking group said Novitas was [...]
Seraphine sells: Maternity brand worn by celebrities including Kate Middleton and Kate Winslet to be taken private in £15.3m deal January 20, 2023 The board of Purple Bidco, owned by Mayfair Equity, and directors of Seraphine have agreed to buy out the maternity clothing company in a deal which values the celebrity fashion favourite at £15.3m. The offer represents a 206 per cent premium of the firm’s share price, with each share being sold for 30p cash in [...]