Stocks soar on Fed chair’s dovish signal on interest rates November 28, 2018 The chair of the Federal Reserve took a softer line on interest rates yesterday, after being slammed by President Donald Trump over his hawkish policies. Jerome Powell hinted he may end interest rate hikes, saying rates are now “just below” the level which would not impact a healthy economy. Buoyed by the statement, Wall Street [...]
Electric Vehicle giant ChargePoint brings on Daimler as an investor in $240m funding round November 28, 2018 California-based electric vehicle charging network Chargepoint has secured $240m (£188m) in its largest-ever Series H funding round, bringing on new investors such as Quantum Energy Partners, which led the round, and Daimler. Other investors in the round include American Electric Power, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Chevron Technology Ventures, Clearvision and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. They add [...]
Tech leaders to pressure European politicians to revise ‘archaic’ laws November 28, 2018 More than 30 business leaders and entrepreneurs from across the technology industry have signed a letter to be delivered to European policymakers in January, urging them to consider updating EU laws on giving employees shares in the startups they work for. With signatories including the bosses of firms such as Transferwise, Delivery Hero, Anthemis and [...]
Major UK banks pass ‘worst case scenario’ no-deal Brexit stress tests November 28, 2018 All of the UK’s major banks passed a beefed-up stress test as the Bank of England heralded the resilience of the UK financial system, it was revealed today. The seven banks – Nationwide, Santander UK, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Lloyds, Barclays, and RBS – had three and half times the capital ratio than before the global [...]
Former Google chief Eric Schmidt: AI could fix the world’s productivity problem November 28, 2018 Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive and chairman of Google, has come out with a message of confidence for the future of tech in the workplace, predicting AI could provide productivity with a much-needed boost. "I can tell you that [in] the future is there’s going to be a much larger number of empty jobs, [...]
No-deal Brexit could result in eight per cent hit to UK economy, warns Bank of England November 28, 2018 A no-deal Brexit could cause the UK economy to fall eight per cent in a single year, the Bank of England warned today, leading to crashing house prices and surging unemployment. However, in a boost for the Prime Minister, the Bank said her withdrawal agreement and a close economic relationship with the EU could boost GDP by [...]
UK creative industries smash £100bn barrier amid video game boom November 28, 2018 Britain’s creative industries contributed a record-breaking £101.5bn to the UK economy last year, new figures have revealed. Figures published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) show Britain’s film, music and advertising industries grew almost twice as quickly as the UK economy in 2017. Since 2010 gross value added (GVA) from the [...]
Worst yet to come with Crossrail delay as TfL faces £400m 2021 revenue shortfall, warns Moody’s November 28, 2018 The delay to the launch of Crossrail will hit Transport for London (TfL) with a £400m funding shortfall in 2021, financial services giant Moody's has found. The £15.4bn Elizabeth Line was supposed to open this December but has been delayed until autumn next year because of issues around signalling testing. Moody's found that while TfL will manage [...]
John McDonnell agrees Labour support for new Brexit referendum is ‘inevitable’ November 28, 2018 Labour’s John McDonnell believes it is “inevitable” his party will soon back another referendum on Brexit. In an interview on Wednesday afternoon, the shadow chancellor gave the clearest indication yet Labour will fully endorse another vote on the UK’s relationship with the EU. Labour’s official position is it would push for a general election if Theresa [...]
Disney signs deal to move digital ad business to Google November 28, 2018 Disney has agreed to transfer its global digital advertising business to Google in a lucrative deal for the tech giant. The deal will see Disney move its entire digital video and display business for brands such as Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars to Google's Ad Manager platform. The agreement builds on an existing relationship between the two [...]