Aluminium price climbs to near seven-year high on fears over Rusal supplies April 17, 2018 Aluminium rose to nearly a seven-year high this morning as the fallout of US sanctions against Russia’s Rusal continue to fuel fears of tightening supply. Benchmark aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME) climbed to a high of $2,435 a tonne, a more than two per cent rise and its highest price since September 2011. [...]
One third of millennials face renting for their whole lives and will never own a home April 17, 2018 Up to a third of young people face renting homes for their entire lives, according to a report out today from the Resolution Foundation. It said a generation of young people, those born between 1980 and 1996, face the prospect of never owning their own home, and said tax reforms are needed to discourage multiple [...]
Crossrail latest: Rollout of new Elizabeth Line trains on route to Heathrow delayed due to train signalling troubles April 17, 2018 The rollout of new Elizabeth Line trains on the Heathrow branch of the Crossrail route has been delayed because testing them with the new signalling system has been complex, and taken longer than expected. Transport for London (TfL) had hoped to roll out Elizabeth Line trains on the branch down to Heathrow from May, but [...]
Alibaba-backed Prenetics acquires UK-based genetic testing firm DNAFit April 17, 2018 Hong Kong-based genetic testing company Prenetics has acquired DNAFit, a British DNA testing company. With over $50m (£34.8m) in funding from Chinese retail giant Alibaba and Ping An Insurance, this is Prenetics’ first acquisition. The sale marks a further expansion into the UK market by Prenetics, although the company already has operations in the UK [...]
Unemployment in the UK reaches new four-decade low April 17, 2018 The proportion of the labour force out of work fell to a new four-decade low in February, surprising economists who had expected the rate to stay steady. Unemployment fell from 4.3 per cent in January to only 4.2 per cent in the three months to February, according to data published today by the Office for [...]
GBPUSD: British real wages are officially rising again but sterling falls back against the US dollar after growth misses expectations April 17, 2018 Britons’ pay packets grew by 2.8 per cent in the year to February, officially ending a year of real wage falls as salary increases have finally overtaken price rises. The Office for National Statistics today reported that average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain increased by 2.8 per cent, both excluding and including bonuses. [...]
FTSE firms including Persimmon, BP and JD Wetherspoon warned of investor revolts over gender diversity April 17, 2018 A number of FTSE 350 companies could face investor revolts over low female representation within leadership roles, the investment managers’ trade body said today. It warned that investors were “becoming restless” over the lack of progress being made. The Investment Association, which represents investment managers collectively owning one third of the FTSE, and the government-backed [...]
GBPUSD: Sterling reaches new post-Brexit-vote high against US dollar as traders wait for key wages data April 17, 2018 The pound rose to another post-Brexit-vote high this morning against the dollar as US President Donald Trump talked down the greenback and traders anticipated wage data to confirm a course for a rate hike next month. Sterling traded at highs of 1.4373 this morning, its highest point since 23 June 2016 when the vote to [...]
Elon Musk’s Tesla has temporarily stopped Model 3 production as it aims to tackle bottlenecks April 17, 2018 Elon Musk’s Tesla has pressed the pause button on its Model 3 assembly line for a brief period. The firm said the planned stoppages are used to “improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks in order to increase production rates”. Tesla is under pressure to meet targets amid what Musk has dubbed “production hell”. The car [...]
Energy: European wind power investment sailed to €51bn in 2017 April 17, 2018 Last year, a total of €51.2bn (£44.3bn) was invested into wind energy across Europe, up nine per cent from the previous year due to a surge in project and company acquisitions. Wind power represented the largest investment opportunity in the energy sector in 2017, according to Wind Europe’s latest report on financing and investment trends. [...]