Coronavirus: Hays shares slide after £200m issuance announcement April 2, 2020 Shares in global recruitment firm Hays have tumbled after it announced it will issue £200m of shares in an emergency move to help it shore up its balance sheet during the coronavirus pandemic. Hays said in a trading update this morning that “Covid-19 has driven a very material deceleration in client and candidate activity”. It [...]
Coronavirus: City watchdog proposes credit card payment freeze April 2, 2020 The UK’s financial watchdog has proposed that banks freeze loan and credit card bills and cancel overdraft interest payments for people hit financially by coronavirus. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will carry out a “brief consultation” on the plans. If accepted, they will come into force on 9 April. The FCA made a [...]
Asian stocks slip as coronavirus recession comes back into focus April 2, 2020 Asian stocks were choppy overnight, with many following their US counterparts downwards as investors came to terms with prolonged coronavirus lockdowns in some of the world’s biggest economies. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.4 per cent, Australia’s S&P ASX fell two per cent and Singapore’s STI fell 0.4 per cent. Yet China’s Shanghai index rose [...]
Ex-chancellor Alistair Darling calls for coronavirus VAT cut April 1, 2020 Former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling has called for the government to temporarily cut VAT to help people deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis. Darling, who was chancellor during the 2008 financial crisis, told a virtual Policy Exchange event today that the Treasury had to start doing “things that can be done fairly [...]
What is ‘fake’ and what is ‘real’ in financial markets? April 1, 2020 | City Talk I re-watched the Orson Welles docudrama ‘F for Fake’ the other day. The 1973 film is an exploration of what is fake and what is real in the art world. I was curious to see how it held up in the age of fake news. Well, the movie doesn’t have much to say about fake news, but it does [...]
Coronavirus: US factory orders plunge to 11-year low April 1, 2020 US manufacturers suffered the biggest fall in new orders for 11 years in March as coronavirus dented demand, although the overall sector shrunk by less than expected, according to a closely watched survey. The ISM purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to a score of 49.1 in March, down from 50.1 in February. A score below [...]
Travelex owner Finablr announces new boss as finance chief quits April 1, 2020 Travelex owner Finablr has announced a new chief executive as its finance boss quit, following the resignation of its auditor and two other directors in recent days. Finablr tapped Bhairav Trivedi for the top job after his predecessor Promoth Manghat left when the firm expressed doubts about its ability to continue. Trivedi joined Finablr on [...]
Airbnb to pay $250m to hosts losing out to coronavirus cancellations March 31, 2020 Airbnb will pay $250m to hosts for two and a half months of reservations that have been cancelled in the wake of the coronavirus. In a letter to hosts, chief executive Brian Chesky said hosts would receive 25 per cent of their normal cancellation fee for stays booked between 14 March and 31 May, if [...]