Oil major debt climbs to record high as crude prices continue to wallow August 24, 2016 Some of the biggest global oil majors are being weighed down by record levels of debt. Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Chevron hold a combined net debt of $184bn (£138bn) — more than double their debt levels in 2014, according to analysis by the Wall Street Journal. The drop in the oil price [...]
Sterling on the front foot as Jackson Hole approaches August 24, 2016 Sterling picked up a gear yesterday as the timing of a US interest rate rise was under the spotlight ahead of the annual central bankers’ Jackson Hole meeting. The pound rose to $1.3226, up 0.2 per cent before the gathering in Wyoming kicks off tomorrow evening. Fed chair Janet Yellen could use her speech on [...]
EU wades in to Greek statistician row with bailout threats August 24, 2016 Never far from the headlines, the Greek debt crisis rumbles on. Now, a row in the country over data supplied by its official statistics agency Elstat could risk Athens' current bailout programme. Earlier this month Greece’s Supreme Court ruled the former head of Elstat, Andreas Georgiou, should face trial on charges of artificially inflating Greece’s deficit in 2009 to help foreign creditors secure [...]
The first £10bn: Mark Carney’s quantitative easing lurches on with successful bond purchases August 24, 2016 The Bank of England flexed its muscles in the bond market today, sending prices down and easing the pressure on the scramble for yield. In its final bond-buying mission of the week, the Bank bought £1.17bn worth of medium-term government debt and found more than three times the number of willing sellers as it needed. The successful auction [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open August 24, 2016 It's another scorcher in London and the FTSE 100 is feeling the heat, though European markets are broadly mixed as they digest the Bank of England's latest bond-buying spree. Here's what you need to know before the market open at 2:30pm London time. The S&P is up by 0.8 per cent in the pre-market, while the Nasdaq [...]
Scotland’s deficit remains at £15bn despite huge fall in offshore oil and gas revenue August 24, 2016 The Scottish balance sheet is still looking grim as falling oil prices hit revenues earned from offshore oil and gas, urging First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to double down on the EU. The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) showed a huge deficit for the nation after a sharp drop from oil and gas revenue. Scottish public sector [...]
Euro edges down as German GDP growth slows in the second quarter August 24, 2016 The German economy slowed in the second quarter, but its budget surplus jumped in good news for Angela Merkel ahead of next year's crucial elections. The euro fell slightly against the dollar, down 0.3 per cent to $1.1276 in early trading, after statistics body Destatis showed growth had fallen to 0.4 per cent, down from 0.7 per cent [...]
The economy appears to be coping just fine after June’s Brexit vote – but the real test is yet to come August 24, 2016 Two months ago today we were waking up to the frankly astonishing news that 52 per cent of the electorate had voted to leave the European Union. The pound had crashed overnight and the FTSE soon followed suit, losing 200 points on fears of a sharp downturn. In recent weeks we have been treated to [...]
The 52 per cent: Most households worried about Brexit hit to finances August 24, 2016 More than half of working-age households are worried about how the EU referendum result will affect their personal finances, new research has found. The quarterly disposable income index, published by Scottish Friendly and think tank the Social Market Foundation, showed that while households had more spare cash than three months ago, they are also concerned [...]
Financial markets rattled by Bank’s Brexit Bazooka August 23, 2016 The Bank of England's latest bond-buying spree has rattled financial markets by stoking fears that the massive £70bn post-referendum rescue package could be overshooting its mark. Threadneedle Street was forced to pay a premium on £1.17bn worth of government debt because of low market supply yesterday. This caused the going rate for UK bonds to [...]