Is bling out? What Chinese “common prosperity” means for luxury goods October 8, 2021 | City Talk Evergrande Group will not have helped to calm the nerves of investors in European luxury goods companies. They’ve viewed recent developments in China with some trepidation. The difficulties facing the country’s second largest property developer (by sales) add to a checklist of concerns. These concerns include a slowdown in economic activity (for background, see: China: what [...]
Minorplanet spins October 6, 2021 Shares in Minorplanet plummeted dramatically as it announced it would go bankrupt if its share placing and open offer were not fully taken up. The company provides vehicle tracking systems to fleet operators. Clients include Boots and Harrods. It has placed 21m new ordinary shares with institutional investors, raising £10.5m. It has also made an [...]
Agriculture giant Olam looking to raise £2bn in London food ingredients IPO October 6, 2021 Olam International, the global agricultural commodity trading giant, is considering raising £2bn through the IPO of its London-based food ingredients unit next year, the firm has announced this morning. Five global banks have been appointed to work on the IPO, which would likely rank among the biggest offerings in London over the last few years. [...]
European markets tank on toxic mix of threats October 6, 2021 European markets tanked today, driven by a toxic mix of mounting “stagflation” fears, looming rate hikes and soaring energy costs. London was among the worst performers as investors mull whether the British economy could be barrelling toward a biting bout of “stagflation” that would squeeze businesses. The capital’s premier index plummeted 1.28 per cent to [...]
Soaring oil prices fuel London markets October 5, 2021 Soaring oil prices fuelled industrial megacaps this morning, pulling London markets away from yesterday’s losses. The capital’s premier index added 0.60 per cent to reach 7,052.75 points during the first couple hours of trading today. The likes of Shell and BP were boosted this morning by oil prices reaching a seven-year high, climbing above $80 [...]
Concoction of risks weighs on London markets October 4, 2021 A concoction of risks threatening to scupper the global economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis weighed on London markets this morning. The capital’s premier index edged down 0.12 per cent to 7,018.60 points during the first couple of hours of trading today. Ongoing supply issues, severe shortages, accelerating inflation and the growing likelihood of central [...]
What the data tells us about the next phase of the Covid-19 pandemic October 4, 2021 | City Talk What has been happening since the beginning of September in the US and UK? The Delta variant of Covid-19 is key to understanding the current trends around the reopening of the global economy. Countries that were aiming for so-called “Zero Covid” have found that this strategy doesn’t work so well against a virus that spreads [...]
London markets look to put soggy week behind them October 4, 2021 Investors will be looking to put what was a soggy end to last week behind them today and kick off a fresh week in positive fashion. The FTSE 100 tumbled 0.84 per cent to 7,027.07 points last Friday as markets sweated over the global economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis stalling after Wall Street registered [...]
London markets tumble after US stocks register worst month since March 2020 October 1, 2021 London’s FTSE 100 tumbled on the closing day of the week as investors sweated over the global economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis stalling after Wall Street registered its worst month since March 2020. The capital’s premier index slid 0.94 per cent to 7,019.90 points. The spectre of rising costs eating into margins, rate hikes [...]
Can EVs really handle a family holiday? October 1, 2021 | City Talk Electric vehicles (EVs) have enjoyed soaring sales in recent years but there are still many EV doubters out there, not least because of the charging infrastructure. Among them is Allegra Stratton, the UK government’s spokesperson for the upcoming COP26 climate summit. She made headlines by saying she couldn’t use an EV because stopping to recharge [...]