Oil prices jump to pare back worst weekly losses for nine months August 23, 2021 Oil prices jumped today to partly reverse losses registered last week that saw the main international benchmarks swing to their worst seven day performance in nine months. International benchmarks WTI and Brent Crude rose 3.22 per cent and 3.27 per cent to $64.14 and $67.31 respectively. Both benchmarks marked their biggest week of losses in [...]
Workers of the world unite! How the post-pandemic recovery is increasing the bargaining power of labour August 23, 2021 | City Talk More than 114 million people lost their jobs over 2020, according to the International Labor Organization. Even more saw their working hours and wages cut. The worst affected industries were accommodation and food services where global employment declined by over 20%, followed by retail. These sectors were particularly hard hit by lockdowns, forced closures and plummeting tourism. Women and younger workers were badly affected. You could be [...]
China tightens scrutiny over accounting firms in fight against forgery August 23, 2021 China’s leadership has set new rules to strengthen supervision of accounting firms in a fight against financial forgery, vowing “zero tolerance” toward misconduct. China’ State Council said accounting firms have not fully played their role as “gatekeepers” of capital markets, which have often witnessed cases of financial forgery and inaccurate accounting information. The authorities will [...]
Global dividends continue march toward pre-Covid levels August 23, 2021 Companies are restoring investor payouts rapidly as the spectre of the Covid crisis over their future prospects recedes, according to fresh figures released today. Data from Janus Henderson shows global dividends surged 26.3 per cent to $471.7bn in the second quarter of this year on an annual basis. Companies that halted dividends to protect cash [...]
US markets shake off Delta variant jitters as investors seek to end volatile week on a high August 20, 2021 Wall Street shook off concerns that the rapidly spreading Delta variant of Covid could halt the global economic recovery from the crisis to end the week on a high. The blue-chip S&P 500 jumped 0.69 per cent to 4,436.26 points during early trading, while the Dow Jones added 0.5 per cent to 35,06776 points. The [...]
Pound drops to fresh one-month low against the dollar August 20, 2021 Pound sterling sank to a new one-month low against the dollar today on concerns that the global economic recovery from the Covid crisis is grinding to a halt. The pound lost ground on the greenback, falling 0.19 per cent to $1.3913 during morning trading, a fresh one-month low. It hit an intra-day low of $1.3909. [...]
Ackman of Pershings to relaunch SPAC as damage control from investor lawsuit August 20, 2021 In a letter to the shareholders of the largest SPAC to ever hit the market, billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman said on Thursday he will pursue a relaunch of Pershings, following a lawsuit filed this week by an investor. The lawsuit against Pershing Square Holdings (PSTH) was filed by former US Securities and Exchange (SEC) [...]
US stocks resist following FTSE lower as markets digest Fed minutes and oil rout August 19, 2021 Wall Street resisted the European market rout that sent the FTSE falling today and opened broadly flat today as investors digested news that the US Federal Reserve may tighten monetary policy this year. The S&P 500 edged down to 4,399.90 points, while the Dow Jones slipped to 34,944.70 points. Concerns about a possible earlier than [...]
Oil prices tumble on mounting early Fed taper fears August 19, 2021 Oil prices plummeted to their lowest level in four months today, driven by mounting concerns that the US Federal Reserve could rein in the wave of monetary support it unleashed in response to the Covid crisis earlier than expected. International benchmarks WTI and Brent Crude dipped 3.53 per cent and 3.03 per cent to $63.15 [...]
McBride’s profit warning on lorry driver shortage sends shares lower August 19, 2021 McBride shares sunk at the open this morning after the cleaning products maker said profits would be significantly lower than expectations. The cleaning products maker warned that profits for the year to next June are likely to be 55 per cent to 65 per cent lower than the current market consensus of £19.7m for full [...]