Sterling jumps following BoE’s decision to hold interest rates February 4, 2021 The pound rebounded this afternoon as the Bank of England announced it would leave interest rates unchanged. The currency saw its biggest fall in three weeks this morning as traders nervously waited to see whether the BoE would formally endorse negative interest rates. The Prudential Regulation Authority’s analysis found the UK would need six months [...]
Shell posts $21bn loss as coronavirus sends oil industry plunging into the red February 4, 2021 Shell this morning posted a $21.6bn (£15.9bn) full year loss as the full costs of the coronavirus were laid bare. The loss marked a massive swing to the red for the oil giant, which made a $15bn profit in 2019. However, speaking to reporters this morning chief executive Ben van Beurden promised a “much more [...]
Petrofac snaps up new deals worth £220m in Oman February 4, 2021 Oil field services firm Petrofac today announced it had won two contracts worth a combined $300m (£220m) from Oman’s petroleum development outfit. Shares in the firm rose 1.5 per cent in early trading today. The first of these, at Marmul in the south of the Gulf state, is a 30 month contract to build and [...]
SPACs: The blank cheque vehicles loved by Richard Branson, Tidjane Thiam and Wilbur Ross February 4, 2021 With backing from the likes of Richard Branson, former US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, City grandee Martin Gilbert and even the boss of the LSE, the vehicles known as special acquisition companies (SPACs) provide a quick and easy way for private companies to go public.
Kaz Minerals owner tables £3.7bn bid to take miner private February 4, 2021 Kaz Minerals has this morning received an increased £3.7bn offer from Nova Resources after an earlier bid was rejected. Nova, which is led by Kaz chairman Oleg Novachuk, first made a 640p per share offer for the London-listed miner back in October. However, due to a rise in global copper prices, the firm’s shares have [...]
Equity funds take a thrashing on resurgent Covid fears February 4, 2021 Not even the success of the vaccine rollout could take away the January blues for equity funds last month. Inflows reached a five year high in the fourth quarter at £2.4bn buoyed by the vaccine rollout, but the euphoria hasn’t lasted long. Net inflows fell by 97.5 per cent month-on-month to just £64.6m according to [...]
Wall Street rallies on strong tech earnings as FTSE 100 slips February 3, 2021 Wall Street pushed higher today on the back of strong tech earnings, but the FTSE 100 closed in the red after early losses were reserved. The Dow Jones was up 0.26 per cent shortly before markets closed, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 0.28 per cent and 0.18 per cent respectively. It marked the [...]
Defiant Reddit traders help Gamestop claw back some of its losses February 3, 2021 The Gamestop bubble has not burst just yet as shares in the retailer jumped again after a gruelling day of trading on Tuesday. Shares in Gamestop dropped 60 per cent yesterday triggering multiple trading halts in the meme stock favoured by Reddit traders. The so-called meme stock saw its share price surge 300 per cent [...]
London IPO activity off to a flying start with busiest January since 2006 February 3, 2021 London markets shook off the January blues with a rush of IPOs, a trend that is set to continue through the year. Building on the momentum seen towards the end of last year, it was the busiest January for the City since 2006. It raised $2.2bn from four listings, including Moonpig and Dr Martens, according [...]
An optimistic outlook for global markets February 3, 2021 | Sponsored Alex Crooke, Fund Manager for The Bankers Investment Trust, discusses recent performance of the Trust and highlights which stocks in particular are driving this performance. Alex also looks at the year ahead and explains why he is largely optimistic on the outlook for global markets and highlights which regions and sectors he and his team [...]