Marvin Liao talks to BEQUANT July 14, 2020 | City Talk Marvin Liao is an angel investor, advisor to several Family offices, ex-VC and ex-Tech & Media Executive. Marvin took a few minutes to talk to the team at BEQUANT about his views on COVID, crypto and the future of blockchain. 1. What in your view will happen to crypto post COVID? I think the growth of [...]
What are “accidental savers” doing with their surprise savings? July 14, 2020 | City Talk Lockdown restrictions have curbed spending, resulting in higher savings in the UK. Some of this has found its way into the financial markets; actively managed responsible investment funds have been the biggest beneficiaries. The words “accidental” and “saver” don’t often appear in the same sentence together. Saving usually takes some effort and requires sacrifices and [...]
Asian shares retreat as virus and Sino-US tensions flare July 14, 2020 Asian stock markets slipped today, oil sagged and a safety bid supported the dollar as simmering Sino-US tensions and fresh coronavirus restrictions in California kept a lid on investor optimism as earnings season gets underway. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.2 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei retreated from a one-month high touched [...]
Construction work begins on €2bn Viking Link subsea power cable July 13, 2020 Construction work on the world’s longest subsea power cable, the Viking Link, has today begun, the National Grid has announced. Running between Bicker Fen in Lincolnshire and South Jutland in Denmark, the 764km power line will be able to provide renewable power to 1.4m households upon completion in 2023. Today, Siemens Energy, which will build [...]
The FTSE 100 is lagging behind soaring global markets – but why? July 13, 2020 Stock markets around the world have soared in recent months even as economies crashed, aided by central banks pumping trillions of dollars into the system. But although all stock markets are rising, some are rising faster than others. Britain’s FTSE 100 is lagging behind almost all other major stock indices. It has risen just over [...]
FTSE 100 opens higher ahead of US earnings season July 13, 2020 The FTSE 100 opened higher and Asian markets rose overnight amid cautious optimism about a coronavirus treatment and the reopening of economies. London’s blue-chip index was 1.1 per cent higher at 6,161 points. The FTSE 250 index was up 1.2 per cent. European markets also rose, with the continent-wide Stoxx 600 climbing 0.7 per cent. [...]
Oil slips as traders expect Opec+ to ease supply cuts July 13, 2020 Oil slipped nearly one per cent this morning as traders eyed an Opec technical meeting this week which is expected to recommend an easing in supply cuts that have been propping up crude prices. Brent crude fell 29 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $42.95 a barrel by 5:10am GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate [...]
Asian shares climb as US earnings to test optimism July 13, 2020 Asian shares climbed toward five-month peaks today as investors wagered the US earnings season would see most companies beat forecasts given expectations had been lowered so far by coronavirus lockdowns. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added one per cent, having climbed sharply last week on the back of surging Chinese stocks, which [...]
Market abuse in the age of coronavirus July 13, 2020 During lockdown I have been re-watching a few of my favourite movies about crime in the capital markets — older classics like Wall Street and Boiler Room, as well as the more recent The Big Short and The Wolf of Wall Street. The reality of market abuse is somewhat less glamorous. It is, however, just [...]
London leads Europe in follow-on fundraising with busiest period in a decade July 13, 2020 While London markets may have faced a lull in new placings, they had their busiest half for follow-on fundraising in a decade. Data from accountancy firm EY shows more than £21bn of funds were raised in the first and second quarters in London. In the six months to June, existing issuers dominated the market raising [...]