Exiting lockdown: where’s ready, where’s not, and where risks a second wave? May 13, 2020 | City Talk In collaboration with Schroders’ Data Insights Unit, we’ve looked into the global state of lockdown and compared this with estimated reproduction numbers (R) to identify who is ready to exit lockdown, who is not and who is potentially exiting prematurely. Here’s what we found in summary: While China and Korea were the first to exit [...]
Premier Oil to seek lower price for BP North Sea fields acquisition May 13, 2020 Premier Oil will seek a lower price for its acquisition of two North Sea oil fields from BP due to the decline in prices for the commodity, its chief executive has said. In January the oil explorer announced a $625m (£509m) deal to buy Andrew Area and Shearwater assets from the major, based on a [...]
TP ICAP revenue surges after first quarter volatility May 13, 2020 Interdealer broker TP ICAP’s revenue rose by almost a fifth in the first quarter, as it benefited from the coronavirus-induced market turbulence. Revenue of £547m was 17 per cent higher than the £469m reported for the equivalent period last year. The broker said the growth reflected “higher client volumes due to the volatile market conditions” [...]
Markets live: US stocks climb as FTSE 100 passes 6,000 points May 12, 2020 US stocks have followed the FTSE 100 higher as investors are cheered by countries’ moves to ease some coronavirus restrictions. Wall Street’s Dow Jones index climbed 0.3 per cent in morning trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.1 per cent and the Nasdaq gained 0.3 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 index closed 1.1 per cent higher, [...]
Covid-19: why the tech giants have emerged as winners May 12, 2020 | City Talk While many businesses struggle to survive under the global lockdown, the largest technology companies remain afloat and in some cases are even thriving. Microsoft has reported a surge in usage of its cloud computing service Azure, as millions of people work from home. Amazon is hiring an additional 75,000 workers, on top of the 100,000 [...]
Saudi Aramco profit falls 25 per cent on oil price implosion May 12, 2020 State-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco saw its first quarter profit fall 25 per cent as the coronavirus crisis decimated the price of crude oil. Over the course of the quarter, the price of worldwide standard Brent crude fell roughly two-thirds, sending the firm to a 62.5bn riyals (£13.5bn) profit, down from 83.3bn riyals a year [...]
Airline stocks sink as FTSE 100 falls on fears of second wave May 11, 2020 The FTSE 100 fell back into negative territory this afternoon after early optimism about an easing of the UK lockdown appeared to evaporate. London’s stock market was up 0.85 per cent as it flirted with the 6,000 points marker earlier today. But traders’ enthusiasm quickly dwindled as European stocks also dropped into the red. The [...]
US stocks rise on China trade hopes despite dire jobs report May 8, 2020 US stocks have risen in early trading despite the worst unemployment report in modern history, as investors take cheer in the US and China’s agreement to work together on the smooth implementation of their trade deal. The Dow Jones index was 1.5 per cent higher. The S&P 500 rose 1.3 per cent while the Nasdaq [...]
Oil prices jump amid signs of rising demand May 7, 2020 Oil prices jumped today as a combination of an unexpected rise in Chinese exports and cuts by US producers helped extend a week of gains. By the mid-afternoon, worldwide standard Brent crude rose a further 5.7 per cent to cement its position above $31. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) leapt 8.9 per cent to [...]
FTSE 100 and US stocks rise despite more dire economic warnings May 7, 2020 US stocks have joined the FTSE 100 in positive territory as investors bet on a relatively speedy economic recovery from coronavirus despite yet more dire economic predictions. London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 1.4 per cent at 5,933 points in afternoon trading. This was despite the Bank of England warning of the worst slump [...]