Coronavirus fear returns to Wall Street as global markets slide March 7, 2020 The US stock market followed the suit of other global markets by plunging further on Friday as coronavirus fears continued to grip investors. The Dow Jones fell by one per cent, or 256 points, to finish the week on 25,865 points. Meanwhile, other major indices, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, saw losses of 1.7 [...]
Coronavirus crisis wipes £59bn off FTSE 100 March 6, 2020 Coronavirus wiped £59bn off the FTSE 100 today to cap off another week of stock market turmoil. The blue-chip stock index sank by 3.6 per cent, or 242.88 points, to finish the week on 6,462.55 points – its lowest since July 2016. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was down 2.98 per cent, or 576.62 points to [...]
US posts strong jobs data but analysts say coronavirus means report ‘outdated before it came out’ March 6, 2020 The US posted strong jobs data for February today but markets remained in the red on fears of the impact of coronavirus on the world economy. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 273,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 3.5 per cent, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said today. The [...]
Anglo American’s platinum arm cuts production after plant shuts March 6, 2020 Anglo American’s shares dropped 9.5 per cent today after the firm’s platinum arm was forced to shut down its platinum plant, declaring force majeure as it did so. The mining giant said that it had done so due to a high risk of an explosion in its phase B unit, which had been commissioned to [...]
Bob Diamond appoints ex-Barclays colleague Rich Ricci to lead Panmure Gordon March 6, 2020 Bob Diamond has hired his former right-hand man from his time at Barclays to head up loss-making stockbroker Panmure Gordon. Diamond appointed Rich Ricci as chief executive of London-based Panmure, which he acquired two years ago. The former Barclays boss will be reunited with 56-year-old American investment banker Ricci, who ran the old Barclays capital [...]
Sterling strikes back March 6, 2020 | City Talk GBP / EUR Update The pound started the week on the back foot after a tough end to last week. Brexit concerns weighed heavily after the UK stated it would walk away from unsatisfactory negotiations. The EU feels that this will not be the case, but the overall view is that both sides are underestimating [...]
Oil prices fall again as Russia rejects further Opec cuts March 6, 2020 Oil prices plunged four per cent today after Russia rejected oil cartel Opec’s proposal to deepen production cuts by an additional 1.5m barrels per day until the end of the year. The drop means that prices are at their lowest point since July 2017 after a source told Reuters Russia would only agree to extend [...]
The C-word March 6, 2020 | City Talk And we aren’t just talking about coronavirus There are a number of ways coronavirus has affected economies, shares, production and of course currency markets. From currencies experiencing decreased demand to Asian currencies bearing the brunt of the market’s aversion to risk, the foreign exchange market began to show clear signs of being impacted by the [...]
Demographics predict stock and bond yields, study shows March 6, 2020 | Sponsored Investors can use demographic trends to predict both the stock and bond market yields, a new study shows. Researchers from Warwick Business School and Copenhagen Business School found US stock and government bond markets have followed surprisingly similar paths since the Second World War. Yields from both markets followed similar 20-year boom and bust cycles [...]
Government bond yields sink to record low on coronavirus disruption March 6, 2020 Government bond yields sunk to fresh historic lows as fears over the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on global growth sent investors rushing to safe haven assets. Concerns over the outbreak have sent equities tumbling across the globe and pushed the price of several government bonds to historic highs, while yields (which move inversely to [...]