Shares in Smurfit Kappa rise as it returns to profit February 5, 2020 Shares in packaging business Smurfit Kappa rose today after it announced it had returned to profit in its full-year results. Smurfit Kappa was leading the risers on the FTSE 100 this afternoon, with shares up 5.8 per cent at 2,876p. The Dublin-based company said profit before tax for the year to 31 December was €677m [...]
Pension savers can boost their retirement pots and help businesses to grow by investing in venture capital February 5, 2020 The world is getting richer. Every day, we find ways to do things more efficiently — and when we do, those benefits diffuse across the country and throughout the world. But this diffusion isn’t always noticeable, evenly spread, or quick enough for many. For the economic system to maintain legitimacy, people need to believe that [...]
Record number of cheap energy deals available for UK households February 5, 2020 UK households now have a far wider choice of cheap energy deals, with 78 tariffs now priced under £1000 a year. According to consumer group Which, the number of these tariffs has exploded since the energy price cap was introduced last January, when there were only 12 available. There are also 25 deals now under [...]
Fuel prices rise in January despite wholesale price drop February 5, 2020 Despite hefty falls in diesel and unleaded wholesale prices in January, the UK’s four largest supermarkets increased fuel prices every day until a last-gasp cut on 29 January. The drop in wholesale prices, which saw unleaded fall 4p and diesel 7.5p, should have been good news for UK drivers, but prices at supermarkets increased £1.51p [...]
Vanguard to bypass banks with new forex algorithms February 4, 2020 Asset manager Vanguard is reportedly set to bypass banks and start using computer-run algorithms to trade FX directly with other funds. The head of FX trading at Vanguard, Andy Maack, told Reuters that the fund was in talks with several forex platforms about launching algorithms to seek out and trade with other asset managers. Trading [...]
BP profit plunges but oil giant beats expectations in Bob Dudley’s swansong February 4, 2020 Bob Dudley bowed out after a decade as BP’s chief executive today as the firm outperformed analyst expectations in the face of a challenging macroeconomic environment. Despite a 26 per cent fall in profit in the final quarter of 2019, the oil giant’s underlying replacement cost (RC) figure – BP’s definition of net income – [...]
EU markets watchdog offers Brexit olive branch over access to UK trading platforms February 4, 2020 The European Union’s markets watchdog is considering imposing stricter conditions on off-exchange share trading, and has also proposed making it easier for EU investors to use UK trading platforms after the Brexit transition period ends. In a consultation paper published today, The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said that EU securities rules had failed [...]
FTSE 100 extends recovery from coronavirus sell-off February 4, 2020 Britain’s FTSE 100 has risen along with European markets as global stocks extend their recovery from a difficult last week that was marred by fears over coronavirus. Europe’s equity markets were buoyed by the rise in Asian stock markets overnight, which was driven by the Chinese government’s stimulus measures and better-than-expected US manufacturing data. Beijing [...]
Oil price edges up on Opec production cuts hopes February 4, 2020 Oil prices showed signs of recovery this morning as officials from oil cartel Opec were set to meet in Vienna to discuss the rapid fall in prices due to China’s coronavirus outbreak. Brent crude clawed back 0.7 per cent to reach $54.92, whilst West Texas Intermediate, which on Monday breached the $50 mark, gained 1.5 [...]
Glencore shares rise as cobalt production offsets copper drop February 4, 2020 Shares in global miner Glencore rose five per cent this morning as the firm brushed off lower production volumes of metals such as copper, gold and silver. Production of the red metal slipped six per cent in 2019 to 1.37m tonnes, whilst gold production fell 15 per cent to 848,000 tonnes. The company has been [...]