Middle East tensions to raise fuel prices for UK drivers January 7, 2020 Ongoing tensions in the Middle East will have an impact on UK drivers, with fuel prices set to rise at least 2p a litre in the next two weeks, according to the RAC. Simon Williams, the RAC’s fuel spokesman, said that dispute between the US and Iran “will cause the oil price to go up [...]
Burford Capital shares rise after US lawsuit against it is dropped January 7, 2020 Litigation funder Burford Capital’s share rose this morning after it said a US lawsuit against it had been dropped. Burford’s shares plunged over the summer after it was targeted by shortseller Muddy Waters which questioned its governance and accounting standards. Today, Burford said a securities lawsuit filed in August following its share price drop had [...]
Chinese yuan set for best day in six months as risk appetite returns January 7, 2020 The Chinese yuan was set for its best day in more than six months this morning after investors’ appetite for risk returned and as traders await the signing of a “phase one” trade deal between China and the US. China’s yuan – the unit of its renminbi currency – had risen 0.57 per cent to [...]
UK generated a record 83 days of electricity without coal in 2019 January 7, 2020 In 2019 the UK recorded 83 days when no coal was used to generate electricity, almost four times as many as in 2018. The UK’s first fossil free day for electricity came in 2017, when there were only two such days, demonstrating how far renewables generation has come in a short period of time. Read [...]
Nippon Active Value Fund set for £200m float in London’s first IPO of 2020 January 6, 2020 Investment firm Nippon Active Value Fund (NAVF) is set to fire the starting gun on a £200m listing tomorrow in what could be London’s first initial public offering (IPO) of 2020. NAVF is a closed-ended investment company that invests in securities with the majority of their operations in Japan. It is set to file its [...]
Equinor aims for 40 per cent emissions cut by 2030 January 6, 2020 Norway’s state-owned oil company Equinor has announced plans to slash fossil fuel emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, with aims to get close to net zero by 2050. To achieve its 2030 target the firm will have to make annual cuts of more than 5m tonnes of emissions, roughly 10 per cent of the [...]
US stock markets open lower amid Middle East tensions January 6, 2020 US stock markets have opened lower after an escalation of tensions in the Middle East following the assassination by the US of the top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.43 per cent shortly after the bell, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.26 per cent and the Nasdaq fell 0.38 per [...]
London Stock Exchange denies cyber attack as UK probes trading outage January 6, 2020 The London Stock Exchange has denied that a cyber attack was responsible for a major trading outage in August, as UK security agencies reportedly investigate the cause of the incident. A British intelligence agency contacted the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in the past two months to request additional information about the outage on 16 August, [...]
Seedrs says amount invested on its platform jumped 49 per cent in 2019 January 6, 2020 Crowd-funding platform Seedrs said today that the amount invested in pitches on its platform grew 49 per cent to £238m in 2019. It said it completed 250 deals during the year, up from 186 in 2018, and delivered 7,858 investor exits on its secondary market. Highlights included Scottish fintech Paysend raising £10.7m and football club [...]
Premier Oil hires Rothschild as loan repayment deadline looms January 5, 2020 North Sea explorer Premier Oil has hired Rothschild bankers as the firm nears a deadline to pay back nearly £2bn in loans. The Sunday Telegraph first reported that a number of hedge funds, including Asia Research and Capital Management (ARCM), have bought $90m debt from Premier backer Barclays in recent weeks. Read more: Premier Oil [...]