Sterling falls against the dollar as UK economy slows but US picks up November 22, 2019 The pound has fallen against the dollar as traders near the end of their week after survey data was better than expected in the US but painted a gloomy picture of the UK economy. Sterling was trading 0.59 per cent lower against the greenback by 4.40pm, taking it to $1.283. Read more: FTSE 100 leads [...]
FTSE 100 soars above European rivals as pound weakens November 22, 2019 The FTSE 100 jumped this afternoon, ending the week with a strong finish amid a drop in the pound and strong gains in some sectors. The UK’s blue-chip index led its European counterparts upwards, rising 1.21 per cent. Read more: Sterling falls as UK economy slows and US accelerates France’s CAC 40 index had climbed [...]
Asian markets edge up but US-China trade war uncertainty lingers November 22, 2019 Asian markets began to recover on Friday after hitting three-week lows the day before, but gains were subdued by investor caution over the chance of a US-China trade deal being struck. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.13 per cent by 7.30am UK time. The index had dropped as much as [...]
Oil industry reacts to Labour’s new £11bn tax pledge November 21, 2019 A controversial Labour pledge to raise up to £11bn from a new levy on oil and gas companies to help retrain 37,000 workers in the industry to “make the transition to a clean economy” has met with fierce criticism from industry bodies. Jeremy Corbyn revealed the tax at the launch of the Labour manifesto in Birmingham earlier [...]
Thyssenkrupp shares plunge as future looks grim for industrial giant November 21, 2019 Shares in Thyssenkrupp fell over 14 per cent today as the German industrial group’s new chief executive Martina Merz scrapped its dividend, warning that deeper losses were still to come. Merz, who took over last month in an emergency move, asked investors to be patient after the company’s half year results showed net losses had [...]
Severn Trent raises dividend despite fall in profits November 21, 2019 Severn Trent raised its dividend this morning despite a fall in profits due to its deferral of customer incentives and increased investment in infrastructure renewals. Read more: Severn Trent announces new chair Shares in the utility slipped over 1.5 per cent in the morning’s trading. The figures Severn Trent announced revenue of £910m for the [...]
FTSE 100 sinks again after US-China trade war tensions rise over Hong Kong November 21, 2019 The FTSE 100 opened lower this morning, with other major European stock markets also down, after the US and China clashed over Hong Kong and fresh doubts emerged about a trade deal between the two. The FTSE was 0.67 per cent lower shortly after opening, Germany’s Dax index was down 0.64 per cent, and France’s [...]
Johnson Matthey eyes stronger second half as costs hurt profit and debt rises November 21, 2019 Chemicals and metals giant Johnson Matthey boosted revenue by a huge 37 per cent today despite recording a drop in profit for its latest half-year results. The figures Revenue rocketed 37 per cent to £6.82bn in the six months to the end of September, but profit before tax slipped eight per cent year on year [...]
London Stock Exchange hires fintech to widen access to IPOs November 21, 2019 The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has signed a deal with online investment platform Primarybid to give retail investors access to share offerings on the same terms as institutional investors. Under the deal, which was announced today, the pair will unveil digital infrastructure enabling companies that are listed listed or listing on LSE to include individual [...]
Rise in Chinese coal capacity threatens 2050 climate targets November 20, 2019 China’s coal plant building programme could have a devastating impact on Paris 2050 climate targets, according to a new report by Global Energy Monitor (Gem). Although between January 2018 and June 2019 countries outside of China reduced their total coal power capacity by 8.1 gigawatts, in the same period China increased its coal fleet by [...]