European markets open flat as cautious traders await Brexit showdown October 22, 2019 European markets opened flat this morning, as traders remained cautious ahead of a crucial three days for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. The FTSE 100 is trading down at 0.2 per cent, with Anglo American and Glencore taking the biggest gains while Reckitt Benckiser leads the fallers after posting mixed results. The Dax and [...]
Is the Woodford Patient Capital trust a good buy opportunity? October 22, 2019 Following months of turmoil for investors, it took just days for Neil Woodford’s investment business to come crashing down. News that Woodford’s £3.1bn flagship Equity Income fund was to be wound up marked the beginning of the end, and sent the share price of another of his offerings, the Patient Capital trust, spiralling to 32.5p. [...]
MPs demand parliament’s pension fund divests from fossil fuels October 22, 2019 Three hundred MPs are calling on the trustees of the £700m Parliamentary Pension Fund to end their investments in fossil fuel companies. The cross-party initiative has the support of the leaders of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP as well as senior Conservatives. It comes as the fund’s trustees are preparing to announce a [...]
Renewable energy set to grow by 50% by 2024 October 21, 2019 The world’s total renewable power capacity is forecast to grow by 50 per cent by 2024, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Renewables 2019 report, which was released today. Solar photovoltaics are predicted to account for more than half of the growth, with the 600GW increase to be driven mainly by commercial, industrial and [...]
BHP to switch Chilean copper operations to renewables by 2021 October 21, 2019 Mining giant BHP has announced today that it will supply all its Chilean copper operations through renewable energy from 2021. Daniel Malchuck, president of BHP Minerals Americas, said that it had signed four energy contracts, covering projects such as Escondida, the world’s biggest copper mine. Read more: Temasek makes 3bn offer to take control of [...]
Sterling slips back from $1.30 after John Bercow blocks Brexit vote October 21, 2019 Sterling dropped back from a six-month high against the dollar this afternoon after House of Commons speaker John Bercow refused to let the government put its deal to parliament for the second time in three days. Read more: Speaker Bercow could obstruct Boris Johnson’s bid for Brexit deal vote The pound opened around 0.6 per [...]
Is oil’s relationship with energy stocks slipping? October 21, 2019 | City Talk Our chart of the month shows that the link between energy stocks and oil appears to be on the slide. What’s happening? Typically, the US energy sector trades in tandem with oil prices. The sector is largely made up of household names like Exxon and Chevron, involved in exploration and production. They are known as [...]
Bank of England deputy suggests Brexit deal could see rates rise October 18, 2019 Deputy Bank of England governor Dave Ramsden has said he thinks gradually increasing interest rates could still be the right path if Britain achieves a smooth exit from the European Union. Read more: PM Johnson scrambles to save Brexit deal ahead of key Saturday vote Threadneedle Street has repeatedly struck a more hawkish tone than [...]
Can cryptocurrencies wean the world off the US dollar? October 17, 2019 | City Talk There has been a huge shift in the global economy over the past 60 years. The US is still one of the biggest economic forces around the globe, but its influence on the world stage has waned as emerging economies have developed. The US accounted for as much of 40 per cent of the world’s gross [...]
Pound reverses gains as DUP rejects Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal October 17, 2019 The pound has dramatically reversed course from this morning’s five-month high to trade flat against the dollar as optimism about a new Brexit deal has faded. Read more: Boris Johnson hails ‘great’ new deal Sterling rocketed over one per cent against the dollar this morning to the $1.29 level not seen since May after Prime [...]