Sterling hits new two-year low as no-deal Brexit risk jumps July 16, 2019 The pound tumbled to fresh two-year lows against the dollar today after the two candidates to replace Theresa May pledged to abandon the controversial Northern Ireland backstop proposals, ramping up the chances of a no-deal Brexit. Read more: Amber Rudd: I won’t lie down in front of bulldozers to stop no-deal Brexit Boris Johnson and [...]
Rio Tinto faces delays and up to $1.9bn added costs at copper mine July 16, 2019 Rio Tinto said today that costs from a Mongolian copper project could be up to $1.9bn more expensive than previous estimates. The Oyu Tolgoi copper mine, one of the miner’s key projects, flagged a bigger cost rise than analysts had expected, sending shares down by around half a per cent. Read more: Iron ore prices [...]
US senators grill top exec over Facebook libra cryptocurrency July 16, 2019 Facebook libra, the social network’s brand new cryptocurrency, should be regulated as if it is a security, the US House of Representatives heard today. US lawmakers were due to grill Facebook executives over its libra coin today as both Democrats and Republicans prepared to scrutinise chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s latest project. Read more: Bitocin tumbles [...]
Kazakh billionaire Kenes Rakishev sells massive stake in Petropavlovsk July 16, 2019 The biggest investor in London-listed miner Petropavlovsk has sold his 22 per cent stake in the company as he tries to raise money for other projects. Kenes Rakishev, a Kazakh billionaire, said he was selling the stake for commercial reasons. It was bought by Roman Trotsenko, a Russian billionaire with investments in airports and mining, [...]
Regulators say firms ‘must not wait’ to move away from Libor July 15, 2019 Two of finance’s most powerful regulators yesterday told the sector to speed up its move away from contracts linked to the scandal-hit Libor benchmark. Read more: Bank of England calls ‘last orders’ on Libor New York Federal Reserve president John Williams said financial institutions “must not wait” to stop using the lending benchmark in a [...]
Chinese steel producers set new record in June July 15, 2019 Chinese steel mills were busy last month, hitting an all-time daily production record, new figures out today show. Output hit 87.53m tonnes of crude steel in June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics show. Read more: Greybull Capital ‘to bid for British Steel’s non-UK assets’ The figure is a small decrease in overall monthly [...]
Bitcoin continues to tumble after central banks attack Facebook’s Libra coin plans July 15, 2019 Bitcoin fell over 10 per cent over the weekend following criticism of Facebook’s proposed digital currency from powerful figures including US President Donald Trump and chair of the Federal Reserve Jay Powell. Read more: Trump dismisses bitcoin, saying cryptocurrencies aren’t money The world’s largest cryptocurrency had rebounded slightly to $10,344 shortly after 11am UK time [...]
Antofagasta share price soars as it wins $6bn in Pakistan suit July 15, 2019 Shares in Antofagasta topped the FTSE 100 this morning as the World Bank awarded it $5.8bn (£4.6bn) in damages for a blocked mining project in Pakistan. The award comes two years after the World Bank’s arbitration wing found that Pakistan had unlawfully denied Antofagasta, and its partner Barrick Gold, a mining lease for a Pakistani [...]
Three big questions corporate America must answer this week July 15, 2019 | City Talk The seond quarter earnings season kicks off this week as investor attention for a while shifts away from central banks to how well actual companies are performing. There are several big questions facing corporate America as we hit this important period. Earnings recession Earnings season is coming with fairly low expectations. Two weeks prior to earnings season [...]
Only a fifth of investors held their nerve during 2018 stock market tumble July 15, 2019 | City Talk 2018 was a tough year for investors with sharp falls in global stock markets testing the nerve of investors. New global research shows that only 18 per cent of investors said they stuck with their investment plans during the volatile three-month period at the end of 2018. The findings were part of Schroders Global Investor [...]