Shares in Neil Woodford’s listed fund continue to tumble in tough week for former top stock picker June 6, 2019 Shares in Neil Woodford’s Woodford Patient Capital Trust fell nearly four per cent this morning continuing a torrid week for the former star trader. Shares in stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown also continued to slide today, falling nearly two per cent. Trading in the stock picker’s flagship Woodford Equity Income Fund was suspended on Monday following a [...]
D-Day for the ECB as pressure mounts to act June 6, 2019 | City Talk It’s D-Day for euro bulls as we look to today’s meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) to see whether the breakout can be sustained or whether this is yet another bull trap in an ongoing downtrend. The bulls have secured the beachhead above $1.12, breaking free from a long-term descending wedge, but they now need to gather the troops to push [...]
Asda leads way as supermarkets slash fuel prices June 5, 2019 Drivers will get a boost at the pumps as Asda led supermarkets to cut prices this week. The supermarket will tomorrow slash prices by 3p per litre of diesel at all its 322 petrol stations across the UK, and 1p for petrol. Read more: Oil prices hit four-month low It brings the price to 128.7p [...]
Oil dips under $60 for first time in four months June 5, 2019 The price of Brent crude fell sharply today on news that US inventories had surged last week, against analyst predictions. The international standard was down 3.1 per cent to $60.10 at around 5.30 this afternoon, after rebounding from an earlier low of $59.50. Investors were spooked after the US today revealed oil stockpiles unexpectedly grew [...]
Kier shares rally after plummeting on profit warning June 5, 2019 The construction outsourcer’s market value fell 41 per cent at the start of the week. Investors fled after Kier Group admitted it would still be in the red at its interim results in September. It had previously said it would pay off its net debt by then. Read more: Kier Group share plummet 40 per [...]
Shell changes tack in expected dividend hike June 4, 2019 Royal Dutch Shell today told investors it expects to hike dividends after completing a $25bn (£19.7bn) share buyback by the end of 2020. The oil giant routinely pays around $16bn back to shareholders every year but has not upped its dividend since 2014, when it rose to $0.47 per share. Shell said it is on [...]
Softbank earns $11bn for selling some of its huge Alibaba stake June 4, 2019 Japan’s Softbank will book a pre-tax profit of $11.1bn (£8.75bn) for selling part of its stake in Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba. The sale forms part of a three-year-old deal to sell assets in order to buy British chip designer ARM for $32bn in 2016. Read more: Uber IPO: Shares slide on second day of trading [...]
Retail Sales Hit by Biggest Slump on Record June 4, 2019 | City Talk Retail sales have taken a dramatic tumble in May, as already challenging retail conditions are set against a background of Brexit uncertainty. In total, sales for May declined by 2.7 per cent, the biggest drop since the British Retail Consortium (BRC) started the monthly survey 24 years ago. Britain’s retailers are warning that the decline [...]
Will the Federal Reserve cut rates in 2019? June 4, 2019 | City Talk Ahead of a key speech by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, markets are widely expecting the US central banker to offer a clear hint that the next move will be to lower interest rates, perhaps as early as this summer. 97.2 per cent chance of a cut The latest market indicators suggest a greater than [...]
Glencore head of oil Alex Beard retires amid US investigations June 3, 2019 Glencore parted ways with another of its top brass today, as the man who helped make it an oil trading giant announced he would step down amid US probes into its activities. Alex Beard, 52, who has been head of oil since 2007, will leave at the end of the month. Read more: Australian weather [...]