US jobs growth flattens, but is the headline the whole story? March 8, 2019 | City Talk US hiring stalled in February, according to the latest non-farm payrolls report. The economy added just 20,000 jobs last month, down from a stellar 311,000 in January, and well below market expectations of 180,000. The market reaction has been swift; the Dow tumbled over 200 points, a 0.9 per cent loss, immediately after the release to [...]
FTSE 100 risers and fallers: Index dips amid fears over global growth March 8, 2019 The FTSE 100 index slipped 0.7 per cent today driven by a plunge in gambling company GVC's shares and poor Chinese export data that has sparked fears over global growth. GVC led the day’s fallers with its share price 13.82 per cent down after dropping as low as 18 per cent earlier in the day after its chief [...]
Norwegian $1 trillion wealth fund to drop oil and gas investments March 8, 2019 Norway’s sovereign wealth fund will drop oil and gas exploration companies from its benchmark index, the country’s finance minister announced today. The move aims to reduce risk to the $1 trillion fund, which is the largest in the world, from a “permanent oil price decline”. Read more: Norwegian wealth fund buys up old Amazon HQ [...]
FOMO Driving Lyft Valuation March 8, 2019 | City Talk Fear of missing out – FOMO – in financial markets is a powerful emotion. It can propel a bull market to record highs as investors watch stocks rise and want a piece of the action. It’s panic buying to a degree. And it’s just such a phenomenon that is behind investor appetite for stocks like [...]
What’s Mike Ashley’s game with Debenhams? March 8, 2019 | City Talk Mike Ashley is consistent in the way he always manages to surprise us. On Thursday night in a post-market RNS the Sports Direct boss announced he was planning a boardroom cull at Debenhams, installing himself as chief executive officer. Only the recently appointed Rachel Osborne would survive the cull. On Tuesday, after Debs warned on [...]
How climate change claimed its first corporate casualty and the lesson for income investors March 8, 2019 | City Talk The last few decades have seen the perception gain ground in markets that a combination of cash generation and state backing makes utility companies pretty much shockproof as income-yielding investments. The fate of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), which last week filed for bankruptcy protection in the US, should serve as a stark reminder no [...]
Chinese exports suffer biggest drop in three years amid US-China trade war March 8, 2019 Chinese exports fell at their fastest rate in three years last month as fears grow about the world’s second largest economy. Read more: China backs Huawei's bid to sue United States The US-China trade war sent exports to a 20.7 per cent year-on-year drop, official data revealed, as imports fell 5.2 per cent. Markets reacted [...]
Two analyst downgrades take big chunk out of Rio Tinto shares as iron prices set to drop March 7, 2019 Rio Tinto weighed on the London exchange today after the miner was hit by two analyst downgrades in two days, wiping around £4bn off its market value. Shares dropped around 7.6 per cent in the mid afternoon to 4,137p as Societe Generale advised investors to sell their shares in the iron miner. Read more: Iron ore [...]
Majority of UK consumers unable to define cryptocurrency, City watchdog finds March 7, 2019 More than 70 per cent of UK consumers do not know what a cryptocurrency is, new research has found, as the City watchdog warned that crypto investors should be prepared to lose all their money. The term cryptocurrency, which is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography coding for security, is understood by 29 [...]
Funding Circle shares rise despite widening losses on IPO costs March 7, 2019 Shares in peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle jumped as much as five per cent this morning despite widening losses following the fintech firm’s initial public offering (IPO) last year. The figures Funding Circle fell to a £51.6m operating loss in 2018, 40 per cent up from a loss of £36.9m the previous year. Read more: Funding [...]