Oil prices end the week more than five per cent up and end on a 2019 high February 16, 2019 Oil prices reached their highest this year after rising more than 2 per cent on Friday in the wake of an increase in expectations on the tightening supply caused by an outage at Saudi Arabia's offshore oilfield. The progress made between the US and China in talks over their trade war also strengthened the position. Brent [...]
FTSE 100 hits fresh four-month high on US-China trade talk optimism and European banking boost February 15, 2019 The FTSE 100 ended a good week in strong fashion as optimism over the US-China trade dispute and the possibility of fresh stimulus measures for Eurozone banks boosted markets. The UK’s blue chip index rose to a fresh four-month high and closed 0.6 per cent up for the day at 7,237 points. European markets also rose as [...]
Eight Vale employees arrested in probe into deadly Brazil dam disaster February 15, 2019 Eight employees of Brazilian mining company Vale were arrested today as part of an investigation into the deaths of at least 166 people who died after the collapse of one of its dams. The public prosecutors office of Minas Gerais state said it had arrested four Vale managers (two of them executives) and four members [...]
The heating revolution is firing up February 15, 2019 There is a revolution happening. The way in which we own assets and pay for goods – unchanged for centuries – is being turned on its head. Ownership is waning and the heyday of pay-as-you-go services is coming to an end. We now overwhelmingly lease cars instead of buying them, pay for communications as a [...]
Bitcoin sceptic Jamie Dimon launches JP Morgan’s own cryptocurrency February 14, 2019 JP Morgan is to launch its own cryptocurrency in an unprecedented step for a major US bank. The bank is to trial its JPM Coin in the coming months, which will handle a tiny fraction of the $6 trillion (£4.7 trillion) in payments it moves around globally every day. Read more: The year crypto went [...]
Turbulence and tailwinds: how savers can seek returns and save the planet February 14, 2019 Isa season is upon us. With just a few weeks left to go before the end of the 2018/19 tax year, canny savers are scrambling to use up their tax-free allowance before the 6 April deadline. The task became more of a challenge this year after the government, in a bid to bolster Britain’s savings culture, [...]
Shares in medical device company Convatec fall 20 per cent on ‘disappointing’ results February 14, 2019 Shares in medical products company Convatec plunged 20 per cent this morning after it unveiled a “disappointing” set of 2018 results. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) fell six per cent year-on-year to $429.4m (£334.5m), despite a 3.8 per cent increase of reported revenue to $1.832bn. Its Ebit margin was 23.4 per cent, down [...]
Italian football club Juventus enlist Morgan Stanley to help in €175m bonds sale February 13, 2019 Italian footballing giants Juventus have ramped up their efforts to raise money after paying €100m to buy Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo last summer, issuing bonds to investors. The club originally planned to offer €150m (£131.4m) worth of bonds maturing in around five years at a 3.5 per cent yield, but City A.M. understands this has increased to €175m. Read more: [...]
Five charts to gauge the environment for equities February 13, 2019 | City Talk Stock markets wax and wane. The period of time in which they move from a state of expansion (bull market) to one of contraction (bear market), before expanding again is known as the “market cycle”. Last year was an extremely difficult one for stock markets, prompting much commentary as to which ones had “corrected” (falls [...]
Government blocks Cuadrilla from fracking at second site in Lancashire February 12, 2019 British fracking was dealt another blow today as the government blocked Cuadrilla’s attempts to open a new drilling site in Lancashire. Local government secretary James Brokenshire said he would not overturn the local council’s decision to refuse planning permission at the Roseacre Wood site. Read more: Cuadrilla's request for earthquake review falls on deaf ears [...]