The stock markets that look ‘cheap’ at the start of 2019 January 18, 2019 | City Talk 2018 was a rumbustious year for stock markets, with things really coming to the fore in harrowing fashion in the latter stages. With investors having grown accustomed to an unusual oasis of calm over recent years, volatility was back with a bang. However, as the dust settles, there is a silver lining. Even before the [...]
Lots of minuses for Plus500 as shorters dig in their heels January 17, 2019 Four funds have upped their short positions against online trading platform Plus500 so far this month, despite the firm’s upbeat ending to 2018. Twelve funds overall are betting that the Israeli firm’s share price will fall, with stakes worth hundreds of millions against it. Together, around 12.4 per of the firm’s shares are declared as [...]
City law firm Fieldfisher acquires Mayfair boutique in bet on London’s hedge fund sector January 17, 2019 City law firm Fieldfisher has acquired a specialist Mayfair boutique in a bet London’s hedge fund sector will thrive post-Brexit. The City firm has acquired West End boutique Cummings Law and hired two senior partners from rival firms to launch Cummings Fisher, which will specialise in funds, derivatives, financial services regulation and fund formation work. [...]
Chevron and Total join new Blockchain venture for oil trading January 16, 2019 Chevron, Total and Indian refiner Reliance Industries have joined their rivals in a new venture to bring blockchain into energy trading. The oil majors will become users of Vakt, a London-based platform for trading Brent crude oil using the technology behind bitcoin. Read more: Blockchain is changing finance forever – it will do the same to [...]
Hochschild falls as miner sees lower 2019 output from its gold and silver mines January 16, 2019 Investors were spooked today despite Hochschild posting record production last year, as the miner warned output would fall in 2019. Shares closed down five per cent at 164.35p as the company said gold output, at 72,222 ounces was over 2,000 lower in the fourth quarter than the preceding three months. Read more: Newmont forms world's largest [...]
Global trader Louis Dreyfus to exit dairy sector as part of strategic overhaul January 16, 2019 Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), one of the world's biggest agricultural commodity traders, announced today that it will exit its dairy business by mid-2019. The company, majority-owned by Russian-born heiress Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, has already separated the dairy business from the rest of its operations and intends either to wind down the division or find a buyer. [...]
Tullow shares fall as delayed payments dent plans to pay off debt January 16, 2019 Tullow Oil has been hit by delayed payments from a Ugandan exploration project, but expects production to increase this year, the company revealed this morning. Production hit 88,200 barrels of oil per day last year, and should reach between 93,000 and 101,000 in 2019, Tullow told markets. Read more: Premier slips on oil spill as financing [...]
Brexit deal defeat triggers huge uncertainty: what next? January 16, 2019 | City Talk Sterling rose in vote aftermath from €1.115 to €1.128; FTSE 100 fell more than 40 points in early trading In event of no deal, Schroders forecasts 2019 UK recession Market expectations that soft Brexit is now more likely seem premature Azad Zangana, Senior European Economist & Strategist, says: As had been widely expected, parliament has [...]
Shares in asset manager Ashmore fall amid ‘challenging’ emerging markets January 15, 2019 Assets under management at Ashmore Group edged upwards in the three months to 31 December against “challenging markets”, the asset manager said in a trading update today. The emerging markets specialist saw the value of its funds rise $300m (£235.2m) to an estimated $76.7bn. Read more: Top adviser joins firm aiming to ‘open up’ emerging markets The [...]
Ethereum hard fork: What is it, when will it happen and what will it do to prices? January 15, 2019 Tomorrow marks the first major event in the world of cryptocurrencies in 2019, which could bring about a range of consequences from price swings to falling user numbers. But what do analysts think will actually happen? The so-called hard fork, which will see the Ethereum network upgrade its code to sit on a new version [...]