Glencore copper chief Telis Mistakidis to step down at the end of the year amid management reshuffle December 3, 2018 Glencore's billionaire copper chief Telis Mistakidis is to step down at the end of the year amid a wider management reshuffle at the mining company. Mistakidis, a Greek billionaire who began working at Glencore in the early 1990s, will be replaced by Nico Paraskevas. The management shakeup comes as the mining giant faces a probe by the US [...]
The “79 per cent chance” the Santa Rally is real December 3, 2018 | City Talk Stock markets have risen in 79 per cent of Decembers over the last three decades adding some substance to the myth of the “Santa Rally”, Schroders research has found. The “Santa Rally” is a supposed effect of the Christmas feel-good factor, helping stock markets rise at the end of the year, although many seasoned investors remain [...]
Global markets rally on improved US-China trade relations December 3, 2018 Markets worldwide rallied this morning on the news that China and the US had pulled back from the brink in their escalating trade war. The FTSE 100 was up 145 points on 7,125, the FTSE 250 up 250 points to 18,730 and the FTSE all-share was up 73 points on 3,896. Among the biggest risers [...]
Oil prices soar as US and China agree to hold fire in trade war December 3, 2018 Oil prices soared overnight after a ceasefire in the US-China trade war was announced yesterday. International standard Brent crude was up 4.7 per cent to $62.42 a barrel this morning UK time. At the G20 meeting in Argentina over the weekend the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, agreed not to impose new [...]
Qatar quits international oil cartel Opec amid ongoing regional tensions December 3, 2018 Qatar will leave the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) next month, its energy minister said today. “Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from Opec effective January 2019 and this decision was communicated to Opec this morning,” Saad al-Kaabi, the country’s energy minister said at a press conference. The decision came after Qatar, [...]
Aim companies have markedly improved corporate governance reporting, study finds December 3, 2018 Companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) have significantly upped their corporate governance standards since a September 2018 rule change, an annual review has revealed. The market, which lists smaller companies and has less onerous regulations, was reviewed by accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young and lobbying group Quoted Companies Alliance. Their findings showed improvements in transparency [...]
Bristol ‘virtual touch’ firm raises £35m December 3, 2018 Virtual touch technology company Ultrahaptics has raised £35m in a new funding round and brought in a major new backer. The University of Bristol spin-off has developed technology that projects the feeling of an object like a switch or a knob into a users’ hand. This is done by speakers sending out sound waves from black [...]
Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman drives away with £30m funding for used car startup December 2, 2018 Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman wants to cut out the awkward tyre-kicking from buying a used car with a new startup. Chesterman, who sold Zoopla for £2.2bn earlier this year, said Cazoo aimed to make buying a car “no different to buying any other product online today”. The entrepreneur, who will serve as Cazoo’s CEO, has [...]
FTSE 250 outsourcer Kier sees shares plummet as it asks shareholders for £264m to slash debt November 30, 2018 Construction services company Kier Group’s share price plummeted to its lowest point for a decade this afternoon as it announced a plan to raise £264m to pay off debts. The FTSE 250 firm said the rights issue would give existing shareholders the chance to buy its stocks for 409p each, a 34 per cent discount [...]
Junk corporate bond outflows of $2.9bn fuelled by falling oil prices November 30, 2018 The junk corporate bond market has seen outflows surge this week fuelled by a drop in oil prices. High-yield bonds saw outflows of $2.9bn (£2.27bn) in the week to Wednesday, bringing the three-week total outflows to $8.8bn. Outflows in investment grade corporate bonds hit $2.5bn, reaching $8.8bn over the last three weeks, according to research [...]