Brent crude oil breaks $57 a barrel as deal with non-Opec producers triggers five per cent rally December 12, 2016 Oil prices shed earlier gains this evening after rallying more than five per cent during the day, as markets digested a landmark pact between oil producing countries and cartel Opec. Global benchmark Brent crude briefly rose above $57 a barrel for the first time since July 2015 in morning trading. This evening it was trading up [...]
UK video startup Newsflare lands £2.4m December 12, 2016 Newsflare, a British media startup, has landed a multimillion pound cash injection from a young investment fund aimed at boosting the country's creative industries. The £2.4m fresh funding comes from Edge Investments' Creative Enterprise Fund and will help the three-year-old startup's expansion. Read more: The Memo proves investors still like media startups, with six-digit funding The Newsflare platform connects user [...]
13 years of returns: history’s lesson for investors December 12, 2016 | City Talk There is no guaranteed route to success when it comes to investing, but the data below illustrates why it is important not to hold all your eggs in one basket. 13 years of asset class performances A widely-held belief is that shares deliver the best returns over the very long term, at least among the [...]
Santa’s naughty list could well be shorter this year as coal demand waning and growth set to stall for next five years December 12, 2016 Waning appetite from key consuming nations and swift growth in other sources of energy will stall global demand for coal over the next five years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). (Though maybe it's just that so few children were naughty this year that coal's no longer needed…) Coal demand fell last year for [...]
The Memo proves investors still like media startups, landing six-digit funding December 12, 2016 London-based media startup The Memo has landed a new round of funding for international expansion, proving investor appetite for media despite the well-documented struggles of established print media. The more than quarter of a million pounds in cash comes as the 18-month-old online tech publication turned a profit for the first time. Investors ploughing in £280,000 [...]
Aim liquidity rises by nine per cent over last year to shrug off Brexit uncertainty December 12, 2016 The average value of shares trading daily on London’s Aim market has risen over the last year, despite uncertainty following the UK’s decision to leave the EU. Liquidity on the UK’s junior market increased by nine per cent year on year, according to data from accountants UHY Hacker Young. The average daily value of shares [...]
London’s floats market sinks on political shocks December 12, 2016 The London IPO market will end the year on a subdued note, with total proceeds expected to be down by around 60 per cent compared to this time last year. According to PwC’s latest IPO survey the London market raised £5.3bn across 60 floats throughout the year, averaging proceeds of £121m per listing. The picture [...]
Dwindling FX volumes – except for China – are a systemic risk as hedge funds abandon currency markets says BIS December 11, 2016 High-risk investors are abandoning the foreign exchange markets, potentially leaving the financial markets more vulnerable to systemic dangers, according to a group of top central bankers. The decline in foreign exchange volumes has also allowed China’s renminbi to gain market share, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Currency markets have “changed in favour of [...]
Optimistic investors see FTSE 100 edging higher in 2017 according to a new poll by Interactive Investor December 11, 2016 NEARLY three quarters of investors believe that the FTSE 100 index will continue to climb in 2017, with 35 per cent predicting it will end between 6,800 and 7,100. Interactive Investor, the online investment platform, conducted the poll of over 9,000 investors between 21 and 24 November. Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, [...]
Spreadbetters wary of fresh clampdowns from watchdogs December 11, 2016 Spreadbetters are likely to be watching their backs this week, as financial watchdogs crack down on their market. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last Tuesday revealed it was planning to impose stricter rules on contract for difference (CFD) products, saying it was concerned customers did not fully understand the risks involved. German regulator Bafin followed suit [...]