FTSE 100 fails to hold on to new record high October 11, 2016 The FTSE 100 hit a new record high today, before a bumper round of profit-taking sent the index of leading stocks down for the day. The UK's bluechip index hit a high of 7,129 points in lunchtime trading, beating the previous intraday high set in April 2015 of 7,022 points. The gains came as the pound suffered another topsy-turvy [...]
Bank of England rate-setter thinks sterling could fall further October 11, 2016 The newest member of the monetary policy committee (MPC) has said the pound could continue to fall given inherent weaknesses in the UK economy. Michael Saunders, who joined the Bank of England's rate-setting committee over the summer, told MPs today: "Given the scale and persistence of the UK's current account deficit, I would not be [...]
Pure Gym avoids overstretch as it confirms it has pulled the plug on a £190m London IPO October 11, 2016 Pure Gym confirmed this morning it has abandoned plans to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO), citing concerns about a "challenging" and volatile market. The company, which is the UK's largest gym operator, announced it was planning a £190m share sale in mid-September. Pure Gym had planned to use the proceeds to repay its existing [...]
Is the tumbling pound providing a correction, or are we losers now? October 11, 2016 A strong currency can be a sign of a country’s economic success. When a currency rises against another, those earning income in it have greater spending power. Equally, a weaker currency is considered by some to be a source of national embarrassment. Last week’s sterling crash was rather embarrassing for Britain – the pound fell 4.2 [...]
Done right, fiscal policy can act as a channel to direct monetary stimulus into the real economy, not asset prices October 11, 2016 It's scarcely possible to read about global economic policy these days without hearing that central banks have run out of ammunition and a call to open the fiscal floodgates. But is fiscal policy really the answer to whatever is ailing the global economy? And has the great monetary experiment really reached the end of the road? [...]
InnovaDerma predicts maiden profit on Dragons’ Den-backed Skinny Tan October 10, 2016 Shares in InnovaDerma soared today after the beauty company said it is on track to book a maiden profit this year. The firm expects to report revenues of around £4.2m in the year to 30 June, up more than 800 per cent from just £0.5m a year ago. Strong top line growth should enable it to announce a maiden net [...]
Brent crude oil price hits one year high of $53.50 boosted by Opec production cut deal optimism October 10, 2016 The price of Brent crude oil hit a one-year high this afternoon, rising to $53.50 a barrel. Brent crude oil price over the past 12 months (Source: Bloomberg) The price of US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was also trading up, rising by 2.6 per cent to $51.11 a barrel this afternoon – a four month high. [...]
IEA says world more energy efficient despite really cheap oil October 10, 2016 The International Energy Agency (IEA) said today that the world's economies used less energy to grow last year despite low oil and natural gas prices. Energy intensity — the amount of energy used per unit of gross domestic product — rose by 1.8 per cent last year, according to a new report by the IEA. This beat a gain of [...]
People’s Bank of China sets renminbi fix at weakest in six years October 10, 2016 The People's Bank of China (PBoC) has set the midpoint about which the currency can trade higher than 6.7 renminbi for the first time since 2010. Following the announcement, both the onshore renminbi CNY and the offshore renminbi CNH (which trades mainly in Hong Kong) came close to the six-year lows that they came to a [...]
New oil discovery in Alaska could reverse three decades of decline October 10, 2016 A minor oil firm just announced that it has made a “world-class” discovery in Alaska, which could be the largest find in the state in years. Caelus Energy LLC, a small company backed by private equity, says that it has discovered oil on Alaska’s northern coast. The field could hold as much as 6 billion barrels [...]