Banks lead the FTSE 100, with some lenders setting new monthly highs August 31, 2016 Banks are helping to bolster a reasonably flat FTSE 100 today. Banking mainstays Barclays and HSBC are both among the five greatest risers this morning, while shares in Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered are up as well. Barclays is currently up 2.4 per cent at 173.25p, HSBC is up 1.8 per cent at 567.7p, Lloyds is up 1.5 per [...]
Berkeley and housing stocks risk being evicted from FTSE 100 index August 31, 2016 Housebuilder Berkeley Group could be booted from the FTSE 100 today after a near 30 per cent slump in its share price so far this year. Building materials company Travis Perkins is also teetering on the edge of the blue-chip index with shares now down about 12.5 per cent since the UK voted to quit the [...]
Emerging markets have enjoyed a real comeback, but as expectations of another Fed rate hike grow, can it last long? August 30, 2016 At the beginning of the year, things looked dismal for emerging markets. Investor optimism had soured over the previous three to four years, thanks to a cocktail of tumbling commodity prices, a strong dollar and a Chinese slowdown which had shaken confidence in the sustainability of their growth. Nine months later, and the mood has shifted [...]
FTSE 100 flat ahead of Janet Yellen’s Jackson Hole speech August 26, 2016 The FTSE 100 was trading flat this morning ahead of the Federal Reserve's speech at Jackson Hole. The UK's blue-chip index was trading 0.1 per cent down at 6,810 points in early morning trading, with investors looking for clues of when a US rate rise could come. "A rather subdued opening call is nothing out of the [...]
Why Nasdaq’s Nordic business believes it is bucking 2016’s IPO slowdown August 25, 2016 This year has been slow for the flotation market. In the first half of the year, there were 39 initial public offerings (IPOs) on the London Stock Exchange, raising €3.5bn (£3bn) – down from 55 raising €9.3bn in the same period last year, according to figures compiled by PwC. It has been a similar story on [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open August 25, 2016 Jackson Hole – the annual US economic symposium – is now underway with market watchers keenly awaiting clues on a September Fed rate hike. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US markets are not looking perky ahead in the pre-market. The S&P is off by 0.24 [...]
Sterling on the front foot as Jackson Hole approaches August 24, 2016 Sterling picked up a gear yesterday as the timing of a US interest rate rise was under the spotlight ahead of the annual central bankers’ Jackson Hole meeting. The pound rose to $1.3226, up 0.2 per cent before the gathering in Wyoming kicks off tomorrow evening. Fed chair Janet Yellen could use her speech on [...]
Gold loses its sheen as Randgold and Fresnillo tumble ahead of Jackson Hole August 24, 2016 The price of gold fell more than one per cent to $1,325.20 today, as investors nervously awaited an appearance by US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen later this week. The fall in gold prices hit FTSE-listed producers Randgold Resources, which fell 4.7 per cent to 7,640p, and Fresnillo, which dropped 3.7 per cent to 1,767.4p. Read [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open August 24, 2016 It's another scorcher in London and the FTSE 100 is feeling the heat, though European markets are broadly mixed as they digest the Bank of England's latest bond-buying spree. Here's what you need to know before the market open at 2:30pm London time. The S&P is up by 0.8 per cent in the pre-market, while the Nasdaq [...]
Housebuilder shares rise as Brexit fears look like a thing of the past August 24, 2016 Rumours of housebuilders' demise are greatly exaggerated. Builders were among the big winners on the FTSE 100 for the second day in a row this morning, after strong results from Persimmon yesterday suggested they are weathering the Brexit storm. Persimmon was up 2.5 per cent at 1,918p in mid-morning trading, while Barratt was up 2.7 per cent at 499.3p. [...]