Gold loses shine as it falls back below $1,300 June 17, 2016 The softer dollar pulled gold back from a two-year high today, as investor anxiety about next week's EU referendum eased slightly. The precious metal is still on course for its third weekly gain, with spot gold rising 0.7 per cent to $1,286.82 an ounce in early afternoon trading. US gold, however, slumped 0.6 per cent [...]
Sterling soars and markets jump as EU referendum campaigns on hold June 17, 2016 Sterling has risen against the dollar and the FTSE 100 is back above 6,000 points this morning, as the markets respond to the death of Jo Cox, and the EU referendum campaign takes a pause. The pound climbed to $1.4301, up 0.7 per cent overnight, as market chatter and hearsay suggested traders believe the suspension [...]
Oil rises for the first time in seven days as the US dollar weakens June 17, 2016 Oil snapped its biggest weekly drop in more than two months today, helped by foreign exchange rate movements. The greenback slumped 0.2 per cent to $94.407 against a basket of currencies, making the dollar-priced commodity more attractive to foreign buyers, and helping crude shrug off a sharp drop in the previous six sessions. Read more: IEA says global [...]
With the Bank of England warning of a sharp fall in sterling, would leaving the EU be a buying opportunity? June 17, 2016 Jason Hollands, managing director of Tilney Bestinvest, says Yes. A Leave vote will likely lead to a knee-jerk reaction in the markets, led by a sharp slide in sterling. However, far from hitting the panic button, I would see an indiscriminate slide in UK equities on the back of a Leave vote as a potential buying [...]
Kenya considering launching tea futures to stabilise prices June 16, 2016 The world's first tea futures contracts could be launched in Kenya in an attempt to stabilise prices and securitise production. Representatives of the Kenyan tea industry have held talks with INTL FCStone Inc, a financial advisory firm based in New York, about setting up the derivatives, Bloomberg reported. Kenya is the world’s largest exporter of [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil at $20 per barrel talk re-emerges June 16, 2016 An analyst has warned that oil prices could still fall to $20 per barrel within the next year — despite rising sentiment that the battered market could be starting to balance. Paul Jackson, head of research at exchange-traded-fund provider Source, told City A.M. oil bottoming at around $20 after a bubble is part of a "historical cycle that repeats [...]
Gold hits highest level in nearly two years after US Federal Reserve’s dovish coos June 16, 2016 The US Federal Reserve's dovish coos helped gold smash through the $1,300 mark for the first time since early May today. Spot gold swelled 1.30 per cent to $1,308.1 per ounce this morning, having touched its highest level since August 2014 at $1,313.60 earlier. US gold added 1.80 per cent to $1,311.3, after hitting its highest rate [...]
European banking shares take a hammering as Deutsche Bank falls to its lowest ever June 16, 2016 European banking shares dropped today – with Deutsche Bank's share price falling to its lowest-ever in early trading. Deutsche shares fell as low as €12.94 , 2.5 per cent lower, while the UK's big four lenders were also hit, with HSBC dipping 1.1 per cent to 420.95p, Barclays falling 2.5 per cent to 157p, Royal [...]
FTSE 100 firms pay billions to shareholders as pension deficits balloon June 16, 2016 Fresh research has shown that 35 of Britain’s biggest companies paid out more in dividends than their ballooning pension deficits. And 54 FTSE 100 firms paid out a total of $48bn to their shareholders annually for the past two years, almost equal to their combined pension scheme deficit of $52bn. Read more: Show us the money: [...]
Wood Mackenzie: Oil industry to cut $1 trillion spending as North Sea hits “critical phase” June 15, 2016 The global oil industry will spend $1 trillion (£704bn) less on development and exploration in 2015-20, just as the UK's North Sea sector hits a critical phase. Development investment will be around 22 per cent less than what was anticipated before the oil price rout started in the middle of 2014. And an additional $300bn will be cut [...]