Hotel Chocolat’s on a sugar high as share price jumps on its first day of trading May 10, 2016 It's a pretty sweet day for Hotel Chocolat founders Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris, after shares in the company jumped on its first day of trading today. After the company priced shares at 148p last week, valuing the company at £167m, they jumped to 175p as the market opened, and were hovering 8.5 per cent higher at 193p in mid-morning trading. Hotel [...]
Goldman Sachs says this will give the oil market recovery legs May 10, 2016 Goldman Sachs said that stable declines in non-Opec production will be key to whether oil markets recover in a sustainable fashion. The bank's base scenario predicts a sustained deficit in the third quarter of the year, until which crude prices are expected to hover around current levels. Read more: Oil major Total makes near €1bn wager on [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil steadies as traders look through supply outages May 10, 2016 Oil prices steadied this morning as the millions of barrels of crude stored in tankers across the world offset supply disruptions. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 0.3 per cent to $43.7 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, dipped 0.2 per cent to $43.4 per barrel. The Canadian wildfires provided temporary support to [...]
The case for buying emerging markets on dips May 10, 2016 The beautiful magnolia trees are blossoming, and we all know what that means. Bluer skies over London, happy dogs in the parks, and speculation picking up about whether we’ll see a repeat of the “sell in May” strategy. Last week ended with a thud after a much weaker-than-expected US April jobs report. As soon as [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 slips on the falling oil price as poor China data weighs heavy May 9, 2016 The FTSE 100 has managed to erase all its earlier gains to close down, adding to the worst weekly performance since February and marking the third straight week of losses. The blue-chip index finished 0.2 per cent lower at 6,114.81 after falling 1.9 per cent last week. The index is down around two per cent so far this year and 15 per [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil prices give up gains from Canada wildfires May 9, 2016 Oil prices gave up earlier gains from a huge wildfire in Canada's oil and gas region to trade lower this afternoon. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell two per cent to $44.7 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, slumped 1.6 per cent to $44. Read more: Low oil prices pushes Saudi Arabia into [...]
Oil major Total makes near €1bn wager on renewable energy with bid for battery maker Saft May 9, 2016 French oil major Total made a €950m (£750m) bid for battery maker Saft, effectively increasing its wager on the renewable energy sector. It said that the €36.5 per share offer represents a 38.3 per cent premium to Saft's closing price as of Friday. The friendly offer has already received unanimous approval from Saft's board, but it's still subject to a review [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open May 9, 2016 Stock markets lost ground over the last week but look set to open stronger today. S&P futures are up by 0.13 per cent, while the Nasdaq is up by 0.25 per cent. Dow futures are trading up by 0.21 per cent ahead of the open. Last week the Dow slipped 0.2 per cent, the S&P declined by [...]
Saudi Arabia ousts long-serving oil minister Ali Al Naimi sparking fears volatility will return to the oil market May 8, 2016 Saudi Arabia’s dismissal of its oil minister yesterday has sparked concerns that fresh volatility is about to hit the market. The kingdom ousted its long-serving oil minister who was the driver behind Opec's 2014 policy of holding production despite plummeting oil prices. Ali al-Naimi, who held the post from 1995, has been replaced by Khalid Al Falih, chairman of [...]
Man Group becomes latest firm to face shareholder ire over executive pay May 6, 2016 Man Group has become the latest firm to stoke shareholder ire over executive pay, after a significant number of shareholders voted against its remuneration report. The investment manager's executive pay package was rejected by nearly 40 per cent of its shareholders, but it still passed as around 60 per cent were in favour. Read more: RBS [...]