Takeover rumours fly but markets fail to take off October 21, 2016 Markets are yawning their way to the weekend with a quiet finish to a tumultuous week. Stocks has shaved a few points, sterling is up against some, down against some and very little of note is happening on the financial markets despite a big day of political developments and some chunky corporate news. Two takeover [...]
Autumn Statement 2016: Philip Hammond in trouble as government dramatically misses borrowing target October 21, 2016 The government has dramatically overshot its target for public borrowing, with a whopping £10bn black hole in the country's finances. The deficit – a measure of how much more the government spends than it receives – rose to £10.6bn in September. That was £2.5bn over expectations and 14 per cent higher than the same month last year. It [...]
Deutsche Bank’s share price just rose above its pre-panic level October 21, 2016 What a difference a month (and a bit) makes. This morning shares in Deutsche Bank finally rose back to the level they were at before the lender was threatened with a massive $14bn (£11.4bn) fine by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and everyone lost their heads. Good news for chief executive John Cryan. Shares in the lender hit [...]
Markets have the Friday feeling … and that means nothing much is changing October 21, 2016 Theresa May is half-way through her first official meeting of EU leaders over in Brussels. Across the pond, the ferocious US Presidential Election is approaching with alarming speed, and in Europe, Mario Draghi is intent on keeping the quantitative easing guessing game running for as long as he can. Plenty then, you would think, for [...]
Hong Kong stock exchange trading shut down as Typhoon Haima lashes city October 21, 2016 The Hong Kong stock exchange was forced to cancel trading on Friday as Typhoon Haima lashed the city. The closure came after the Hong Kong Observatory issued a tropical cyclone warning signal number eight. Several flights at Hong Kong's international airport were cancelled or delayed also. Read more: Is property a safe bet in China's former [...]
Executive pay regulation will backfire if it’s not based on evidence October 20, 2016 Executive pay is the poster child for the disconnect between big business and the general public. It does need to be reformed. It needs to be fair given an executive’s performance – and performance as measured by long-run contribution to society, not short-run profit. However, 80 years of history shows that compensation reform has frequently [...]
Middle East bond market on for record-breaking year after Saudi $17.5bn deal October 20, 2016 The middle eastern bond market boom has captured the attention of investors around the world, according to one of the leading players behind Saudi Arabia’s record-breaking $17.5bn debt sale. Jean-Marc Mercier, global co-head of debt capital markets at HSBC who met over 300 potential investors as part of the Saudi deal, told City A.M. the [...]
Rollercoaster ride for euro as Draghi denies bond-buying speculation October 20, 2016 The euro leapt up and then crept down this afternoon in a mini-frenzy of trading as European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi failed to provide any clues about the outlook for Eurozone monetary policy. As the ECB held its negative interest rates and quantitative easing (QE) programme unchanged, Draghi said there was no talk of either extending, winding down or [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open October 20, 2016 Markets are further backing a Clinton victory in the US presidential election next month after last night's final debate, while the European Central Bank is expected to keep policy on hold when it meets this afternoon. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US futures are pointing higher [...]
IPOing waste firm Biffa has arrived in London – and these pictures prove it October 20, 2016 Waste management company Biffa today floated on the London Stock Exchange. The initial public offering (IPO) was pushed through at a reduced price after the company failed to find enough investor interested. Read more: Biffa set to float next week after cutting price to save IPO from scrapheap The company's base price, which has remained [...]