The great fall of China: If the Chinese economy sinks, it’ll take Britain down with it September 27, 2016 Forget the chatter around the economic risk posed by Brexit, for a more dangerous spectre looms: China’s massive debt pile and the potential for a painful slowdown in the Asian powerhouse. Former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, Ken Rogoff, said yesterday that a slowdown in China is the greatest threat to the global [...]
Chinese officials cautious despite three-year record industrial profits September 27, 2016 China’s industrial firms grew profits at the fastest rate in three years during August. Profits for the month in the world’s second-largest economy grew by 19.5 per cent to 535bn yuan (£62m) according to data released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) – the best monthly growth since August 2013. Read more: China sees [...]
As a beleaguered Deutsche Bank faces a $14bn fine, Angela Merkel has ruled out state aid, but could a bailout be on the cards? September 27, 2016 Recent discussion of possible European bank bailouts has focused on Italy. Saddled with €360bn of souring loans and enfeebled by a stagnant, over-regulated economy, a number of Italian lenders face a very real risk of insolvency. In July, the country’s third largest, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, failed a stress test set by the European Central [...]
Investors turn bearish on global business cycle amid uncertainty September 27, 2016 Rising uncertainty has led to investors feeling less confident about the global business cycle. Those expecting global equities to rise has dropped to under half (47 per cent), down from 70 per cent just under two years ago, according to the latest Absolute Strategy Research (ASR) survey. Respondents think there is a 41 per cent [...]
Fears over hard Brexit send sterling to a five-week low against the euro September 26, 2016 Rising fears that the UK is heading for a so-called hard Brexit has driven the pound to five-week lows against the euro. Sterling dropped to its lowest level since 16 August against the euro, and also slid against the dollar. The government's stance on Brexit has appeared to be hardening recent, sparking fears in the [...]
Getting an Opec output cut won’t be a piece of cake September 26, 2016 With the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan rate decisions out of the way, focus could now shift elsewhere. Like towards the expected weaker US durable goods orders (which are, according to Credit Suisse, set to drop to -2.3 per cent in August compared to 4.4 per cent in July), or the oil [...]
Gemfields’ profits soar following “record operational year” September 26, 2016 Shares in Gemfields jumped as much as 5.5 per cent to 47.50p per share today after the coloured stones specialist reported a "record operational year". The figures Gemfields' net profit nearly doubled to $23.5m (£18.2m) in the the year ended 30 June 2016, up from $12.3m in 2015. This came as the firm's revenue rose 13 per cent to $193.1m during this [...]
Forget Brexit, this startup is eyeing “Brentry” with London expansion plans September 26, 2016 An innovative crowdfunding startup which helps people invest in up-and-coming tech startups alongside venture capitalists has unveiled plans to break into the UK, dismissing any concerns around the uncertainty of Brexit. OurCrowd, a three-year-old Israeli startup which last week landed $£72m (£56m) in funding, plans to open an office in London early next year where it will look to [...]
London still in the running for mega-IPO post-Brexit vote, Saudi Aramco says September 26, 2016 Saudi Aramco confirmed today that it's considering listing what could be the world's most valuable company in London. It comes despite warnings from a string of financial firms that the UK's vote to leave the European Union could push them to relocate outside of the City. Read more: Saudi Aramco set to be valued at more than $2 [...]
Oil industry spending expected to grow for the first time post-downturn September 26, 2016 Analysts reckon oil firms are ready to flash the cash for the first time since mid-2014. BMI Research said that the oil industry's capital expenditure will grow by 2.5 per cent year-on-year to $455bn (£351.80bn) in 2017. This marks the first annual growth since crude prices started plummeting just over two years ago. It will be [...]