Sterling falls below $1.30 to five-week low September 20, 2016 The pound has lost its shine today, falling below crucial levels against both the euro and the dollar. By early afternoon sterling was trading down 0.6 per cent against the greenback at $1.2959 as speculation ahead of the US Federal Reserve's meeting grips the currency markets. Against the euro, the pound dipped 0.5 per cent to [...]
Are government bonds too expensive? September 20, 2016 Government bond yields could have passed their nadir, investment banks and bond analysts have suggested, with borrowing costs rising and the outlook for major economies in flux. As the US Federal Reserve has hesitated on raising rates, the Brexit vote threw the financial markets into brief turmoil and the Eurozone has shown only tentative signs [...]
Faroe Petroleum falls to a loss but hikes production targets September 20, 2016 Shares in independent oil and gas explorer Faroe Petroleum rose as much as 1.53 per cent to 66p after the North Sea player hiked its production forecasts. The figures Revenue fell 54.8 per cent year-on-year to £23.1m in the six months ended 30 June, down from £51.1m a year earlier. Lower revenue and higher exploration costs helped [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 20, 2016 Theresa May has been buttering up Wall Street following the Brext vote and drug giant GlaxoSmithKline has a new chief executive. Here's what you need to know before the US open at 2:30pm London time. The US futures markets are pointing higher ahead of the open. The S&P is up by 0.38 per cent, the Nasdaq [...]
Oil prices swing wildly as market receives mixed messages September 20, 2016 Oil prices swung wildly today as traders weighed diminished concerns over rising US stockpiles against the broader market outlook. Brent crude, the global benchmark, jumped as much as 0.76 per cent to $46.30 per barrel as a key US petrol pipeline was on pace to return to service following an outage, offsetting concerns over a potential rise in crude [...]
Two banks are betting on the US raising interest rates tomorrow September 20, 2016 The world's most important central bank meets tomorrow to decide whether to raise interest rates for only the second time since the financial crisis. This week is realistically the US Federal Reserve's last chance to change rates before the US election. While the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet just one week before the 8 [...]
IG Group bemoans summer’s trading snoozefest September 20, 2016 You'd have thought the past few months would have been pretty interesting (if not downright hairy) for spread betters like IG Group – but this morning the company said quiet market conditions had hit business. The figures The online trading group said revenues in its first quarter hit £111.4m, up 5.1 per cent from last year. It put [...]
Why Stateside aggression is increasingly familiar to European investors September 20, 2016 An abundance of liquidity relative to opportunities has led to investors agreeing to lend to companies at relatively high leverages without the usual conditions that enable them to renegotiate terms when the businesses underperform. Almost all deals syndicated that are taking place in Europe this month are covenant-lite, which means that investors will be unable to [...]
Evolve or die: The high street is not dead but it must shape up fast to lure shoppers September 20, 2016 Reports on the impending death of the high street may be greatly exaggerated. According to the new Omnico Retail Gap barometer, browsing and paying in-store is still the nation's favourite way to shop, with 43 per cent of consumers choosing this method. This was followed by 17 per cent of people who said they liked [...]
Steepening the curve: The Bank of Japan may modify its bond buying scheme to ease pressure on commercial banks, insurers and pension funds September 20, 2016 In a defiant speech earlier this month, Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor Haruhiko Kuroda insisted that there is plenty of ammo left in his monetary policy clip. With a comprehensive review of the effects of monetary policy on prices and the economy promised at tomorrow’s BoJ meeting, speculation is rife about what surprises could be in [...]