Oil price climbs after US Energy Information Administration data reveals US crude oil inventories down by 14.5 million barrels September 8, 2016 Oil prices picked up this afternoon after data from the US showed crude stocks had tumbled by over 14m barrels last week. Global benchmark Brent crude was up 1.1 per cent to $48.51 and US benchmark rose 1.27 per cent to $46.08. The US Energy Information Administration released (EIA) data today showing that US commercial crude oil inventories [...]
Glencore’s share price is flat after reports that it is putting another one of its Chilean assets up for sale September 8, 2016 Glencore has put another one of its assets up for sale as part of a strategy to lighten its heavy debt burden. The reported asset in question is Chilean-based Energia Austral hydropower, which it owns through a joint venture partnership with Australian firm Origin Energy. Energia Austral comprises three hydropower projects currently under development that will have a capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW). [...]
Top execs are expecting global IPO activity to re-ignite in the next year after slow start to 2016 September 8, 2016 Senior business figures expect the global IPO window to re-open in the next 12 months following a slow start to 2016. Figures from Mergermarket show that global initial public offering (IPO) volume fell 38 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2016, from 544 deals in the first six months to 2015 to 339. Read [...]
European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi says Eurozone recovery ‘dampened’ by Brexit uncertainty September 8, 2016 Mario Draghi, chief of the European Central Bank (ECB), said today that the economic recovery in the Eurozone is likely to be dampened – partly because of the UK's Brexit vote. Euro area GDP was up by 0.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter and incoming data points to ongoing growth in the third [...]
ECB leaves rates unchanged and confirms it will run QE until March 2017 September 8, 2016 The European Central Bank (ECB) has left rates unchanged once again at today's meeting of the general council. The euro rallied on the news, rising 0.69 per cent against the pound to £0.84825, and up 0.44 per cent against the dollar, to $1.1288. The interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility [...]
UK sets up new trade group with India to prepare for future deal following Brexit September 8, 2016 Britain has set up a new working group with India to help prepare for possible trade deals after Brexit has completed. The UK can't agree trade deals with other countries until it has formally exited the EU, a process that could take years. However, the government has said that won't stop it from preparing for the [...]
Nearly three per cent of UK workers have reported they are now on a zero-hours contract September 8, 2016 Almost three per cent of the UK's workforce has reported being employed on a zero-hours contract basis in their main job, according to new figures. Data released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the number of people on zero-hours contracts, which do not guarantee staff a certain number of hours' work, rose by [...]
Why we’re backing Britain’s resilient and optimistic small businesses September 8, 2016 In the run up to June’s referendum vote, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) became a focal point for both Leave and Remain camps, with each side claiming the support of small business owners for their different visions of Britain’s future. This focus on SMEs was unsurprising – these businesses are the nuts and bolts of British [...]
Forget trade deals: Unilaterally tearing down our tariffs would be Britain’s Berlin Wall moment September 7, 2016 The Aussies are itching for a free trade deal and the Prime Minister is said to want to lead the world against protectionism. For most people such issues are economic, pure and simple. Unfortunately, what is missing is the moral dimension, which needs to be far better understood. Adam Smith argued that “all commerce that [...]
Britain must be boldly pro-enterprise to master the Fourth Industrial Revolution September 7, 2016 Business leaders and politicians gathered in Davos at this year’s World Economic Forum annual meeting were told a revolution had started. Not a bloody revolution, but an economic and strategic one, with its impact felt across every industry and every country. This unprecedented, disruptive fusion of digital, physical and biological technological developments has been dubbed [...]