FTSE 100 ends the week in a party mood as oil stocks jump January 22, 2016 After a week of turmoil, the FTSE 100 finished Friday on an upbeat note, closing 2.2 per cent higher, at 5,900 points. Other European stocks followed suit, with the French Cac finishing more than three per cent higher, and the German Dax ending almost two per cent higher. The news followed a bounce in oil prices, with [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil set to clock first weekly gain this year on cold weather January 22, 2016 Oil prices are set to clock their first weekly gain this year, as freezing weather and snowstorms in parts of the US and Europe boosts demand for heating oil. Brent crude, the global benchmark, jumped seven per cent to $31.30 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, increased 6.26 per cent to $31.38. [...]
Davos 2016: Why you can’t afford to ignore the fourth industrial revolution – and how data must become essential to your business January 22, 2016 There's been one phrase on everyone's lips at this year's World Economic Forum: the fourth industrial revolution. Definitions differ on what exactly it is, but one thing we can all agree on is that the fourth industrial revolution is here and it is happening a lot faster than many of us ever imagined. While the first [...]
Apple hires VR researcher Doug Bowman to catch up with Facebook, Google and Microsoft in Silicon Valley virtual reality race January 22, 2016 Apple has hired a leading VR researcher in a bid to catch up to its rivals in the great Silicon Valley virtual reality race. Doug Bowman can now add Apple employee to his cv, joining the company from his current role as the director of the Centre for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech, reports the [...]
UK Statistics Authority blasts market-moving data leak January 22, 2016 Market-moving UK data was leaked to hundreds before its official release on Wednesday, a breach blasted by the country’s statistics watchdog. The UK Statistics Authority wrote that it was “deeply concerned about the impact that breaches (and apparent breaches) relating to the unauthorised, widespread sharing of statistics before their publication may have on the trustworthiness [...]
Government sells stake in King’s Cross development for £371m to AustralianSuper January 22, 2016 The government has sold it stake in the King's Cross development – currently part-way through a process that will overhaul the 67-acre site – to pension fund AustralianSuper, for £371m. The decision to sell the site was made back in August, when Lazard and Savills were hired to handle the deal. The government's 36.5 per cent stake [...]
Petroceltic share price soars on buyout interest from shareholder Worldview January 22, 2016 Shares in Irish oil and gas explorer Petroceltic leapt this morning on the news it could be bought out by its biggest shareholder, hedge fund Worldview Capital. Petroceltic shares rose as much as 108.69 per cent to 24p per share after activist investor Worldview confirmed its interest in the London-listed company. They'd had fallen from £2.21 in October 2014, in the wake of a [...]
UK public borrowing figures for December mean Chancellor George Osborne is unlikely to meet his fiscal target January 22, 2016 Economists have warned UK public sector finances aren't improving quickly enough for the government to meet its deficit-reduction target laid out in the Autumn Statement. Public borrowing, excluding state-controlled banks, fell to £7.47bn in December from £11.7bn a year earlier, figures from Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown. This also beat economists' expectations for a decline to [...]
Tesco to drop diesel prices further to 97.7p from today January 22, 2016 Tesco has said it will drop its diesel prices even further, committing to lowering the price of the fuel to 97.7p at all of its 500 filling stations from midday today. The supermarket was one of many to bring the price of diesel below £1 at the start of the year, alongside Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons, [...]
London house prices: Crossrail has made Hounslow Emoov’s top tip for first-time buyers who don’t want to break the bank – but would like a healthy return January 22, 2016 The UK property seesaw consists of two influential factors, with house prices at one end and the demand for said housing at the other. The changing face of the London property landscape means there is a tussle between boroughs, as the once desirable become unaffordable, and the not so desirable become the new hotspots – Brixton, for example. [...]