Explainer: What are green bonds? And how will the UK’s first green gilts work? November 15, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced yesterday that Britain will issue its first green government bond next year, in a bid to capitalise on growing investor demand for assets that fund environmentally-friendly projects. The market for investments with an environment, social, or governance (ESG) focus has increased exponentially in recent years. Around $250bn (£189bn) of green bonds [...]
Weekly outlook, 16-20 November: will FTSE rally continue? November 15, 2020 After the best week for the FTSE 100 since April, investors will be keen to see if markets can keep the rally going, with a slew of heavyweights set to report. Last Monday Pfizer’s announcement that its vaccine was 90 per cent effective in treating the coronavirus disease sent stocks soaring. Traders cheered the news, [...]
Oil prices slip after week of gains as vaccine rally cools November 13, 2020 Global oil prices today pared some of their gains for the week as a vaccine-inspired rally ran out of steam. Prices shot up at the beginning of the week on the news that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine was 90 per cent effective, but began to slip back yesterday. Today global standard Brent crude fell a further [...]
Wall Street opens higher but FTSE 100 slips as virus cases continue to rise November 13, 2020 Wall Street opened higher this afternoon as upbeat earnings from major companies helped markets shrug off concerns about rising Covid-19 cases. The S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq were all trading up roughly 0.8 per cent this afternoon. US stocks had seen their rally halted yesterday as investors weighed the timeline for a mass rollout [...]
What should investors care about most: A vaccine or the US President? November 13, 2020 | City Talk The result of the US election was big news for the world, for the economy and markets. But as an investor I’ve always considered the pandemic of far greater consequence. Vaccine news steals election thunder Joe Biden’s electoral success was duly eclipsed by the news on Monday that an effective Covid-19 vaccine may have been [...]
Japan’s Nikkei index snaps eight-day winning streak as Covid-19 cases surge November 13, 2020 Nikkei snaps eight-day winning streak as COVID-19 cases surge
U.N chief to push G20 to further expand debt service suspension November 12, 2020 United Nations secretary-general António Guterres will push G20 leaders to expand debt service suspension to help developing and middle-income economies recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Addressing a virtual annual ministerial meeting attended by the Group of 77 – a collection of 134 developing countries – plus China, Guterres said: “Many developing countries are suffering from [...]
ECB turns to emergency bonds and ultra-cheap loans to control financial costs November 12, 2020 The ECB will use its emergency bond-buying and ultra-cheap loans to banks as the primary instruments to control financing costs, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde told the ECB’s annual forum on central banking this evening. The EU heavyweight said financing costs for governments, households and businesses in the eurozone will stay “exceptionally favourable” until [...]
UK regulators prepared to intervene if Brexit disrupts markets, says FCA November 12, 2020 British regulators are prepared to intervene if the UK’s full departure from the European Union on 31 December risks disrupting financial markets, an executive from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said. While Britain has already left the bloc, post-Brexit transition agreements gives banks and trading platforms full access to EU markets until the end of [...]
FTSE 100 and US stocks tumble as Covid-19 vaccine rally runs out of steam November 12, 2020 Global markets largely slipped lower today as the three-day equity rally sparked by news of a breakthrough in the hunt for a Covid-19 vaccine began to lose momentum, with the FTSE 100 and US stocks both falling. London’s blue-chip index ended an eight-day winning streak, falling 1.19 per cent to 6,305.85 by 2.45pm. The midcap [...]