FTSE 100 jumps as investors look past dire results to economies reopening April 28, 2020 The FTSE 100 closed at its highest in more than six weeks today as investor sentiment improved on hopes that European economies will soon start to reopen. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 1.9 per cent today to finish at 5,959 points, its highest point since early to mid-March. Traders have been buoyed by the [...]
US stocks slip back as consumer confidence plunges April 28, 2020 Wall Street stocks reversed course in morning trading after a survey showed US consumer confidence plunged in April and drugmaker Merck dragged down health equities. The S&P 500 was marginally lower three hours into trading. The Nasdaq was down 0.7 per cent but the Dow Jones was up 0.2 per cent European markets finished the [...]
Oil prices reverse losses as US government considers aid for sector April 28, 2020 Oil prices reversed their losses this afternoon after US government officials indicated that it would provide support to the battered sector. US standard West Texas Intermediate, which earlier today fell nearly 20 per cent, swung back to stand over three per cent up at $13.21. The move came after US treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin said [...]
German economy to shrink by 6.6 per cent this year, economists say April 28, 2020 Germany’s economy will shrink by 6.6 per cent this year, one of the country’s leading think tanks has predicted, as tumbling global demand amid coronavirus takes a heavy toll on the exporting powerhouse. The Ifo Institute also said it will take until the end of 2021 for Germany’s output to reach pre-coronavirus. The analysis comes [...]
Coronavirus: UK retailers have worst month since 2008 April 28, 2020 UK retailers suffered the biggest fall in sales since the financial crisis in 2008 in the first two months of April as coronavirus lockdown measures battered the sector, a survey has shown. Every part of the retail sector was hit hard this month, according to the CBI’s distributive trades survey. Even grocers and specialist food [...]
Oil prices plunge: WTI nears $10 as storage fears increase April 28, 2020 Oil prices continued to slide this morning as traders rushed to withdraw their money from upcoming futures delivery contracts amid fears they will have nowhere to put the substance. With storage space running severely scarce around the world, exchange-traded funds are trying to avoid a similar situation to last week’s price crash by selling out [...]
UK sets new record for longest period without coal-powered electricity April 28, 2020 The UK has this morning set a new record for the longest period without using electricity generated from coal since pre-industrial times. As of midday, the country has been without coal power for 18 days and 12 hours, the longest period since the Industrial Revolution. The previous record was set on 4 June last year, [...]
BP profit tumbles by two-thirds as oil demand dries up April 28, 2020 BP’s underlying profit fell by two-thirds in the first quarter as the coronavirus crisis destroyed global demand for oil. The oil giant’s underlying cost replacement profit, its preferred reporting metric, dropped from $2.4bn (£1.9bn) to $0.8bn year-on-year. Shares in BP fell a little over one per cent this morning. The figures For the quarter, the [...]
Lenders grant 1.6m mortgage payment holidays to homeowners April 28, 2020 Lenders have granted 1.6m mortgage payment holidays to homeowners facing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in March that households with mortgages would be entitled to three-month payment holidays. Over a third of payment holidays approved so far were done in the first week of the UK’s lockdown. One in [...]
Economies in free fall as hopes fade for a V-shaped recovery April 28, 2020 | City Talk Amongst the arguments about a lack of protective clothing for health workers and whether governments were too slow to react to the spread of Covid-19, the latest figures show that the pandemic is gradually coming under control. The rate of growth in new infections and fatalities around the world is slowing and the curves are [...]