Oil prices continue slump as prospects for recovery look slim April 15, 2020 Oil prices continued to fall today amid further signs that Opec’s record production cuts would not be sufficient to stabilize the oil market amid a coronavirus-driven recession. Benchmark Brent crude dropped over six per cent for the second consecutive day, falling to $27.50, while West Texas Intermediate fell below $20 to stand at $19.51. The [...]
Coronavirus: Governments face huge but necessary debt increases, says IMF April 15, 2020 The “unprecedented” government spending to tackle coronavirus and its economic effects will send deficits past their post-financial crisis levels and cause debt levels to balloon, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today. The IMF backed huge levels of spending, however, saying “a sizable increase in deficits this year is necessary and appropriate”. It said government [...]
FTSE 100 falls as fears over coronavirus crash grow April 15, 2020 The FTSE 100 has tumbled as investors brace themselves for an extension of coronavirus lockdown measures and as warnings about the economy grow louder. Britain’s FTSE 100 index was down 2.8 per cent at 5,630 points by the early afternoon, having fallen yesterday while other indices rose. The FTSE 250, made up of smaller domestically-focused [...]
US stocks slide after retail sales and factory output plunge April 15, 2020 US stocks have opened sharply lower after retail sales fell by the biggest amount on record and manufacturing output plunged. Wall Street’s S&P 500 index was 2.5 per cent lower shortly after the bell. The Dow Jones was down 2.2 per cent and the Nasdaq was also down 2.2 per cent. The falls came after [...]
Jupiter Fund Management pushes on with Merian deal despite outflows April 15, 2020 Jupiter Fund Management today said it was pushing ahead with its takeover of Merian Global Investors despite both being hit by outflows. Jupiter said it had net outflows for the quarter of £2.3bn. It said assets under management fell £7.8bn in the quarter to £35bn – the majority of which it said were caused by [...]
Lending through UK coronavirus scheme hits £1.1bn after three weeks April 15, 2020 The UK’s coronavirus business loan scheme has picked up after firms complained it was not working, with £1.1bn lent out to 6,020 small and medium-sized companies as of yesterday. Banking body UK Finance today said total lending under the scheme has grown by £700m in the last week after criticism of the programme led the [...]
Oil prices dip as investors ‘boo’ Opec production cut April 15, 2020 Oil prices have slipped this morning as investors worry that huge production cuts will not be enough to offset the slump in demand amid a deep, coronavirus-driven global recession. Brent crude fell 2.4 per cent to $28.90 per barrel in early London trading. US crude was 0.9 per cent lower at $19.94. The falls mean [...]
Oil prices slump back below $30 as record production cuts fail to cheer investors April 14, 2020 Oil prices slumped this afternoon on the back of fears from investors that the record production cuts agreed yesterday would not do enough to stabilise global oil prices. Benchmark Brent crude shed six per cent of its value, falling back below $30 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate fell nearly seven per cent to stand [...]
Rishi Sunak says there is ‘no trade off’ between economy and public health April 14, 2020 Rishi Sunak has said there is no trade-off between public health and the economy in the wake of new estimates suggesting GDP will drop by 35 per cent this quarter. Speaking at today’s press briefing, the chancellor said the coronavirus lockdown was necessary to protect the long-term future of the economy. This is in contrast [...]
FTSE 100 finishes lower despite global coronavirus rally April 14, 2020 The FTSE 100 missed out on a global rally today after the UK government said it intends to keep lockdown measures in place for the time being and dire predictions were made about the economy. Britain’s FTSE 100 index closed 0.9 per cent lower at 5,792 points. Yet European and US markets were more cheery, [...]