Can interest rate cuts help economies deal with coronavirus? March 8, 2020 Last Tuesday, the coronavirus outbreak drove the US Federal Reserve to do something it hadn’t done since the 2008 financial crisis: slash interest rates in an emergency move. Fed chair Jay Powell said rate-setters had “come to the view that it is time for us to act in the support of the economy”. The economic [...]
Saudi Arabia to up oil production after Opec deal falls through March 8, 2020 The Middle East’s stock markets tumbled on Sunday after the three year alliance between oil cartel Opec and Russia collapsed last week. As a result of the botched negotiations over further production cuts, Opec removed all existing output curbs for its members, leading to a string of local equity markets falling over fears of a [...]
Neil Woodford in talks with investors as he plots comeback March 7, 2020 Neil Woodford and a number of colleagues from Woodford Investment Management (WIM) are in talks with investors about snapping up a number of the fallen fund manager’s old investments. Woodford has held talks with institutional and wealth managers in recent weeks about creating a vehicle to buy back some of the unquoted WIM stakes, according [...]
Oil prices tumble 10 per cent as Russia rejects Opec deal March 7, 2020 Oil prices plummeted by around 10 per cent on Friday as a proposal to reduce output by major producers collapsed. With global demand slowing due to the coronavirus’s impact on travel, manufacturing and supply chains, the plan had intended to keep prices steady. But Russia decline to participate and talks ended with there being no [...]
Coronavirus fear returns to Wall Street as global markets slide March 7, 2020 The US stock market followed the suit of other global markets by plunging further on Friday as coronavirus fears continued to grip investors. The Dow Jones fell by one per cent, or 256 points, to finish the week on 25,865 points. Meanwhile, other major indices, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, saw losses of 1.7 [...]
Budget 2020: Chancellor Rishi Sunak to scrap ‘tampon tax’ March 6, 2020 The so-called tampon tax is set to be abolished in next week’s Budget. A zero rate of VAT will apply to women’s sanitary products from the start of next year. The UK has been obliged to pay the EU VAT Directive since 1973 and the tampon tax is currently five per cent. MPs voted against [...]
Coronavirus crisis wipes £59bn off FTSE 100 March 6, 2020 Coronavirus wiped £59bn off the FTSE 100 today to cap off another week of stock market turmoil. The blue-chip stock index sank by 3.6 per cent, or 242.88 points, to finish the week on 6,462.55 points – its lowest since July 2016. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was down 2.98 per cent, or 576.62 points to [...]
US posts strong jobs data but analysts say coronavirus means report ‘outdated before it came out’ March 6, 2020 The US posted strong jobs data for February today but markets remained in the red on fears of the impact of coronavirus on the world economy. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 273,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 3.5 per cent, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said today. The [...]
Anglo American’s platinum arm cuts production after plant shuts March 6, 2020 Anglo American’s shares dropped 9.5 per cent today after the firm’s platinum arm was forced to shut down its platinum plant, declaring force majeure as it did so. The mining giant said that it had done so due to a high risk of an explosion in its phase B unit, which had been commissioned to [...]
Bob Diamond appoints ex-Barclays colleague Rich Ricci to lead Panmure Gordon March 6, 2020 Bob Diamond has hired his former right-hand man from his time at Barclays to head up loss-making stockbroker Panmure Gordon. Diamond appointed Rich Ricci as chief executive of London-based Panmure, which he acquired two years ago. The former Barclays boss will be reunited with 56-year-old American investment banker Ricci, who ran the old Barclays capital [...]