Fracking firms see shares crash after government calls halt November 4, 2019 Shares in the UK’s fracking companies plummeted this morning, after the government announced a moratorium on the controversial extractive technique over the weekend. Shares in Australian firm AJ Lucas, which owns a 47.4 per cent stake in leading exploratory company Cuadrilla, fell 24 per cent. Read more: Government bans fracking “with immediate effect” London-listed IGas, [...]
FTSE 100 and European stocks leap on trade deal optimism November 4, 2019 European markets including the FTSE 100 opened higher this morning, as traders began the week with growing optimism over the current US-China trade war. London’s blue-chip index rose 1.1 per cent to 7,384 points in morning trading, while the Dax and the Cac also made similar gains. Read more: Volatile markets boost TP Icap revenues [...]
Saudi Aramco earnings drop $15bn as IPO gets underway November 4, 2019 Saudi Aramco’s income fell by over $15bn (£11.6bn) year-on-year, the company announced this morning, just a day after the oil giant’s long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) got underway. Results for the first nine months of 2019 showed that income slipped from $83.3bn in 2018 to $68.2bn this year, with revenues down from $233.3bn to $217.1bn. [...]
‘Distressing decline’: UK construction sector contracts again November 4, 2019 The UK construction sector shrank once again in October, survey data has shown, with civil engineering suffering its worst month in a decade as Brexit uncertainty continued to plague the industry. Read more: UK economy to hit decade low even with Brexit deal, report warns The construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a gauge of [...]
Woodford trust cuts value of cold fusion firm stake November 4, 2019 Woodford Patient Capital Trust said today that its fund administrator had cut the value of its holding in cold fusion company Industrial Heat. Link Fund Solutions downgraded Woodford’s stake in IH Holdings which the trust said was to reflect a “delay in operational progress”. As a result, the company’s net asset value has been cut [...]
Eurozone manufacturing stuck in steepest decline for seven years November 4, 2019 The health of the eurozone’s embattled manufacturing sector remained in the depths of a seven-year low last month, with Germany remaining the main point of weakness in the bloc’s economy. Factory output showed little sign of picking up last month, with IHS Markit’s Eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) hitting 45.9 in October. While the [...]
Over the last decade, central banks have gained huge influence over our lives November 4, 2019 Monetary policy, central bank independence, quantitative easing. These and many other subjects tend to make people’s eyes glaze over, and are best left to finance nerds to battle over in quiet corners. Yet central banks have, over the last decade, emerged from the shadows of arcane macroeconomic policy discussions to become fundamental to all our [...]
UK economy to hit decade-low even with Brexit deal, report warns November 4, 2019 Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will fail to boost the slowing UK economy in 2020, a new report has warned, with weak global growth and continued uncertainty about Britain’s trading relationships set to outweigh any benefits from the agreement. Read more: Nigel Farage: Brexit party will run in every seat if Boris Johnson rejects olive branch [...]
Jobs paying below ‘real living wage’ fall to seven-year low November 4, 2019 The proportion of jobs that pay below the so-called real living wage has fallen to a seven-year low, analysis by professional services firm KPMG showed today. Read more: Sajid Javid promises to increase national living wage to £10.50 This year, 19 per cent of UK jobs paid below the voluntary rate of £9.00 per hour [...]
UK public spending set to hit 1970s levels after election, think tank says November 4, 2019 Government spending is set to surge back to 1970s levels whoever wins the upcoming General Election, research from the Resolution Foundation think tank has shown today. Read more: Hey, big spender: IFS boss Paul Johnson on the end of economic orthodoxy The Conservatives and Labour have discarded the economic orthodoxy of the last decade that [...]