Oil price falls to lowest point in eight months August 7, 2019 The price of international oil standard Brent crude plummeted to its lowest point since the beginning of the year today as trade war worries gripped the market. The 3.2 per cent oil price drop came after a torrid week for markets, with prices down by around $8 since last Wednesday. Read more: Market correction pushes [...]
Lessons in investing from England’s Cricket World Cup victory August 7, 2019 | City Talk It may not have felt like it at times during the final but England started the Cricket World Cup as clear favourites to win the tournament. Forget the weight of money that tends to distort domestic teams’ odds ahead of a major sporting event. Independent data had England ranked as the top one-day cricket side [...]
German factory production slumps in June raising recession fears August 7, 2019 German industrial production fell by much more than expected in June, raising fears that Europe’s biggest economy contracted in the second quarter. Read more: Eurozone construction sector held back by Germany in July Factories in Germany produced 1.5 per cent less in June than they did in May, far less than the 0.4 per cent [...]
Heavy metal: FTSE 100 miner Glencore earnings crash as copper prices sink August 7, 2019 Glencore earnings dived 32 per cent to $5.6bn in the first half of 2019, the miner confirmed this morning, as it blamed poor performance in its African mines and lower prices for copper and cobalt. The figures Glencore’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) slumped 32 per cent year on year to $5.6bn. [...]
Retailers beware, the online shopping revolution isn’t going anywhere August 7, 2019 Another week, another retailer biting the dust. The baked potato specialist Spudulike has closed all 37 of its branches, with a loss of nearly 300 jobs. Shopping centres are undergoing a sudden and dramatic squeeze, with many retailers only able to stay in business if granted a dramatic rent reduction. Last week, Intu Properties, owners [...]
Glencore to halt production at world’s biggest cobalt mine after price halves August 6, 2019 Glencore is planning to stop production at the world’s largest cobalt mine after prices for the metal plummeted. The miner has told staff that Congo’s Mutanda mine is “no longer economically viable” in a letter seen by the Financial Times. Read more: Congo starts evicting up to 2,000 illegal miners from Glencore site where dozens [...]
Neil Woodford offloads stake in Eurocell amid fire sale August 6, 2019 Neil Woodford has sold off his entire stake in Eurocell as the under-fire stockpicker battles to shore up the health of his own troubled equity income fund. The former star investor dropped his 16 per cent holding in the plastic window and door firm Eurocell last week, ramping up his fire sale after a torrid [...]
Profits lower at TP Icap as investment banks cut trading August 6, 2019 Broker TP Icap said today it is launching a new joint venture in China with a local conglomerate as it showed lower profits in the first half of the year. Profit before tax fell 3.6 per cent year-on-year to £134m, the company revealed this morning. Read more: TP Icap to move staff out of the [...]
Pessimism among global business rises over trade tensions and Eurozone slowdown August 6, 2019 Pessimism among global businesses has risen sharply in the third quarter of the year as US-China trade tensions, the slowing Eurozone economy, and the rising chances of a no-deal Brexit spook firms. Read more: China hits back after US labels rival a currency manipulator The quarterly global risk survey from Oxford Economics, released today, showed [...]
Sterling hits lowest level against global currencies since 2016 August 6, 2019 The pound has fallen against the world’s biggest currencies to its lowest point since the so-called flash crash of late 2016. Read more: Sterling tanks to 28-month low on no-deal Brexit fears The Bank of England’s effective exchange rate index today sank below the most recent low point of August 2017, when a tussle over [...]