Chinese exports suffer biggest drop in three years amid US-China trade war March 8, 2019 Chinese exports fell at their fastest rate in three years last month as fears grow about the world’s second largest economy. Read more: China backs Huawei's bid to sue United States The US-China trade war sent exports to a 20.7 per cent year-on-year drop, official data revealed, as imports fell 5.2 per cent. Markets reacted [...]
Euro falls as Eurozone growth forecasts slashed March 7, 2019 European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi today announced a significant downgrade in Eurozone growth predictions as he renewed a stimulus programme of cheap loans to bolster the struggling economy. The ECB predicted that Eurozone GDP would increase only 1.1 per cent in 2019, 0.7 percentage points down from its December 2018 prediction. It forecast growth of [...]
Two analyst downgrades take big chunk out of Rio Tinto shares as iron prices set to drop March 7, 2019 Rio Tinto weighed on the London exchange today after the miner was hit by two analyst downgrades in two days, wiping around £4bn off its market value. Shares dropped around 7.6 per cent in the mid afternoon to 4,137p as Societe Generale advised investors to sell their shares in the iron miner. Read more: Iron ore [...]
Bank of England more likely to cut interest rates after no-deal Brexit, policymaker says March 7, 2019 The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee would be more likely to cut interest rates in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to rate-setter Silvana Tenreyro. Tenreyro’s comments adds further clues as to the direction of travel for interest rates if Britain leaves the EU without a deal. Read more: Brexit uncertainty costs UK [...]
Eurozone GDP growth falls below expectations confirming sluggish 2018 March 7, 2019 Eurozone GDP grew slightly in the final three months of last year but dropped sharply year-on-year, falling below expectations. The EU’s statistical office Eurostat confirmed that GDP grew 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter, up from 0.1 per cent the previous quarter. Read more: Eurozone construction rebounds led by German recovery in February But [...]
Majority of UK consumers unable to define cryptocurrency, City watchdog finds March 7, 2019 More than 70 per cent of UK consumers do not know what a cryptocurrency is, new research has found, as the City watchdog warned that crypto investors should be prepared to lose all their money. The term cryptocurrency, which is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography coding for security, is understood by 29 [...]
Funding Circle shares rise despite widening losses on IPO costs March 7, 2019 Shares in peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle jumped as much as five per cent this morning despite widening losses following the fintech firm’s initial public offering (IPO) last year. The figures Funding Circle fell to a £51.6m operating loss in 2018, 40 per cent up from a loss of £36.9m the previous year. Read more: Funding [...]
Small international oil companies eye London for float, says Jadestone chief exec months after listing March 7, 2019 More small-cap oil and gas firms are likely to follow Jadestone Energy to choose London for a listing, its chief executive has said just months after it floated in the capital. Paul Blakeley said that the London market is proving the most responsive for small international companies in the upstream space. “I think the London [...]
Trump was brave to leave North Korea empty-handed March 7, 2019 He came he saw, he left empty-handed. For the self-proclaimed consummate deal-maker that is President Donald Trump, it would not be an understatement to say that last week’s second summit with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un on North Korea’s prospective denuclearisation did not go quite according to plan. Trump’s gamble had been that his personal rapport with [...]
There are plenty of reasons for investors to be optimistic about China March 6, 2019 Since the election of Donald Trump, one story has dominated global markets news: the trade war between China and the US. As negotiations reached a critical phase last month, markets fluctuated as setbacks led to breakthroughs, only for talks to stall again. But while investors are right to worry about currents of protectionism in the world’s [...]