Global equity bloodbath plunges FTSE 100 to six-month low October 11, 2018 A GLOBAL equity bloodbath plunged the FTSE 100 to its lowest level in six months on a “gut-churning” day for investors. The sell-off began in the US on Wednesday before spreading to Europe, Asia, and trading floors across the world on Thursday. Global growth concerns, the prospect of higher US interest rates, as well as [...]
Fed hikes interest rates, signalling an end to ‘accommodative’ monetary policy September 26, 2018 The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates again tonight, in an expected move which reaffirmed steady economic growth and rising employment. Policymakers have now lifted the benchmark to a range of two to 2.25 per cent, an increase of a quarter of a percentage point from its last rate hike in early August. In a [...]
Sterling and the euro gain against the dollar thanks to cooling US inflation September 13, 2018 Sterling and the euro have risen against the dollar as they received an unexpected boost from US inflation. The “disappointing” inflation reading saw the dollar sink against the pound and euro, meaning sterling climbed to 1.31 against the dollar, its highest since late July, while the euro reached 1.17. Read more: Barclays: Trump impeachment wouldn't [...]
Green is the new gold…and emerging markets are flashing red September 5, 2018 | Sponsored Forget Gold. The greenback is the new safe haven of choice for investors seeking refuge. They are flocking to the US dollar en masse every time geo-political and trade tensions push them to make a defensive move while bullion lags behind. But this is bad news for emerging markets and here is why…. As the [...]
How the UK’s regulatory framework protects P2P investors December 7, 2017 | Sponsored The peer-to-peer (P2P) lending market was established in 2005, when Zopa became the first platform to connect individual lenders directly with borrowers. Since then, the market has evolved rapidly, as have the regulations underpinning investor protection – and this looks set to continue. In the UK, the sector has been overseen by the [...]
Why China is still weighing on the US Fed – eToro Tips & Picks September 7, 2015 China moved to stem the heavy selling that has dominated the last few weeks yesterday. However, the move failed to calm markets, with Chinese indices falling yet again. The further selling came as the Chinese government also downgraded the country’s 2014 growth rate estimate to 7.3 per cent. Many, however, believe the actual growth [...]
As a Federal Reserve interest rate hike creeps closer, should we remain relaxed about the consequences? September 6, 2015 Andrea Cicione, head of strategy at Lombard Street Research, says Yes. We can’t imagine investors feeling relaxed, with a series of Fed hikes looming, but past tightening cycles have generally been benign for US stocks. During the last nine episodes, price to earnings multiples have fallen by an average 4.2x, but in seven, earnings per [...]
Non-farm payroll: US jobs growth weakens in August leaving Federal Reserve rate hike uncertain September 4, 2015 Weeks of global market turmoil have taken their toll on US job growth, after the number of new jobs created dipped to its lowest level since March, leaving the Federal Reserve with a rate hike dilemma on its hands. Employment increased by 173,000 in August, show non-farm payroll figures released by the US Department of [...]
Instability may put Fed hike on ice August 31, 2015 With oil so cheap, rising employment may not boost US inflation WHEN global markets dived last week, $900bn was wiped off the S&P 500 on Monday and Tuesday alone, and the prospect of a Fed rate hike in September went from consensus view to highly unlikely. But the end of the week brought promising news [...]
September interest rate hike looks “less compelling” in light of China slowdown, says Fed policymaker William Dudley August 26, 2015 A September interest rate rise by the Federal Reserve is now “less compelling”, according to William Dudley, President of the central bank's New York office. "From my perspective, at this moment, the decision to begin the normalization process at the September FOMC meeting seems less compelling to me than it was a few weeks [...]