Omicron: what’s the current picture? January 24, 2022 | City Talk The Omicron wave appears to have peaked in some countries, with the UK preparing to loosen restrictions. Mark Ainsworth, Head of the Schroders Data Insights Unit, explains what to expect next. The Omicron variant has spread rapidly since its initial detection last year but hasn’t been as severe as initially feared in terms of health [...]
Morning snapshot: Your Daily Dose of pre-market news January 10, 2022 It’s Monday 10 January. Here is a quick overview of the stories that are making headlines this morning in the UK and around the world. UK POLITICS Cladding: Developers must agree a £4 billion plan to fix dangerous cladding on low-rise flats by early March or risk new laws forcing them to act, Housing Secretary [...]
Markets suffer losses after Boris Johnson’s Omicron warnings December 13, 2021 The FTSE 100 was flat on Monday amid heightened domestic concerns over the Omicron variant and warnings from Boris Johnson of a 'tidal wave' of cases.
Omicron optimism: Covid anxiety attack on the financial markets shows signs of alleviating November 29, 2021 The anxiety attack on the financial markets shows signs of alleviating, as investors pause for breath and spot signs of optimism while scientists race to establish the severity of the new variant. The FTSE 100 opened up 1 per cent in early trading, recovering some of Friday’s dramatic losses and the FTSE 250 was 1.5 [...]
Markets digest Omicron: After worst equity day of the year on Friday, we are in for a bumpy ride this week November 29, 2021 The wider question with respect to Friday’s market collapse and the worst day for equity markets this year, as well as the 13 fall in oil prices, is not so much as to whether it was justified or not, but whether it marks a sea change in market sentiment when it comes to the economic [...]
Treasury makes £1.5bn from pandemic stock market frenzy October 28, 2021 Next year, the Treasury is expected to make £1.5bn from stamp duty taxes on shares, as a result of the pandemic stock market frenzy, which saw many first-time investors put money into the market, the Evening Standard reported. While this year duty taxes on shares were £800m higher than £3.4bn that was initially forecast by [...]
No more new homes: housebuilding market will not recover before 2026 October 18, 2021 The UK housebuilding market will not recover until 2026, said property agent firm Savills. As reported by the Times, Savills has estimated that the volume of houses being built will not go back to pre-pandemic levels before five years and, even then, will still be 20 per cent less than the UK Government’s targets of [...]
Buy-to-let and partnerships power LendInvest portfolios in first results since IPO October 11, 2021 In its first update since going public, property finance asset manager Lendinvest has reported a 31.7 per cent increase in assets under management and a 39.8 per cent increase in funds under management. The growth was caused by record originations in buy-to-let (BTL) as well as new transactions and financial partnerships – including the £100 [...]
Wall Street ends hot streak and opens lower amid China growth slowdown August 16, 2021 Wall Street fell from last week’s record highs at Monday’s open amid concerns about the impact of the crisis in Afghanistan and after China missed expectations on a range of data, signalling that its economy was slowing down. The S&P 500 slid down 0.4 per cent from Friday’s all-time high of the year, while the [...]
China tech crackdown: From Jack Ma’s disappearance to online tutoring debacle August 5, 2021 Chinese technology giants once seemed untouchable, with billions of profits through aggressive expansion. But that status is now more uncertain after a year of Beijing’s sweeping regulatory crackdowns that have spread like wildfire across sectors. The saga started last October when Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who founded e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, criticised China for lacking a [...]