Stephanie Flanders: Bright spots for investors in 2016 will be in high-yield corporate bonds and UK stocks January 13, 2016 UK stocks and high-yield corporate bonds could become more popular this year as investors look for a return amid near-record low government bond yields and turbulent stock markets. Big swings in stock markets are likely continue throughout the year until question marks over global economic growth and China are resolved, said Stephanie Flanders, chief market [...]
Court told General Motors hid ignition switch defect that led to recall of millions of vehicles January 12, 2016 General Motors should be made to pay for hiding a defect with ignition switches that has been linked to nearly 400 injuries and deaths, a lawyer told a New York jury today. "This case is not just about an accident that occurred in Oklahoma in 2014," said Robert Hilliard, who is representing Robert Scheuer, an Oklahoma man injured [...]
Tensions brew over Yorkshire bridge as Samuel Smiths bars government plans for temporary crossing January 12, 2016 A fight has broken out over government plans to put in place a temporary footbridge to replace a flood-hit crossing in Yorkshire. Land owner Samuel Smiths Brewery has blocked plans to put a temporary bridge over the River Wharfe in Tadcaster and criticised the local authority for not maintain the old listed bridge. "In our opinion the [...]
US oil falls below $30 a barrel for first time since 2003 January 12, 2016 Oil prices have fallen below $30 a barrel for the first time since 2003. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped very briefly to $29.97 a barrel before returning to $30 a barrel. It comes after a number of banks cut their forecasts for oil prices. Standard Chartered said it could fall to as low as $10 a [...]
Soon there will be Oyster-style contactless payment technology on all public transport across the UK January 12, 2016 Contactless payments on buses and trains will no longer confined to London, with new plans to install the technology across the country, the UK Cards Association said today. Rail operators have provided funding for joint project between the card and rail industry to see how contacless cards and devices could be associated with long distance train tickets or [...]
Mark Carney says UK recovery is not fuelled by debt January 12, 2016 Bank of England chief Mark Carney has played down fears that the UK's economic recovery has been based on an unsustainable credit boom. Speaking at at farewell symposium for Christian Noyer, the Bank of France's governor, Carney said "this is not a debt-fuelled recovery". He pointed out that private sector debt to GDP had fallen [...]
Niesr: UK economy expanded 2.2 per cent in 2015 January 12, 2016 The UK economy grew by 2.2 per cent last year, according to an early estimate from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr), a think tank. While the growth rate would be slower than 2014's 2.9 per cent expansion, Niesr said it "remains consistent with the economy growing at close to its long-run potential [...]
Standard Life Investments to vote both ways on Shell takeover of BG January 11, 2016 A top City investor is voting in favour of Royal Dutch Shell’s £36bn takeover of BG group, despite publicly criticising the deal for months. Standard life investments will use its 1.3 per cent stake in BG to support the takeover at a shareholder meeting at the end of this month. The move, first reported by Sky [...]
Don’t panic yet on stock market swings, say economists January 11, 2016 The sharp falls in global stock markets since the beginning of the year are unlikely to usher in a new period of economic turmoil, economists have said. London’s FTSE 100 has lost 3.6 per cent this year while the Vix, known as an investors’ fear index, hit 27 at the end of last week, the highest since [...]
CMC Markets to decide on stock market float January 11, 2016 CMC Markets, the spread-betting company founded by City of London financier Peter Cruddas, will decide whether to float on the stock exchange this week. The float would make millions of pounds for Hackney-born Cruddas, who founded the company with £10,000 in 1989 and now owns 90 per cent of it. The company is likely to [...]