FTSE 100 rises but Wall Street falls again on job data September 4, 2020 The FTSE 100 reversed yesterday’s losses, closing in on the 5,900 point level this morning despite last night’s ferocious sell-off of US tech stocks dragging markets down overnight. By the early afternoon London’s premier index was 0.7 per cent up at 5,888.96. The FTSE 250 index of mid caps also rose 0.2 per cent. However, [...]
Non-farm payrolls: 1.4m more Americans back in work in August September 4, 2020 A further 1.4m people entered employment in the US in August as the unemployment rate fell from 10.2 per cent to 8.4 per cent. The increase was marginally above economist predictions of a 1.35m rise. However, the figure was down on July’s increase of 1.7m amid fears the US’ economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic [...]
British Gas to acquire council energy supplier Robin Hood September 4, 2020 British Gas owner Centrica has today announced that it will acquire council energy supplier Robin Hood’s customers for an undisclosed amount. As a result of the sale, which will complete on 16 September, 250 staff will lose their jobs, the Telegraph reported. Robin Hood’s 112,000 residential customers and its 2,600 business customers will be transferred [...]
New car sales fall in ‘disappointing’ August for market September 4, 2020 New car sales dropped again last month, reversing July’s increase, with just over 87,000 models sold in what is traditionally one of the quietest months for trading. According to new figures from the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders, new car sales fell 5.8 per cent in August. In July, the first full month of [...]
HS2 construction begins with promise to create 22,000 jobs September 4, 2020 Construction work on the controversial HS2 rail link began this morning with around 22,000 jobs expected to be created over the next few years as a result. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the project would “fire up economic growth and help to rebalance opportunity across this country for years to come.” The high speed [...]
FTSE 100 rally cools as Wall Street slips from overnight highs September 3, 2020 The FTSE 100’s rally slowed this afternoon, with London’s premier index trading 0.3 per cent up at 5,957.69 points as of the early afternoon. Optimism that the economy could be in line for further stimulus measures kept the market in the black even as Wall Street slipped from last night’s record highs. The FTSE 250 [...]
US jobless claims fall to lowest level since pandemic began September 3, 2020 The number of people filing for unemployment benefits in the US fell to its lowest level since the coronavirus pandemic began, new data from the US Labor Department has revealed. Last week, there were 881,000 jobless claims, down 130,000 from the week before. The drop was larger than expected, with a Reuters poll predicting 950,000 [...]
Jet2 to add more flight capacity despite quarantine regime September 3, 2020 Jet2 owner Dart Group said that it would increase its flying capacity over the rest of the summer season, sending its shares up 2.4 per cent this morning. Despite the coronavirus quarantine restrictions, the London-listed firm said that it was “satisfied with the average load factors and financial contribution” achieved over the summer. Since restarting [...]
Commuter numbers rise to highest level since end of lockdown September 3, 2020 The number of people travelling to work rose to its highest level since the end of lockdown, new data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed today, as the government seeks to encourage workers back to the office. According to the ONS, the proportion of working adults who travelled to their place of work [...]
GSK and Sanofi begin human trials of coronavirus vaccine September 3, 2020 Glaxosmithkline (GSK) has today announced that it is beginning human trials of the coronavirus vaccine it is developing with French pharma firm Sanofi. The two joined forces back in April to develop the potential vaccine, testing of which is now ready to move to the next stage after promising initial results. The combined phase 1 [...]
