FTSE 100 hits all-time high as investors bet on interest rate cuts January 17, 2025 The FTSE 100 has hit a new all-time high this morning, surpassing the previous peaks it reached in spring last year, as investors ramp up their bets on an interest rate cut by the Bank of England next month. The value of London’s 100 largest listed companies has grown 3.2 per cent in the last [...]
Ex-Bank of England governor Mark Carney enters race to be Canadian PM January 17, 2025 Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has entered the race to replace Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. “I’m doing this because Canada is the best country in the world, but it could still be even better,” said Carney as he formally announced his bid in Alberta. The announcement came after months of speculation over [...]
UK retail sales plunged in December as Budget fallout spread January 17, 2025 UK retail sales dropped during December, despite expectations of a Christmas bounce as consumers pulled back on spending. In a worrying sign for the economy, retail sales fell 0.3 per cent in December. Analysts had pencilled in growth of 0.4 per cent. November’s retail sales growth was also revised down by the Office for National [...]
Is the UK government right to put consumer duty on the chopping block? January 16, 2025 This morning, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds made one of this government’s targets for deregulation clear: consumer duty. “On regulation, I talk to business people every day, as you would expect, and this is the biggest thing that they raise,” said the minister on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, while being interviewed by former shadow chancellor, Ed [...]
Reeves ramps up pressure on regulators in bid for growth January 16, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds are set to meet with a group of watchdogs today as they kickstart plans to cut red tape from the economy and drive growth through regulation. The chiefs of various regulatory agencies, including Competition and Markets Authority, Ofcom and Ofwat, have been summoned to Downing Street. Officials [...]
Pearson’s stock price falls after revenue slowdown January 16, 2025 Academic publisher Pearson saw its stock price fall almost three per cent in early trading after reporting a slowdown in quarter-on-quarter organic growth. “Pearson’s transformation from being an owner of media titles like the Financial Times and selling expensive physical academic books to a company at the forefront of digital education has not been without [...]
Freetrade: IG Group swoops for trading app January 16, 2025 IG Group has acquired stock trading app Freetrade for £160m, as the FTSE 250 firm looks to target a new UK audience of traders. The trading platform, along with its 720,000 customers and £2.5bn in assets, will move to IG Group in mid-2025, subject to regulatory approval, the firm said in a stock exchange notice [...]
Wise: Fintech’s customers surge on back of payment deals boom January 16, 2025 Customers at fintech platform Wise have jumped 20 per cent over the last year as the firm continues to make deals with top financial clients. In a quarterly trading update, the money transfer firm revealed that cross border volumes had surged 24 per cent, or 27 per cent on a constant currency basis, to £37.8bn. Meanwhile, [...]
Rathbones: Outflows subside as Investec merger progresses January 16, 2025 Rathbones has managed to turn the tide on the wave of outflows that followed its merger with Investec’s wealth arm. In a trading update published today, the wealth manager said investors pulled £200m from its platform in the final quarter of the year, down from £600m the quarter before. Despite having “particularly strong discretionary inflows”, [...]
Ashmore: Asset manager’s stock surges as investor withdrawals subside January 15, 2025 Ashmore stock surged five per cent in early trading this morning after the asset manager reported a sharp reduction in outflows. Investors pulled $400m (£327m) from the emerging markets specialist over the last quarter, down from $700m (£572m) in the three months before and below the $1.1bn (£900m) expected by analysts. When excluding a liquidity [...]
