FTSE 100 and US stocks slide amid fears over global economy August 20, 2020 The FTSE 100 and US stocks fell after the US Federal Reserve gave a pessimistic view of the economy and the number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits unexpectedly rose. Investors are also concerned about rising coronavirus cases. France reported its biggest increase in cases since May and Spain is struggling to deal with its [...]
Alibaba gets lockdown revenue boost as US threat looms August 20, 2020 Alibaba today posted better-than-expected revenue and profit in its latest quarter as the coronavirus lockdown boosted trading in its core ecommerce business. The Chinese conglomerate booked revenue of 135.8bn yuan (£14.9bn) in the three months to the end of June, up 34 per cent on the same period last year. Net income also jumped from [...]
New US jobless claims back above 1m after surprise jump August 20, 2020 The number of Americans making new jobless claims jumped unexpectedly back above the 1m mark last week, in a worrying sign for the US economy. The total claims of 1.11m in the week ending 8 August were 135,000 higher than the previous week’s total of 971,000, the Department of Labor said. And the figure was [...]
Mothercare finalises franchise agreement to sell products in Boots stores August 20, 2020 Mothercare has finalised a franchise agreement with Boots to allow it to sell products in the high street pharmacy chain’s stores. The retailer, which shuttered all of its UK stores after collapsing into administration last year, will sell Mothercare branded clothing, home and travel products in Boots stores from the Autumn. The franchise agreement, which [...]
No substitute for creativity in the office, says adland boss August 20, 2020 There is no substitute for face-to-face interaction in the creative process, the boss of advertising giant Havas London has said. Speaking on City A.M.’s The City View podcast, Xavier Rees, chief executive of Havas London, said there is a limit to what people can do away from the office. “It’s true to say we can [...]
McKinsey paid £560,000 to consult on Public Health England axeing August 20, 2020 Management consulting giant McKinsey was paid more £500,000 by the government to advise on the formation of a new public health authority in England. Health secretary Matt Hancock announced in a speech on Tuesday that Public Health England was to be replaced with a new body called the National Institute for Health Protection. The new [...]
London’s grip on clearing continues as Frankfurt’s progress slows August 20, 2020 Deutsche Boerse’s Eurex Clearing said its euro clearing division had grown less quickly than expected, demonstrating that London will remain the centre of the industry for some time after Brexit. Eurex said it accounted for €19 trillion (£17 trillion) of the enormous €100 trillion notional outstanding value in euro interest rate derivatives and forward contracts. [...]
Shuttered Woodford fund to pay out £183m to investors next week August 20, 2020 Investors trapped in the failed Woodford Equity Income will receive a £183m payout next week, following the sale of a number of assets. Link Fund Solutions agreed a £224m deal to sell 18 healthcare stocks, representing around half the remaining fund’s assets in June to Acacia Research. The firm then offloaded the bargain stocks just [...]
Record number of students receive highest GCSE grades August 20, 2020 More than one-in-four GCSE students in England received the highest possible grades this year, after the government’s U-turn on how grades are assessed. Ofqual released this year’s GCSE results today, with 25.9 per cent awarded a 7, 8 or 9 – equivalent to A or A* under the old system – which is up from [...]
Trade secretary Liz Truss under fire for personal think tank meetings August 20, 2020 Trade secretary Liz Truss is facing criticism after a series of meetings with a pro-hard Brexit think tank were removed from the public record and reclassified as personal discussions. Two meetings between Truss and the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) were originally logged in quarterly transparency data on the government’s website and described as discussions [...]
