UK tells G7 that it’s time to ‘get tough with China’ on trade March 31, 2021 The UK’s global partners need to “get tough with China” on its unfair trading practices, according to international trade secretary Liz Truss. Truss has called for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to be reformed and for China to stop designating as a developing country within the body, which means it benefits from looser rules on [...]
China mulls new exchange for overseas-listed firms March 31, 2021 China is in early talks to establish a new stock exchange for overseas-listed firms as it looks to lure tech heavyweights. China has two main onshore exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen which have the same rules governing IPOs and non-initial listings. This is in contrast to other leading bourses including Hong Kong’s which offers waivers [...]
March is over: UK led vaccine battle this quarter but European markets outperformed March 31, 2021 As it is the end of the month, as well as the quarter, it is perhaps worth reflecting on the fact that it’s been a fairly decent period for equity markets, despite the lockdowns across Europe and in the UK. Having said that, there has been mixed progress on the vaccine rollout, with the UK [...]
Wall Street dips on tech sell-off after FTSE 100 closes higher March 30, 2021 Wall Street closed in the red today following a sell-off of tech stocks as US Treasury yields hit a 15-month high. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones both dropped 0.3 per cent, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.1 per cent. It came after the FTSE 100 pushed higher following a volatile start to the week as [...]
Harmonisation needed in the global regulatory maze for digital assets March 30, 2021 Abradat Kamalpour stresses the importance of global harmony for regulatory reforms and changes in cryptocurrency.
Wall Street flat and FTSE 100 slips into the red as Archego default hits banks March 29, 2021 Wall Street closed flat and the FTSE 100 slipped into the red today as fears of potential losses from a major US hedge fund defaulting on margin calls held back stocks. While the Dow Jones gained 0.3 per cent, the S&P 500 was 0.09 per cent lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 0.6 per [...]
Banks warn of ‘significant’ losses after huge fire sale linked to Archegos March 29, 2021 A huge fire sale of individual stocks last week has seen Credit Suisse and Nomura shares plummet after warning of “significant” losses. On Friday shares in ViacomCBS and Discovery plunged 27 per cent alongside leading Chinese stocks, including Tencent and Alibaba. Over the weekend it was revealed there was a massive margin call on family [...]
Tencent-backed mutual aid site to be axed under China’s fintech crackdown March 26, 2021 Tencent-backed Waterdrop has become the latest subject of China’s fintech crackdown today as it confirmed its online mutual aid platform will shut down at the end of the month. The crowdfunding company provides customers with a basic health plan covering critical illnesses, where its 80m users share the risk of becoming ill and covering the [...]
Uncovering Japan’s hidden gems March 25, 2021 Chern-Yeh Kwok, manager of the Aberdeen Japan Investment Trust, says there is real value in Japanese markets, but it is often overlooked by investors. Japanese companies are used to dealing with a tough backdrop and their natural caution served them well in 2020 The Japanese market thrived amid widespread volatility last year, rising 16% Japanese [...]
Income investors need to broaden their horizons March 25, 2021 Investors with sufficient geographic and sector diversity have managed to side-step the worst falls in dividend payments Asia and emerging markets promise to be rewarding places for income again in 2021 Income stocks may be in prime position for economic recovery 2020 may have been a fallow year for income investors overall, but much depended [...]