FTSE 100 falls with European investors nervous over trade tensions December 10, 2019 The FTSE 100 has shed one per cent on a bad day for European shares ahead of a major tariff deadline that could exacerbate trade tensions between the US and China. Germany’s Dax index fell 1.46 per cent, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.89 per cent, and the pan-European Eurostoxx 600 fell 1.07 per cent. Read [...]
Swine flu helps push Chinese inflation to eight-year high December 10, 2019 Chinese consumer inflation climbed to close to an eight-year high in November, driven by a doubling of pork prices as African Swine Fever ravaged the country’s pig farms, official data showed today. Nonetheless, factory-gate prices fell for the fifth month in a row, highlighting the malaise in the country’s manufacturing sector brought about by the [...]
Sorrell’s S4 Capital appoints two new directors as it turns focus to Asia December 10, 2019 Sir Martin Sorrell’s digital ad firm S4 Capital has appointed two new directors to its board as it turns its focus to Asia. S4 today announced that Naoko Okumoto and Margaret Ma Connolly will join as non-executive directors with immediate effect. Read more: Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital boosts revenue and profit The appointments mean that [...]
Jaguar Land Rover sales fall despite hopes for Chinese recovery December 9, 2019 Jaguar Land Rover sales fell last month, despite the car maker seeing “green shoots” of a recovery in the all-important struggling Chinese market. The manufacturer, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata, saw retail sales drop 3.4 per cent year-on-year in November. Read more: British car industry troubles run far deeper than Brexit But in [...]
Opec production cuts compliance could push oil price to $70 December 9, 2019 The combination of strong compliance of Opec and its allies with production cuts and a US-China trade deal could push the price of Brent crude to $70 by the second quarter of 2020. According to a note from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, last week’s agreement to curb production by an additional 500,000 barrels a [...]
Margrethe Vestager says EU will review competition rules in light of increasing digitalisation December 9, 2019 The EU will review its rules on how it defines markets to react to increasing digitalisation, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said today. Vestager said it was time to review the EU’s market definition notice which has been in place since 1997. “Changes like globalisation and digitisation mean that many markets work rather differently from [...]
Asian markets subdued ahead of key US-China tariff deadline December 9, 2019 Asian stocks edged up on Monday following surprisingly strong US jobs data, but gains were subdued amid concerns over the ongoing US-China trade war. Concerns over Chinese economic slowdown due to the prolonged trade battle hit Asian equities as investors awaited news of whether the US will go ahead with plans to raise tariffs on [...]
China hopes to secure trade deal with US ‘as soon as possible’ December 9, 2019 China said it hopes to secure a trade deal with the US “as soon as possible”, raising hopes of a breakthrough ahead of a fresh round of intense negotiations this week. Assistant Commerce Minister Ren Hongbin told reporters this morning that Beijing hopes to reach a trade agreement with the US that will satisfy both [...]
Eight things investors need to know about energy storage December 6, 2019 With renewable energy growing in importance, effective storage will be vital. And as costs continue to decline, the potential to achieve growth could be huge. Why is the roll out of energy storage so important for achieving the Paris Agreement targets? Decarbonising the electricity supply will require a huge expansion of renewables to replace thermal [...]
FTSE 100 opens higher as China tariff waiver raises hopes of trade truce December 6, 2019 The FTSE 100 bounced back in early trading today as China’s decision to roll back tariffs on some US exports raised hopes of a pre-Christmas trade war truce. London’s blue-chip index was up roughly 0.8 per cent to 7,195.1 points this morning as traders reacted to developments in Beijing. Read more: Global growth to pick [...]