Aluminium price and nickel price continue to surge on Russia sanction fears April 19, 2018 Metals markets have rallied today as pressure from US sanctions on Russia and rising oil prices boost commodities to multi-year highs. Aluminium giant Rusal continues to feel the heat from sanctions issued earlier this month to target Russian oligarchs and the companies they control. The metal rose to highs not seen since 2011 today while [...]
International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns on record global debt load driven by China April 18, 2018 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today warned that global debt levels have reached unprecedented levels as it urged governments to fix their roofs while the sun is shining. The world’s debt load reached $164 trillion (£115 trillion) in 2016, equivalent to 225 per cent of global GDP, the IMF said in its latest fiscal monitor, [...]
Alibaba-backed Prenetics acquires UK-based genetic testing firm DNAFit April 17, 2018 Hong Kong-based genetic testing company Prenetics has acquired DNAFit, a British DNA testing company. With over $50m (£34.8m) in funding from Chinese retail giant Alibaba and Ping An Insurance, this is Prenetics’ first acquisition. The sale marks a further expansion into the UK market by Prenetics, although the company already has operations in the UK [...]
Bitcoin price (BTC) jolts to life, climbing by $1,000 in an hour April 12, 2018 Bitcoin’s price rocketed up by about 17 per cent today to reach its highest price in more than two weeks. The cryptocurrency broke past the $7,000 and $8,000 barriers in a matter of about an hour for the first time since the end of March. At the time of writing, bitcoin was down from its [...]
Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices jump as geopolitical concerns ease April 10, 2018 Crude oil prices are bounding higher this morning, extending yesterday’s steep gains, as geopolitical tensions ease. Global markets were trading in positive territory today after China’s President Xi Jinping vowed to continue opening the Chinese economy in a speech today, which bolstered oil prices. Brent crude oil briefly rose above $70 per barrel, but at [...]
European stocks jump after Chinese President Xi Jinping soothes fears of US-China trade war April 10, 2018 European markets opened strongly this morning after Chinese President Xi Jinping promised a “new phase of opening up” for China in his keynote address early this morning to the Boao Forum for Asia. The Chinese leader’s speech also allayed fears of a looming US-China trade confrontation. The FTSE opened 44 points up at the start [...]
Asian markets rally as Xi Jinping calms fears over a China-US trade war April 10, 2018 China’s President Xi Jinping has soothed investor fears of a trade war with the US as he warned against a “Cold War mentality”, causing Asian shares to bounce. Trade war tensions have been brewing between the world’s two biggest economies over recent weeks, with the US threatening tariffs on $150bn (£106bn) of Chinese imports, including [...]
Markets in the UK, Europe and across Asia rally despite looming US-China trade war April 9, 2018 Markets across Europe and Asia have stabilised today, despite the looming prospect of a trade war between China and the US. The FTSE 100 climbed 20 points shortly after opening, while the Europe-wide Stoxx 50 was also up nearly 20 points, or 0.69 per cent. Asian markets also rallied, led by gains in Hong Kong’s [...]
China will fight US “at any cost” after President Donald Trump mulls $100bn in extra tariffs April 6, 2018 President Donald Trump has upped the ante in the back and forth with China, saying he was now mulling an additional $100bn (£71.3bn) of tariffs “in light of China’s unfair retaliation”. In response, China’s commerce ministry said it will battle the US “at any cost”, and that if Washington continued down the path of what [...]
Gold up, dollar down: Markets react as China unveils retaliatory $50bn tariffs on US products April 4, 2018 Donald Trump has denied the US is in a trade war with China, as markets fell on the back of retaliatory tariffs unveiled by Beijing this morning. The US dollar fell against the yen, euro and pound this morning after China revealed its tit-for-tat $50bn measures. Beijing confirmed a 25 per cent levy on US [...]