Luxury stocks including LVMH, Burberry and Kering have fallen out of favour: These days, it’s all about the stratospheric rise of Greggs’ sausage rolls December 22, 2015 Is this the end of luxury? It's certainly been a tough year for the most luxurious of brands, thanks in part to the slowdown in China, one of the fastest growing consumer markets. Options trader Banc de Binary has tracked the performance of some of the most high-end brands, including Kering, which owns Gucci, Balenciaga and [...]
Hell of a year: What rocked markets in 2015 – From Grexit to the commodity crash via a China meltdown and the VW scandal December 22, 2015 2015 was a truly turbulent year for investors, from Grexit and the China stock market crash, to commodities falling to record lows, volatility spiking, bond markets making losses across the board, the most uncertain UK election in a generation rankling investors, the US Federal Reserve's first rate rise in 9 years… the list goes on. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 21 December 2015 December 21, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com Engineering firm Fenner has been given a “sell” rating from analysts at Panmure Gordon, due to further weakness in commodity-related markets. The current 141p share price has been given a target of 100p. The firm is now forecast for a pre-tax break-even for [...]
Slowdown in China is the biggest global risk for 2016, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit December 16, 2015 Leading experts have warned that a persistent slowdown in Chinese growth is the biggest threat to the global economic outlook. Analysts at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EU) said in a new report out today that the Chinese economy is facing “formidable challenges”, citing volatility in the domestic equity markets, slipping export figures and lower capital [...]
Americans bring Thanksgiving to UK retailers as spending soars December 16, 2015 Black Friday’s online bargain frenzy may have dampened sales on the high street. But international shoppers helped to keep tills ringing, with spending up by 10 per cent in the year to November. The biggest jump in spending came from US tourists, up 55 per cent, despite still accounting for just five per cent of [...]
The biggest market moving moments of 2015, from the Chinese currency devaluations to the commodities crisis December 15, 2015 From Greece to China's Black Monday, It hasn't been an easy ride for many this year, with volatility taking global recovery in new and interesting directions. With the year nearing its end, we've looked back at the biggest market-moving moments of 2015. Contagion, anyone? Greece's General Election in January had far reaching consequences for the Eurozone, not just [...]
Forget Janet and Mario: 2016 is the year of GARY – CNBC Comment December 15, 2015 Investors have spent the last few years betting with the Fed and the ECB, as monetary policy dominated fundamentals. But many are now stumped over what to do next, as central bankers today seem to carry more risk and less reward. The ECB’s Mario Draghi let investors down this month with a flawed communications strategy. [...]
From the UK general election to Greek debt fears it was an obstacle course for cross-border IPOs in 2015 December 15, 2015 It may have been the year of the mega deal, but the capital markets have suffered in 2015, and it’s been a decidedly poor year for cross-border IPOs. Fears over China’s growth, elections, referendums, and defaults in Europe, as well as uncertainty over the Fed’s rate hike all contributed to a 39 per cent drop [...]
Oil price slide casts shadow over Shell’s £47bn takeover of BG Group December 15, 2015 Shell's mega merger with BG Group was given the green light by Chinese regulators yesterday, but the deal has been rocked after tumbling oil prices led to a major shareholder questioning its viability. The price of international benchmark Brent crude oil yesterday fell to fresh lows of $36.33 per barrel before a rally in early evening [...]
FTSE 100 hopes for Santa rally after week of decline -London Report December 14, 2015 This week the market is looking to put aside last week’s pain, which saw the FTSE dip below the 6,000 mark again, as it prepares itself for a much heralded interest rate rise from the US Federal Reserve. Don’t bet on anything other than volatility, however, with markets already nervous about what surprises a change [...]