Is China fragile? It could well surprise us – CNBC Comment August 4, 2015 WITH earnings season in full swing, China remains the buzzword – but for all the wrong reasons. As analysts who have questioned the strength of the world’s second-largest economy start to look a lot less like Cassandras, the question remains: when will the Asian powerhouse stabilise? Short answer: it’s tough to tell at this stage. [...]
Commodities in freefall as China faces slowdown August 4, 2015 Mining stocks were dealt a body blow yesterday, with one index dropping to a 13-year low, as Chinese manufacturing PMI data dragged the commodities market down yet again. The data, which came out yesterday morning, showed that the downturn in China’s manufacturing sector intensified at the start of the third quarter. Production was cut at [...]
All eyes are on the Canadian dollar in a data rich week – eToro tips & picks August 3, 2015 Many currencies have been struggling for direction of late, and the euro in particular has generated a news-flow fatigue. Currency markets have been tricky to judge over the last few weeks, and it doesn’t look like that is about to change any time soon. Euro-dollar has been struggling to jump any higher than $1.1150 and, [...]
Stock market panic has uncovered Chinese leaders’ true incompetence August 2, 2015 I always wonder about China. After years of contemplating the place, about the only thing I am entirely sure of is that it remains the least understood great power in the world. It isn’t just that its true decision-making processes remain famously opaque. No, it’s that analysts are all so very confident and yet so [...]
Henderson surprises with £25m buyback plan after riding out rough markets July 31, 2015 Fund manager Henderson yesterday unveiled a £25m share buyback programme after beating expectations with a near 30 per cent rise in underlying profits. However, the firm, led by chief executive Andrew Formica, said the market rout in June had caused assets under management to fall by eight per cent to £82.1bn from £89.4bn compared to [...]
Brazil’s Vale swings back to profit despite lagging commodity prices July 30, 2015 BRAZILIAN mining firm Vale managed a return to profit in the second quarter, despite flagging commodity markets. Profit climbed to $1.7bn (£1.1bn) in the period, up from a $3.1bn loss in the first quarter, and improving on the $1.4bn profit reported for the second quarter of 2014. The group also posted record second quarter iron [...]
Alibaba invests $1bn in cloud computing arm Aliyun to compete with Amazon Web Services July 29, 2015 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is planning a $1bn push into the cloud, taking on Amazon by expanding its cloud computing unit Aliyun into international markets. The company, often described as the “Chinese Ebay”, is expanding its cloud computing arm from its current bases in China and Silicon Valley to the Middle East, Europe and Japan, [...]
China stocks suffer biggest one-day drop since the financial crisis July 29, 2015 There was more pain for investors in Chinese equities overnight after the stock market suffered its biggest one-day fall since February 2007. China's main Shanghai Composite Index shed 8.5 percent, to 3,725.56 points, while the CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen plunged 8.6 percent, to 3,818.73 points. Read more: Are Chinese equity markets a bubble [...]
FTSE 100 erases gains for 2015 amid China stock market meltdown July 29, 2015 Britain's blue chip index erased its gains for the year, falling 1.2 per cent to 6,500.54 points this afternoon. The FTSE 100 had closed at 6,556.10 at the end of 2014, although it rose as high as 7,100 in April. The index started the day flat – shrugging off falls in the share prices of companies such [...]
Brent crude oil edges towards $50 per barrel as gold price takes a breather July 28, 2015 Brent crude continued to edge down today, falling another 1.68 per cent in mid afternoon trading to $52.57 per barrel, its lowest price since January. Meanwhile, WTI crude, the US benchmark, stayed well below the $50 mark, at $47.40. The drop came as commodities prices continued to take a hammering: in recent weeks, precious metals [...]