China is, isn’t and may not be the world’s number one July 9, 2015 Until the late nineteenth century, China was the world’s largest economy. It lost that status roughly 150 years after the industrial revolution began in the West. After the Chinese economic revolution of recent decades, it is taken as axiomatic that the crown and mantle of the world’s largest economy will return to Beijing – as [...]
International Monetary Fund predicts weaker UK growth in 2015 as lower oil prices and Greek uncertainty take their toll July 9, 2015 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its UK growth forecast to 2.4 per cent in 2015, down from 2.7 per cent in April. In 2016, growth will fall to 2.2 per cent, 0.1 percentage points lower than it originally predicted, the IMF said in an update to its World Economic Outlook released today. It [...]
Tech glitch puts US in the ditch – New York Report July 8, 2015 US STOCKS ended sharply lower on yesterday after a hectic day that included market turmoil in China eclipsing Greece’s debt crisis, while the New York Stock Exchange suffered a major outage. Fears that a rout in Chinese stocks could seriously harm its economy pushed the S&P 500 below its 200-day moving average for the first [...]
Alternative finance in Asia: Cambridge’s Robert Wardrop on this exciting, untapped market July 8, 2015 Alternative finance is a growing business in the West. In 2014, UK peer-to-peer and crowdfunding platforms made £1.74bn available to firms and individuals, with growth of 168 per cent in Britain and 144 per cent across Europe. But what does the landscape look like on other continents? Set to be published by the end [...]
July Budget 2015: FTSE rises ahead of George Osborne’s announcement July 8, 2015 After a disappointing few days in the wake of the Greek crisis, this morning the FTSE 100 woke up in a more optimistic mood, rising 0.52 per cent in early trading in anticipation of encouraging announcements from George Osborne during today's summer Budget. Read more: July Budget – Here's what to expect Sterling was 0.23 [...]
Greek drama and mining pull FTSE to six-month low – London Report July 7, 2015 BRITAIN’S benchmark equity index dropped yesterday to its lowest level in around six months, hit by persistent concerns over Greece and a pullback in mining stocks as metal prices fell. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down 1.6 per cent at 6,432.21 points, around its lowest since mid-January. Global stock markets lost ground after a [...]
Budget for a greater Britain: What the City needs from the chancellor July 7, 2015 Amid the deluge of news about EU reform and the Greek debt crisis, you could be forgiven for forgetting there’s a Budget today. But that would be to overlook an opportunity for the City. This is George Osborne’s first Budget since the Conservatives were elected to govern alone and we’ll get a clear sense of [...]
Glencore share price falls as FTSE miners feel the heat from commodities selloff July 7, 2015 London-listed miners felt the heat today after the outlook for the Chinese economy darkened amid ongoing equity market turmoil. Earlier in the day copper prices fell 5.9 per cent to a six-year low of $2.389 a pound on concern about economic growth in China, the world's top metals consumer. It comes a day after Chinese brokerages [...]
Fears on China and Greece hit US share prices – New York Report July 6, 2015 AVOLATILE session saw stocks falling after China implemented emergency measures to stop a selloff in Shanghai’s market and Greeks resoundingly backed their government in rejecting the austerity terms of a bailout. Equity futures tumbled at the open late on Sunday after Greeks voted “No” to the terms imposed by its creditors. The Dow Jones industrial [...]
Brent crude oil price falls as selloff deepens July 6, 2015 The global benchmark brent crude slipped 6.3 per cent to $56.54 per barrel today, below the 100-day average, amid the Greek debt crisis and continued turmoil in China's battered stock markets. The selloff deepened from earlier today, when prices collapsed below the $60 per barrel mark for the first time since mid-April, hitting $58.89 per barrel. Read [...]