Oil prices tumble on mounting early Fed taper fears August 19, 2021 Oil prices plummeted to their lowest level in four months today, driven by mounting concerns that the US Federal Reserve could rein in the wave of monetary support it unleashed in response to the Covid crisis earlier than expected. International benchmarks WTI and Brent Crude dipped 3.53 per cent and 3.03 per cent to $63.15 [...]
Wall Street opens flat as investors await Fed minutes August 18, 2021 Wall Street’s main benchmarks opened broadly flat today as investors held back from making any sudden moves until after the publication of minutes from the Fed’s latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The blue-chip S&P 500 edged 0.07 per cent higher to 4,450.73 points, while the Dow Jones inched down 0.07 per cent to 35,321.59 [...]
Ethereum’s EIP-1559 launch update August 18, 2021 Metaverse guru Dr Chris Kacher says it is time to make way for the era of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other transformational crypto technologies.
FTSE: Ultra and Future soar but it’s not enough to lift London’s main index August 16, 2021 The FTSE 100 started off the week with a fall, as a rout on energy and mining shares could not be undone by a surge in the shares of Ultra Electronics and publishing house Future. The blue-chip FTSE 100 dropped 0.8 per cent, dragged down by miners Glencore, Anglo American and Rio Tinto and oil majors BP and Royal Dutch [...]
Fed to provide clues on bond buying tapering next month August 13, 2021 Experts expect the Federal Reserve to announce its plan to wind down its ultra-loose monetary policy measures launched in response to the Covid crisis next month. Nearly two thirds of economists polled by Reuters think the US central bank will outline how it will taper its asset purchases at the next meeting of the Federal [...]
US inflation comes in hotter than expected in July August 11, 2021 US inflation come in higher than expectations in July and is still running above historic levels, according to official figures released today. US inflation hit 5.4 per cent annually in July, the same rate recorded in June, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly inflation cooled to 0.5 per cent from 0.9 per [...]
US stocks lifted by infrastructure bill’s safe passage August 10, 2021 Wall Street opened higher this morning as investors were boosted by news that President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill had safely passed through the Senate. The blue-chip S&P 500 edged up 0.17 per cent to 4,439 points, while the Dow Jones climbed 0.5 per cent to 35,278 points. Tech shares lost ground as investors [...]
Strategic asset allocation or how I learned to stop worrying and love dispersion August 10, 2021 For decades, strategic asset allocation has been considered the driving force behind investment portfolio returns. But the old adage that allocation determines 90 per cent of performance is rapidly becoming outdated. During 2020 and 2021, we have seen how the world of investing is shifting from one in which declining interest rates drive beta performance [...]
Britain 2030: High-tech manufacturing set to become a quiet British success story August 9, 2021 When it was first announced that this year’s G7 summit would be held in Cornwall, the decision was met with some raised eyebrows. But for a government which has made the combination of “levelling-up” the UK’s regional inequalities and tackling climate change its foremost priorities, it made perfect sense. In the last few years a [...]
US jobs market recovery smashes expectations in July August 6, 2021 The US jobs market rebound is defying expectations and surging at a much faster pace than first thought, according to fresh data published today. The US economy added 943,000 jobs in July, helping to push down the unemployment rate 0.5 per cent to 5.4 per cent, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics said on Friday. [...]