Water bills: CMA settles long-running price controls dispute March 17, 2021 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today published its findings on the price controls for four water companies for 2020-2025. The group set a headline rate of return to investors of 3.2 per cent compared with 4.6 per cent in the previous price control period. It said the return is the minimum that is sufficient [...]
Bitcoin was created for the eventualities now facing the world March 17, 2021 Writing exclusively for Crypto AM, Dr Chris Kacher explains how cryptocurrency can take the driving seat with fiat as the passenger.
FTSE slips ahead of US Fed meeting March 17, 2021 The FTSE 100 dipped slightly this morning as investors awaited the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting for signs about upcoming interest rates. London’s blue-chip index opened 0.25 per cent down, with mining stocks including Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Evraz and BHP Group falling between 0.5 per cent and 2 per cent. BT [...]
Funeral firm Dignity swings to annual loss despite UK deaths rising 14 per cent March 17, 2021 Funeral providers Dignity today posted an annual loss of £19.6m as a sharp rise in yearly deaths were met by Covid funeral restrictions. The firm saw underlying profit plummet 12 per cent to £55.7m, while pre-tax profit dropped by more than a quarter to £30.7m. Dignity made a yearly loss before tax of £19.6m compared [...]
Before the Bell: The Fed will give its latest policy verdict today March 17, 2021 There have been growing concerns that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is linked to blood clots, which is why several European countries have halted distributing the vaccination. Multiple governments have taken the decision to suspend the rolling out of the vaccine but at the same time, the WHO and the European Medicines Agency support the vaccine. European [...]
City A.M. TV: Daily Market Snapshot (video) March 16, 2021 With the Fed decision and press conference looming tomorrow and with various markets at key levels, this is an important week for equity markets. The S&P500, for example, is attempting to push to new record highs, US 10 year bond yields have stalled at around the 1.60 per cent yield level, while the UK’s FTSE100 [...]
Before the Bell: Europe set for positive start as China data points to choppy recovery March 15, 2021 While US markets by and large have managed to retain their resilience, with new record highs for the Dow, S&P500 and Russell 2000 last week, the gains have been notably in sectors left behind by the huge tech rally that has help support most of the move higher in US equities over the last few [...]
Bitcoin marks a significant step forward in trust for all of us March 12, 2021 Bitcoin marks a significant step forward in trust for all of us, says Michael Haynes, founder and CEO, Etherbridge.
China’s inflation rate jumps to highest reading since November 2018 March 10, 2021 Overnight, China’s PPI rate swung from 0.3 per cent in January to 1.7 per cent in February, its highest reading since November 2018. The surge in prices at the factory level adds weight to the argument that higher inflation is in the pipeline as increases in costs at the factory level are likely to be passed on to [...]
Welcome to the Metaverse – a bridge between the physical and virtual worlds March 9, 2021 The Metaverse is the bridge between the physical and virtual worlds, explains Dr Chris Kacher.