No pressure, Janet: Spotlight falls on the Fed as US central bank chief Yellen faces questions from Congress February 10, 2016 The financial world’s attention will fall on Janet Yellen today as the Federal Reserve chief faces a grilling by Congress, in the middle of a week of chaos on global trading floors. Shares throughout the world tumbled for a third straight session yesterday, while European banks lost another four per cent of their value. Financial [...]
The London commute is now busier than ever: Train ticket fares rise to £9.4bn and journeys hit 1.7bn in 2015 February 9, 2016 If you feel like your commute has got a lot more crowded, you're not mistaken. Passengers spent more than ever on rail fares last year, even as a string of troubles across the UK's rail networks left commuters fed up with services. Spending on tickets increased more than six per cent to £9.4bn while the number of journeys taken throughout 2015 hit a record [...]
Icap shares fall after third-quarter revenue slumps due to challenging market conditions February 9, 2016 Interdealer broker Icap saw its share price dip this morning after revealing a five per cent slump in third-quarter revenue. The company, which is plowing ahead with the sale of its voice broking business to rival Tullet Prebon, blamed “challenging” market conditions and said “risk appetite remains subdued amongst our clients as they continue to [...]
Gold price breaks $1200 as markets fall and investors fret over the health of the global economy February 8, 2016 Stock market woes and fears over an ailing global economy have given a boost the price of gold, pushing it over the $1,200 line for the first time since June 2015. The yellow metal added to gains made over the last week, it’s best in over two years. The so-called safe haven is often used by investors as a [...]
US markets follow Europe downwards as fears mount over global growth February 8, 2016 The US markets have opened lower today, following massive sell offs in Europe that’s seen the German Dax fall over three per cent to under 9,000, and the Greek stock market hit 25 year lows, down 6.7 per cent today, adding to its fifth consecutive day of losses. The Dow Jones Industrial average opened down [...]
Markets around Europe are tumbling on disappointing Chinese currency reserves February 8, 2016 Markets around Europe have plummeted following what started out looking like a good day. The FTSE 100 is down by nearly two per cent and at pixel time is at 5,744.05. It opened up this morning but has been unable to hold onto early gains. The blue chip index is now just 100 points off from becoming [...]
US non-farm payroll growth falls way below expectations – but wage growth strengthens February 5, 2016 The US added 151,000 jobs in January, figures showed today, falling way short of expectations of 190,000. There was some good news: wage growth was higher than expected, rising 2.5 per cent, against forecasts of 2.2 per cent. And unemployment fell to 4.9 per cent – an eight-year low. It's the first time non-farm payroll figures [...]
Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta see share prices rise: Miners soar to the top of the FTSE February 4, 2016 Brighter metal prices and a tumbling US dollar helped turn the fortunes of London-listed miners around today, as analysts speculated that the worst could be over for the embattled sector. Mining stocks were reinvigorated as fading expectations of an interest rate rise by the US Federal Reserve sent the greenback tumbling. This helped gold hit a [...]
The seven weird habits of highly successful people, from Bill Gates to Marissa Mayer and Warren Buffett February 4, 2016 Bill Gates has revealed that he used to keep tabs on his employees' movements to assess when they were and were not in work – and if, like him, they were diligently in on the weekend. But he's not the only business leader with a quirky obsession or two – here we take a look at some [...]
Zanzibar for adventurers: Stay in Dr Livingstone’s palace off the East African coast February 4, 2016 I wandered into Dr Livingstone’s old quarters in Zanzibar, overlooking the indigo Indian Ocean, where he planned his journey into the dangerous heart of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. It was an ill-fated trip, and within weeks his assistants had begun to desert him; some even returned to Zanzibar and reported [...]