Stocks surge on strong Chinese trade figures, while Tesco’s return to profit proves every little doesn’t help April 13, 2016 Strong trade data from China was enough to offset disappointing results from Tesco this morning and push UK stocks to their highest level of the year. Gobal shares rallied on the latest sign that the process of rebalacing in the world’s second largest economy is on course. Exports from China jumped by 11.5 per cent in March in dollar terms [...]
Tesco drags Sainsbury’s and Morrisons share price down too April 13, 2016 Tesco might have hoped for a better reaction to its news that it has returned to profit this morning than for investors to send its share price tumbling. Perhaps it was the relatively cautious statement given by chief executive Dave Lewis, or the fact that while profits were above consensus expectations, sales missed by a touch. Or [...]
Supermarket sales rise over Easter – but prove egg-sasperating for Tesco, Morrisons and Asda April 5, 2016 It could have been so easy for supermarkets. Not only are prices at an all-time low, but an early Easter pushed sales up compared with last year, new figures have shown. But while the Easter bunny hopped along to most of the nation's retailers, the big four continued to struggle. The figures, by Kantar Worldpanel, showed sales [...]
Are global markets underestimating the strength of the US economy? April 4, 2016 David Morrison, senior market strategist at Spread Co, says Yes. While GDP growth is somewhat tepid (annualised, the economy grew 1.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015), there is evidence that the US economy is picking up steam. Just last week we saw strong numbers for pending home sales, Chicago PMI and the all-important [...]
Cost of weekly supermarket shop drops for fourth month in a row to hit lowest level in over a year April 4, 2016 The cost of the average weekly grocery shop has fallen for the fourth month in a row to reach its lowest level in over a year, data released today shows. Research by price comparison site MySupermarket found that a basket of 35 staple products across the major grocers cost £84.36 in March, down 3.8 per [...]
Over 55s undecided on whether pension freedoms are actually any good April 3, 2016 One year on from the introduction of pension freedoms, the jury's still out on whether or not they are actually any good, a report released today has found. The survey by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) found that, while 44 per cent of over 55s thought that the introduction of pension freedoms last April had been [...]
Well that was unexpected – US jobless rate rises for the first time in months but non-farm payroll beats expectations April 1, 2016 The US jobless rate rose in March, the first time since May 2015 it has done so – but the number of job openings beat expectations. Unemployment edged back up to five per cent, having dropped to 4.9 per cent last month, while the number of job openings hit 215,000, against forecasts of 205,000. That follows [...]
Gold bullion is rising and shares in gold miners have powered ahead too. Are mining stocks the shining investment of 2016? March 30, 2016 Gold bullion has been among the best-performing investments so far this year, as prices rose 18 per cent from the start of January up to mid-March. Since gold’s low of $1,050 an ounce in December 2015, it has risen over 20 per cent, “a percentage turnaround generally regarded as signalling the reversal of a major trend”, [...]
Fruit juices, drinks and smoothies might not be one of your “five a day” according to new sugar study March 24, 2016 Just a few weeks after it was revealed how much sugar was lurking in your Starbucks coffee drinks and a fortnight since George Osborne announced a sugar tax on soft drinks, it seems fruit juice could be another villain too. The authors of a new study have even gone so far as to suggest that [...]
Shore Capital share price rises despite scrapping its dividend as chief executive warns the outlook for markets may not improve March 22, 2016 Shore Capital's share price has risen in trading today, despite the company axing its dividend and warning challenging markets could continue. The company reported strong profit growth in its preliminary results for its year ended December 2015, mostly due to the sale of a number of radio spectrum licences in Germany to Deutsche Telekom AG. The sale of six [...]