Rihanna roils markets as China bags a key element March 16, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (March 12 to March 16, 2018). This week, Barbadian singing sensation Rihanna managed to wipe $1bn off the valuation of tech group Snap, the Chinese secured a major cobalt deal to help it produce electric [...]
Retail job losses could number 15,000 as industry strains under cost pressures March 1, 2018 At least 15,000 retail sector jobs have either been slashed this year or are now at risk as household names sink into administration, according to calculations by City A.M. Toys R Us and Maplin went into administration yesterday, putting more than 5,500 jobs in doubt. The double-whammy for the industry comes after fashion chain East [...]
Focus On Chalk Farm: property prices, best streets and house price growth February 16, 2018 Clustered in among some of London’s most popular neighbourhoods, Chalk Farm is a sort of dividing line between the tourists and the nightlife of Camden, and the exclusive neighbourhoods of Primrose Hill and Belsize Park. As such, it’s moments away from both – with 24 hour transport links now the Northern line has joined the [...]
Aldi knocks Waitrose off supermarket top spot while shoppers turn to Iceland and Ocado for online groceries February 12, 2018 Aldi has knocked Waitrose off the top spot as the UK’s favourite supermarket for in-store shopping. Customers rated their experience at the budget retailer as best in Which?’s annual survey. Last year’s most popular supermarket Waitrose fell to fourth-highest, below Marks & Spencer and Lidl. Respondents rated Aldi’s value for money very highly, and were [...]
UK petrol prices: Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda kick off war at the pumps February 9, 2018 A UK petrol price war has kicked off with three of the big four supermarkets slashing prices at the pumps. In the last few minutes, Sainsbury's mirrored an earlier move by Asda and Morrisons this morning to knock 2p off a litre of petrol and diesel. Sources at Tesco said a decision had yet to [...]
UK petrol prices: Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda kick off war at the pumps February 9, 2018 A UK petrol price war has kicked off with three of the big four supermarkets slashing prices at the pumps. In the last few minutes, Sainsbury’s mirrored an earlier move by Asda and Morrisons this morning to knock 2p off a litre of petrol and diesel. Sources at Tesco said a decision had yet to [...]
Wall Street closes in correction territory as stocks tumble February 8, 2018 US stock markets confirmed they were in correction territory today after a week of wild swings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the benchmark S&P 500 were both more than 10 per cent lower than their record highs last month, closing down 4.2 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the [...]
‘Supermarket giants doomed’ – no, just history repeating February 2, 2018 Investors, analysts, journalists or other market commentators often become convinced some scenario or trend definitely will or will not play out. Check back a few years later, however – always anyone bothers – and that certainty may prove unwarranted. Three or four years ago, for example, many were arguing it was ‘game over’ for supermarket [...]
Public Register: Investors have published their FTSE naughty list of companies with the angriest shareholders December 19, 2017 This year has been punctuated by shareholder rebellions in businesses from WPP to Persimmon to the boardroom battle currently raging over the ousting of London Stock Exchange boss Xavier Rolet. But now shareholder anger at FTSE bosses’ pay packets has been dragged into the spotlight again, after the Investment Association launched its “naughty list” of [...]
UK inflation hits 3.1 per cent December 12, 2017 Inflation hit 3.1 per cent in November, meaning Bank of England (BoE) governor Mark Carney must write to the Treasury with an explanation for the rise. November’s consumer price index (CPI) reading was expected to remain unchanged at three per cent for the third month in a row. CPI has been above the Bank of [...]