Where Next for Stablecoins? June 9, 2020 Tether, Paxos, Dai: welcome to the world of stablecoins, instruments that are designed to follow closely the price of the assets or currencies which they are pegged to. They are on the opposite end of the volatility spectrum, compared to Bitcoin or Ether, as they play a different role: they allow investors to move dollars [...]
World shares rise as shock US jobs increase spurs recovery hopes June 8, 2020 World share prices edged higher on Monday after a surprise recovery in US employment provided optimism that economies could quickly recover after lockdown. Oil prices erased earlier gains to stand almost flat after OPEC and its allies, including Russia, agreed to extend record oil production cuts until the end of July. U.S. S&P 500 futures [...]
Coronavirus: BBC calls for right to publish news directly on Whatsapp June 4, 2020 The BBC should be allowed to publish directly on chat platforms such as Whatsapp to help counter fake news about the Covid-19 crisis, one of the broadcaster’s top bosses has said. Jamie Angus, director of the BBC World Service Group, urged tech giants to open their platforms to trusted news providers as part of their [...]
Oil prices top $40 for first time in three months ahead of Opec meeting June 3, 2020 Global oil prices touched $40 per barrel for the first time since March today amid hopes that producer cartel Opec would extend its record production cuts. Having reached the $40 mark earlier this morning, global standard Brent crude slipped back to $39.27 as midday approached. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate also gained to $36.83, approaching [...]
Oil prices at three-month highs ahead of Opec meeting June 2, 2020 Oil prices closed in on three-month highs this afternoon amid expectations that major producers would agree to extend record production cuts at this week’s Opec meeting. The oil producer cartel and allies including Russia are now set to meet on 4 June to discuss maintaining the curbs, which amount to 9.7m barrels per day. As [...]
Oil prices rise ahead of OPEC meeting on further production cuts June 2, 2020 Oil prices rose today ahead of a meeting of major oil producers that could lead to further output cuts to shore up prices. Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 0.94 per cent, or 36 cents, to $38.68 a barrel this morning. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 0.73 per cent, or 26 cents, to [...]
Petropavlovsk pours cold water on UGC merger reports June 1, 2020 Russian gold mining giant Petropavlovsk has poured cold water on reports that it is considering a potential merger deal with largest shareholder UGC. In an interview with the Telegraph, the FTSE 250 firm’s chief executive Pavel Maslovskiy said that discussions between the firms were at an early stage but the deal could “definitely happen”. If [...]
Hulsman: Britain is forging a new path in foreign policy June 1, 2020 It is my favourite Churchill quote, even though the great man may not actually have said it (though he certainly felt it): “Americans will always do the right thing—after exhausting all the alternatives.” As someone who has lived the Special Relationship, the quip perfectly captures Washington’s habitual initial analytical short-sightedness, as well as the dogged [...]
Oil prices push higher despite unexpected surge in crude stocks May 28, 2020 Oil prices pushed upwards today despite a larger than expected build in US crude stockpiles, holding on to the gains of the last few weeks. Global standard Brent crude rose 1.5 per cent to $35.29, whilst US benchmark West Texas Intermediate picked up 1.9 per cent to reach $33.43. The rise came despite US crude [...]
Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi to increase technology sharing May 27, 2020 Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi have announced details of a new strategy to deepen cooperation in developing and producing cars, in a bid for survival. The carmakers have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic just as they were reworking their partnership after the arrest of chairman Carlos Ghosn. Last year Ghosn made an astonishing escape [...]