All eyes in the City on UK gilt yields as Boris Johnson steps away and Rishi Sunak steps up The week ahead Despite all the turmoil around UK politics last week, the pound ended up finishing the week higher for the third week in a row against the US dollar, while gilt yields closed lower. It was set up to be another key week for the pound with the prospect of another Conservative party leadership contest however [...]
Generali snaps up Axa’s Malaysian operations in deal worth £130m Insurance Generali has acquired Axa’s Malaysian operations in line with plans to strengthen its position in the “high potential” Asian economy. The acquisition will see Generali buy Axa’s stakes in its two Malaysian joint venture operations – Axa Affin General Insurance and Axa Affin Life Insurance – for a combined sum of €150m (£131m). Alongside the [...]
Abrdn’s Asian Income Fund loses 6.9 per cent of value as APAC markets suffer Asia Asset management giant Abrdn said the value of the assets controlled by its Asia Income Fund plunged 6.9 per cent over the first half of 2022 as markets were rocked by a combination of Covid lockdowns and the ripples of war in Ukraine. In its half yearly report today, the firm said net asset value [...]
Global money transfers surged 60 per cent over the last decade to £538bn in the past year August 8, 2022 Global money transfers reached $653bn (£538bn) in the past year, a rise of 60 per cent over the last 10 years as economic trouble hits countries. Research by remittance provider ACE Money Transfer said the rise began as the world recovered from 2008’s global financial crisis in 2011-2012, with remittances important in aiding developing countries [...]
French asset manager Amundi takes hit from turbulent European markets July 29, 2022 French asset manager Amundi today said the value of the assets it manages has dropped by 4.75 per cent compared to three months ago, due to “unfavourable” market conditions. The Paris headquartered firm said net incomes for the first half of the year were 16 per cent lower than a year ago, as it said [...]
Retail therapy gives markets a lift as battle to contain inflation genie starts in earnest May 27, 2022 European markets spent most of yesterday edging cautiously higher, with the FTSE100 shrugging off the UK government’s decision to impose a 25 per cent windfall tax on the oil and gas sector, while at the same time unveiling a fiscal stimulus package. The decision to impose the controversial tax appears to have prompted a review [...]
Global markets: US resilience lifts indexes worldwide with no surprises from Fed minutes May 26, 2022 European markets had a much more positive bias yesterday, helped by more resilience in the US, which finished the day strongly higher after the release of the latest Fed minutes. “This positive finish took a bit of a knock after the close as another disappointing set of earnings numbers, this time from Nvidia prompted US [...]
Recession concerns vie with inflation risk for investors in unpredictable market week ahead May 23, 2022 It was aother week of declines for US markets on Friday, with the S&P500 closing lower for the seventh week in succession, making a fresh 18 month low, and briefly retracing 50 per cent of the move from its 2020 lows to its record highs late last year. The Nasdaq 100 similarly pulled off new [...]
What a difference a day makes: Markets go into full reversal mode as recession concerns grow May 6, 2022 What a difference a day makes? Having rallied strongly in the aftermath of the Federal Reserve’s decision to hike rates by 50bps on Wednesday evening, and not go harder, US stock markets went into full reversal mode yesterday, dragging European markets down with them. Bond yields also shot back up, with the US 10 year [...]
Poor start of the month for global markets: April weakness rolls into May with China lockdowns not helping May 3, 2022 Asia markets got off to a poor start to the month yesterday, as did markets in Europe after the latest China PMIs showed that economic activity in April fell back by more than expected. Much was made of the slowdown in China manufacturing to 47.4 from 49.5, however non-manufacturing saw an even bigger fall, plunging [...]