Oil stocks fall as coronavirus hammers oil prices January 27, 2020 Shares in oil and mining firms slipped this morning as oil prices continued to tumble, with fears over the coronavirus driving down demand for fuel. Brent crude fell over 3.5 per cent to hit $57.78, its lowest levels since October, after sixth straight sessions of decline. West Texas Intermediate fell 3.5 per cent to $52.30. [...]
Petra Diamonds revenue falls but glimmers of hope remain January 27, 2020 Precious stone miner Petra Diamonds said that its revenue fell six per cent in the first half of the financial year due to slowing demand in Asian markets. The firm sold 1.7m carats for $193.9m (£148.5m) in the period, compared to $207.1m in the same period in 2019. Anti-government protests in Hong Kong, as well [...]
Octopus limits losses as customer base triples January 25, 2020 Challenger energy supplier Octopus more than tripled its customer base in the last financial year, growing from 199,000 to 691,000 households by April 2019. The company, which now has over 1.4m customers, also increased its revenue by 256 per cent to £460m in the same period, today’s annual results showed. Notably, considering its rapid growth, [...]
Octopus tops energy supplier rankings for second year in a row January 25, 2020 Challenger energy supplier Octopus cemented its hold at the top of consumer group Which?’s annual customer satisfaction survey, as so-called Big Six firms languished down the rankings. The biggest six energy companies – British Gas, Eon, EDF, Npower, Scottish Power and SSE (now part of Ovo) – all finished in the lower third of the [...]
FTSE 100 leaps after WHO eases coronavirus fears January 24, 2020 The FTSE 100 stormed ahead today, more than clawing back the losses incurred yesterday as investors’ fears over the spread of the coronavirus mounted. The World Health Organisation yesterday stopped short of declaring the outbreak in China an emergency for the rest of the world. European equities gained in response today, before posting further jumps [...]
Australian Dollar to GBP – Could this be one to watch? January 24, 2020 | City Talk Singapore Dollar Fears of the coronavirus which has been spreading from China have affected global market sentiment. This week in Singapore December consumer price inflation results beat expectations; with food, transport, communication, and education costs the highlights. Beating November’s 0.6 per cent and the prediction of 0.7 per cent, December’s 0.8 per cent result is in line with the Monetary Authority of Singapore [...]
This week: Why the Pound shone over the Euro January 24, 2020 | City Talk After a poor end to last week, the pound responded with a dominant performance this week, gaining an average of 0.8 per cent against the other major currencies. Indeed, it was only the Japanese yen that it lost out to (dropping 0.2 per cent). Such a performance has helped the pound climb to the top [...]
Finablr shares plunge after owner pledges stock as collateral for Travelex debt January 24, 2020 Shares in payments firm Finablr plunged to a record low today after its owner pledged more than half the company’s stock as security for debts incurred buying foreign exchange company Travelex. In an update to the stock exchange this morning, Finablr disclosed that majority owner B. R. Shetty had pledged 392.2 million shares, over 56 [...]
Top five investment risks for 2020: What they said at Davos and how they’ve changed in a decade January 24, 2020 | City Talk As recently as ten years ago the environment didn’t register in the top risks for discussion at the World Economic Forum. Now it dominates. This has important implications for investors. This week the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) is taking place in Davos. Attendees include leaders from the worlds of politics and business who meet [...]
Rolls-Royce says mini nuclear reactors could be rolled out by 2029 January 24, 2020 Manufacturer Rolls-Royce today said that the UK could be using power generated by mini nuclear reactors by 2029. The engineering firm is currently working with a consortium of firms including Atkins, BAM Nuttall, and Wood to develop a compact power station that is manufactured in sections and then assembled on site. Speaking to the BBC, [...]
