Oil prices are headed for their largest weekly drop since January September 1, 2016 Oil prices dropped by more than three per cent today as they head for their biggest weekly fall since January, with investors worrying over US crude stockpiles. Brent crude futures ended the session at $45.45 per barrel, down $1.44 or 3.07 per cent. U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures closed down $1.54 or 3.45 per [...]
Foreign exchange trading flops as London loses market share, according to the Bank for International Settlements September 1, 2016 Foreign exchange trading around the world has fallen over the course of three years, with London in particular losing market share. Global foreign exchange trading averaged $5.1 trillion (£3.8 trillion) a day in April, down from $5.4 trillion for the same month in 2013. It is the first time a fall has been recorded by the Bank for International Settlement's [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 1, 2016 The pound has leapt against the dollar after the UK's manufacturing sector smashed expectations and China's manufacturing sector has also bounced back. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. Pre-market futures are looking mixed ahead of the open. The S&P is off by 0.1 per cent, while the Nasdaq is [...]
Back of the Nets: This Nordic fintech company is planning a £626m IPO September 1, 2016 You might not have heard of Nets, but if you've been to Scandinavia recently, chances are you've used its digital payment services. Today the Nordic payments company unveiled plans to launch an IPO on Nasdaq Copenhagen, aka the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. Read more: These are the seven fintech startups being backed by Mastercard In a statement this morning, it [...]
Taptica shares soar on rising mobile advertising spend August 31, 2016 Mobile ad firm Taptica shares have rocketed after the firm posted what it called a “record” year. Shares in the company closed up 19 per cent yesterday as revenue leapt by 53 per cent to $51.8m (£39.4m) in the first half. Gross profit almost doubled to $17.8m, up from $9m in the same period last year. [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open August 31, 2016 Global economic headwinds are increasing and Eurozone inflation data has proven a disappointment. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US market futures are more-or-less flat ahead of the open. The S&P is down by 0.02 per cent, the Nasdaq is flat, and the Dow is 0.04 per [...]
Banks lead the FTSE 100, with some lenders setting new monthly highs August 31, 2016 Banks are helping to bolster a reasonably flat FTSE 100 today. Banking mainstays Barclays and HSBC are both among the five greatest risers this morning, while shares in Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered are up as well. Barclays is currently up 2.4 per cent at 173.25p, HSBC is up 1.8 per cent at 567.7p, Lloyds is up 1.5 per [...]
Berkeley and housing stocks risk being evicted from FTSE 100 index August 31, 2016 Housebuilder Berkeley Group could be booted from the FTSE 100 today after a near 30 per cent slump in its share price so far this year. Building materials company Travis Perkins is also teetering on the edge of the blue-chip index with shares now down about 12.5 per cent since the UK voted to quit the [...]
Emerging markets have enjoyed a real comeback, but as expectations of another Fed rate hike grow, can it last long? August 30, 2016 At the beginning of the year, things looked dismal for emerging markets. Investor optimism had soured over the previous three to four years, thanks to a cocktail of tumbling commodity prices, a strong dollar and a Chinese slowdown which had shaken confidence in the sustainability of their growth. Nine months later, and the mood has shifted [...]
FTSE 100 flat ahead of Janet Yellen’s Jackson Hole speech August 26, 2016 The FTSE 100 was trading flat this morning ahead of the Federal Reserve's speech at Jackson Hole. The UK's blue-chip index was trading 0.1 per cent down at 6,810 points in early morning trading, with investors looking for clues of when a US rate rise could come. "A rather subdued opening call is nothing out of the [...]