Slow and steady for the FTSE 100 as it stumbles into Monday, edging up in early morning trading April 4, 2016 The FTSE struggled to get going this morning with a so-so start to the first full week of the new financial year. The blue-chip index crawled up 12 points in the first hour of trading to stand at 6,158, after slipping back at the end of last week from its highest close of the year [...]
Cost of weekly supermarket shop drops for fourth month in a row to hit lowest level in over a year April 4, 2016 The cost of the average weekly grocery shop has fallen for the fourth month in a row to reach its lowest level in over a year, data released today shows. Research by price comparison site MySupermarket found that a basket of 35 staple products across the major grocers cost £84.36 in March, down 3.8 per [...]
UK house prices: south east to outperform London in 2016 as buyers seek out more affordable homes, says Cebr April 4, 2016 House price growth will slow to 4.9 per cent this year, according to a new report out today, with the south east poised to outpace the capital as buyers look for better value elsewhere. The study, published by the Centre for Economics and Business (Cebr), says 2016 is turning into a year of two halves [...]
House prices soar by 47,000 per cent in the 90 years since the Queen was born April 4, 2016 The price of the average British home has ballooned by 47,000 per cent since Queen Elizabeth II was born in April 1926, new research shows, rising from £619 to £291,505 over the past 90 years. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and analysed by Jackson-Stops & Staff to mark the Queen's birthday later [...]
Oil prices fall after Opec freeze deal is thrown into doubt April 1, 2016 Oil prices edged lower today, after comments from Saudi Arabia threw the widely anticipated freeze deal into doubt. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 4.2 per cent to $38.6 per barrel this afternoon. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, tumbled 3.9 per cent to $36.86 per barrel. Read more: How the oil price rout will affect [...]
Serious Fraud Office asks Monaco for help with investigation into oil industry corruption April 1, 2016 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has asked Monaco for help investigating alleged corruption in the oil industry. It put in an urgent request for international judicial assistance in criminal matters to its government, resulting in it raiding the offices of oil services firm Unaoil and the homes of its directors. Two media reports said that [...]
The euro is currently up one per cent on the pound at £0.80 April 1, 2016 The euro is currently up one per cent on the pound. On the pound, the euro stands at £0.80 – higher than it has closed in 2016 after starting the year at around £0.77. Read more: Goldman warns Brexit could slash sterling by 20 per cent Meanwhile, sterling was down nearly 0.7 per cent against the dollar at $1.43 shortly after US jobs data [...]
Saudi Arabia says it won’t freeze oil production without Iran as it prepares to sell Saudi Aramco April 1, 2016 Saudi Arabia has said it won't freeze oil production without participation from Opec rebel Iran, while it plans to sell a stake of "less than five per cent" in Saudi Aramco. During a five-hour long interview with Bloomberg News, Mohammed Bin Salman, the deputy crown prince, said: "If all countries agree to freeze production, we’re ready." "If there [...]
These are the “fragile five” Opec members that could collapse if oil prices don’t stabilise April 1, 2016 There are five members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) which risk collapsing if oil prices fails to stabilise. Brent crude has tumbled from over $110 in the middle of 2014 to around $40 today, largely due to a chronic supply glut. This has heaped pressure onto the balance sheets of some of the [...]
Ascent share price plummets: Over-enthusiastic investors stall Cadogan bid April 1, 2016 Ascent Resources recent share price rise has caused Cadogan Petroleum to back off a proposed take over. Investors piled into Ascent after a potential tie-up was announced on 23 March, sending its shares an eye watering 658 per cent higher. Shares in Ascent tumbled 56.9 per cent to 2.58p per share on the news, while Cadogan dipped 1.3 per [...]
