Covid-19 chaos boosts Plus500 trading after torrid 2019
Plus500 today reported a significant increase in trading activity over its first quarter of 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak spurred traders to greater levels of activity.
The trading platform’s shares soared almost 10 per cent to 958p after today’s trading update.
Panic over the coronavirus outbreak has caused turmoil across the world economy, leading to sharp losses in stock markets and big drops in oil prices.
But Plus500, whose trading platform allows customers to bet on whether a share price will rise or fall, said the chaos sparked investor interest in its platform.
“The group’s financial performance during the first quarter to date is consequently trending substantially ahead of the last quarter of 2019,” the firm said.
Plus500 posted a record fall in profits for 2019 after regulators launched a crackdown on high-risk financial market betting.
It remains too early to say whether today’s news will have a long term impact on the group’s overall outlook for 2020.
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The coronavirus continued to wreak havoc on the FTSE 100 and other stock markets today.
Brent crude hit its lowest price since January yesterday, and today dipped even lower to $50.74 per barrel.
In London, the FTSE 100 plunged over three per cent. And European stocks listed on the Cac and Germany’s Dax also sank. US stocks plummeted as they opened this afternoon.
Countries including Nigeria, Wales, New Zealand and Lithuania have all reported their first cases of the virus today.
And the UK reported 19 cases as news of the first British death related to coronavirus made headlines.
Industries including automotive and airline have already seen their operations disrupted.
British Airways owner IAG today said it was impossible to calculate how badly coronavirus would hurt its 2020 profit. It has already extended a ban on China flights until after Easter.
Major sporting events such as the Guinness Six Nations Rugby and Formula One have also been disrupted.
The forthcoming Geneva Motor Show has also reportedly been cancelled and there are doubts over whether the summer Olympics in Tokyo will go ahead.