Anglo American and Glencore share price: Mining stocks are surging again February 5, 2016 Shares in some of the biggest London-listed miners reversed earlier falls to rally for a second day in a row this morning. They finished at the top of the FTSE yesterday due to the tumbling US dollar, which sent gold to a fresh three-month high and helped copper to its highest level in a month. Anglo American shares [...]
UK rental prices: Why landlords aren’t to blame for the housing crisis February 5, 2016 Landlords aren't exactly flavour of the month right now. For many critics of the UK private rental market, it's landlords who seem to be presiding over a broken and unjust system, fleecing tenants out of their hard-earned cash while keeping property prices at the insanely high levels that price them out of home ownership. It’s [...]
FTSE 100 index opens ahead of US jobs data as miners’ share prices continue to rise February 5, 2016 The FTSE 100 index opened higher this morning ahead of the publication of US jobs data, which investors will be eyeing for signs of when the Federal Reserve will next raise interest rates. The UK's blue-chip index was 0.52 per cent up at 5,931 points in mid-morning trading, as miners recouped losses made when the market [...]
Steel crisis: World’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal taps investors for $3bn February 5, 2016 The world's largest steelmaker has been forced to ask its investors for a $3bn (£2bn), as it suffers from the Chinese industry's overcapacity which is blames for driving down steel prices. ArcelorMittal, which is based in Luxembourg, reported core profit dropped 32 per cent last year to $5.2bn and warned the result this year would only be "in excess [...]
Citigroup on oil prices: Financial market “death spiral” and “oilmegaddon” could lead to a global recession February 5, 2016 The financial market “death spiral” means we should all fear an “oilmaggedon”, which could herald a “‘significant and synchronised’ global recession”, according to a particularly gloomy note from analysts at investment bank Citigroup. Tumbling commodity prices, the resilient US dollar, weak trade, capital flows and slowing emerging market growth have created a “negative feedback loop”. [...]
Amazon to launch physical bookstore? Why the etailer has done a 180 on bricks and clicks February 5, 2016 With the news that Amazon is set to open 400 book stores in the US, some could say it’s taking the ‘old fashioned’ route to retail that it had originally disrupted. What are the drivers? One word: leisure. While convenience has become a modern shopping fixation – with brands feeding it constantly, creating new and smarter [...]
Three-O2 deal: Virgin Media urges Europe to allow £10.5bn merger as Vodafone blasts Hutchison’s price freeze pledge February 5, 2016 Virgin Media has come out in support of the proposed £10.5bn deal between Three and O2, even as rival Vodafone blasts it as “re-monopolisation” of the telco market. Virgin is calling on the EU’s competition watchdog to approve the deal, following pledges made yesterday to open up the combined network to other players. A deal [...]
UK skills shortage: Misconception about STEM subjects are failing young people February 5, 2016 When less than one in ten students leave secondary school with an A-Level in maths and physics, it's clear that the country has a problem on its hands. The UK STEM skills deficit has been reported widely for many years, but now is the time for us to take action. Put simply, Britain is facing a skills crisis. [...]
Just Eat takes a bite out of businesses in Italy, Spain, Mexico and Brazil February 5, 2016 Just Eat has taken a bite out of online takeaway rivals in Spain, Italy, Brazil and Mexico. The four businesses – La Nevera Roja in Spain, PizzaBo/HelloFood in Italy, Hello Food Brazil and Hello Food Mexico – cost the UK-listed firm €125m (£94.7m), which will be funded from cash resources, and gives Just Eat huge reach as it [...]
BG Group scraps final dividend as earnings take a pounding from low oil prices ahead of Shell merger February 5, 2016 As with BP and Shell, BG Group's results were heavily affected by lower commodity prices, with earnings sharply down. The figures BG Group reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for 2015 of $5.63bn (£3.87bn), down 39 per cent on the year before. Meanwhile, earnings before interest and tax took an even harder hit, down [...]
