Pound strengthens as euro slides: Should holidaymakers stock up now? March 10, 2015 With a range of pre-paid cards on the market, there’s no need to hoard currency in your home. The pound has reached a seven-year high against the euro – and with the Easter break fast approaching, could now be a good time to lock in favourable rates for holiday money? The euro has been [...]
Why plunging oil has derailed the Santa Claus Rally – DailyFX Tips & Picks December 15, 2014 WHILE children look forward to Christmas Day, many grown-ups are more excited by the Santa Claus Rally. This usually entails a nice boost to stock markets at the end of the year, generating a good return. But the FTSE 100 is down this month – someone has clearly been naughty. And the culprit is said [...]
Russia raises rates in struggle against crumbling oil prices December 11, 2014 Russia's central bank has raised the country's borrowing costs as part of its struggle against crippling economic sanctions and plummeting oil prices. The Bank of Russia raised its key interest rate by one percentage point to 10.5 per cent, a move which was in line with analysts' expectations. It also said there could be further [...]
After a volatile week for global markets, is there still time for a Santa Rally? December 17, 2014 Adrian Lowcock, head of investing at Axa Wealth, says Yes. The so-called Santa Rally relates primarily to the last two weeks of the calendar year – the weeks of Christmas and New Year. In this two-week period, the FTSE 100 has put in its best performance of the year every year since 1986. A major [...]
Rouble sees steepest crash since 1998 after early oil price drop December 1, 2014 THE RUSSIAN rouble yesterday suffered its sharpest fall since the nation’s 1998 financial crisis. The currency dived by 7.6 per cent against the dollar early in the day before staging a recovery. The rouble began the day worth $0.02015 but had dropped to $0.01861 by 11:40am. Late last night the rouble was worth $0.01955. The movements [...]
Russia, Tesco and Alex Salmond feature in the seven biggest losers of 2014 December 17, 2014 It’s Christmas. The time of year when we’re all supposed to be a little more caring, charitable and considerate of those not feeling so swell. But for every champagne toast to success, there is regret at the bottom of a bottle. So summon some of that Christmas spirit for this sorry lot, the seven [...]
Saudi Arabia oil minister Ali al-Naimi: We won’t cut production to prop up prices December 22, 2014 Saudi Arabia’s oil minister has insisted the country will not cut oil production to prop up prices, despite the key commodity collapsing by a further 25 per cent in value over the past month. “Whether it goes down to $20, $40, $50, $60, it is irrelevant,” Ali al-Naimi said yesterday. “We are [...]
Fresnillo share price sheds as much as six per cent after pre-tax profit falls 40 per cent March 4, 2015 The figures Fresnillo said revenue fell 12.5 per cent to $1.41bn in the year ending December 2014, down from $1.6bn a year earlier. Pre-tax profit at the precious metals producer fell 40 per cent to $251m primarily due to plummeting silver and gold prices, as well as higher production costs. The company's share price slumped as [...]
Goldman Sachs revenues down 12 per cent January 16, 2015 Goldman Sachs shares fell 1.8 per cent in pre-market trading after it posted figures showing revenues had fallen 12 per cent to $7.96bn (£5.23bn) in the three months to the end of December, as revenues in its fixed income business dropped 29 per cent to $1.2bn. The investment bank said profits fell to $2.17bn or [...]
Russia hikes interest rates to 17pc as rouble crashes December 15, 2014 Russian interest rates shot up late last night to 17 per cent as its central bank made a drastic attempt to prevent further collapse in the value of the rouble and stem rising inflation. The decision comes less than a week after the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) hiked rates to 10.5 per cent from 9.5 [...]