Sterling finds strength from higher UK manufacturing growth October 1, 2018 Sterling climbed on the back of stronger UK manufacturing growth this morning. The pound was up 0.1 per cent against the US dollar at 1.304 and close to 0.4 per cent compared to the euro at 1.125. Read more: British manufacturing output growth weakens as exports slow Manufacturing posted a “mild” improvement in output at [...]
Amazon share price surges on strong earnings as sales rise by more than a third and cloud services boost profit October 26, 2017 Amazon shares rose more than seven per cent in after-hours trading, after the tech giant announced better than expected earnings and sales up by a third. Read more: Banks should be worried about Amazon rather than fintech, says McKinsey The figures Amazon beat expectations with a 34 per cent rise in sales to $43.7bn for [...]
US-China trade war: China promises to ‘keep retaliating’ against Trump’s tariffs August 24, 2018 China will continue to retaliate against US trade tariffs, finance minister Liu Kun said today, after talks in Washington between the superpowers fizzled out without resolving their escalating trade war. US markets fell at the end of trading last night, while the Dow closed 0.3 per cent lower, with Boeing and Caterpillar dragging the index [...]
Foreign exchange trading volumes rise as global currencies remain volatile September 5, 2018 Foreign exchange trading volumes have risen more than 7 per cent, NEX Group said, as global currencies remain volatile. NEX, which runs one of the largest FX trading platforms, said average daily trading volumes rose to $84.7bn in August from $83bn in the same month last year. For the year ending 31 August average daily [...]
Turkish lira plummets to record low August 9, 2018 The Turkish lira plunged to a record low today against the US dollar as investors questioned the ability of the Erdogan regime to stop a deepening currency crisis. One dollar bought as much as 5.5678 lira in evening trading, as the troubled Turkish currency fell by almost five per cent in the course of the [...]
Crypto A.M. Shines its Spotlight on FreeMark: Inventing Better Money September 11, 2018 Plunging exchange rates can cost exporters their shirts. Sterling versus the US dollar can vary sometimes 7% in a month, or 2% in a day. Businesses and individuals can lose big chunks of their profits—even make a loss. Exporters must therefore hedge transactions in order to survive in the global economy. With more and more [...]
Three themes for 2019 – and some black swans February 8, 2019 2018 was a challenging year for investors with US equity and government bond markets both returning less than cash. Two factors were instrumental in delivering this outcome: disappointment with global growth and less cash flowing through the global economy (tighter liquidity). These factors will continue to influence markets in the year ahead. We have identified [...]
Financial markets 2018: the year in review January 7, 2019 After two years of steady growth in asset prices, 2018 proved more of a challenge for investors, particularly in the last three months of the year. US president Donald Trump’s tax cuts had provided an added boost for investors heading into 2018, and US GDP growth accelerated to 4.2 per cent on an annualised quarterly basis [...]
Banks should watch out – the fintech era has barely begun November 20, 2018 The fintech sector makes a lot of noise in London. There’s an endless stream of news about open banking and challenger banks, while the traditional finance sector watches on with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. Banks have come under attack, not only from the hype-machine, but more meaningfully from startups. Traditional finance providers that assumed [...]
The rise of Chinese finance puts pressure on London and New York as top financial centres September 12, 2018 London and New York remain the top two financial centres in the world but Asian cities are hot on their heels, according to an authoritative ranking to be published today. A major report from London-based think tank and consultancy Z/Yen will show the average ranking of financial centres in Asia and the Pacific region rose [...]