Asian markets slide as Donald Trump looks set for victory November 9, 2016 It's a little under two hours until the London Stock Exchange opens, but here's a hint of what might be coming: Asian markets were universally lower this morning as Donald Trump looked set for a White House victory. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 2.8 per cent, at 22,261 points, while Japan's Nikkei plummeted [...]
European tech startups just got a major €1.6bn boost November 8, 2016 Brussels is launching a fresh fund to boost investment in startups across Europe which is expected to create more than a billion euros in capital ready to be put into up-and-coming technology firms. The European Commission will commit up to €400m (£357m) to the European Investment Fund's (EIF) new fund-of-funds and will look for three times more investment from institutional investors to make up to [...]
Calm before the storm: The pound is back below $1.24 on Hillary Clinton hopes, as the FTSE 100 remains flat November 8, 2016 After an encouraging beginning to the week, the pound fell below the $1.24 mark this morning as the dollar strengthened on hopes of a Hillary Clinton win in today's US Presidential election. Having peaked at $1.2439 in early trading, the pound edged into the red in the early afternoon, dropping as low as $1.2388, 0.1 [...]
Cautious hopes of Hillary Clinton win against Donald Trump lift most stock markets in Asia November 8, 2016 Most Asian stock markets rose today as Americans prepared to head to the polls and investors remained cautiously optimistic that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will secure the White House. Modest upswings in Asian shares pushed the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific-based stock outside of Japan up 0.3 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose [...]
Expect a Donald Trump victory to drive gold prices higher November 8, 2016 The 2016 presidential election and its likely impact on financial markets is proving incredibly difficult to call. First we have the relative outperformance of the US economy versus many other major countries to consider. Regardless of who wins, it seems as good as inevitable that US interest rates will still be rising before the year [...]
Clinton good, Trump bad: Market reaction to changing odds is too simplistic November 7, 2016 Thank goodness Britain is a nation of geniuses (or should that be genii?). Not even six months after the UK got to grips with the minutiae of EU rule-making and its enormous, surreptitiously dastardly implications for our country, we have all suddenly become experts in British Constitutional Law. We have had a lot of assistance [...]
There’s a new £260m fund eyeing UK tech startups November 7, 2016 UK-based venture capital fund Scottish Equity Partners has raised £260m for a new fund to invest in high growth tech companies in the UK and Europe. Previous investments include fashion site Matches.com, unicorn startup Skyscanner and language app Babbel. Read more: IG Group boss joins fintech startup board The latest fund, SEP V, is eyeing growth [...]
The pound is back below $1.24 after Hillary Clinton was cleared – but the FTSE 100 is rallying November 7, 2016 It looks like any euphoria felt by currency traders about Friday's High Court ruling over Brexit was short-lived: The pound was down more than one per cent against the dollar in early trading this morning, dropping below $1.24. The pound fell 1.01 per cent to $1.2391 as traders' faith in Hillary Clinton was restored after [...]
Premier Oil battling to hit deal deadline November 6, 2016 Struggling oil explorer Premier is battling to hit its deadline of the end of the year to secure a full-scale financial restructuring package. Premier is wrestling with the daunting task of finalising the £2bn deal with a team of 40 banks and advisers that has been pushed back from a previous deadline of September. Premier [...]
Crawford considers a London listing after ConvaTec success November 6, 2016 Dermatology and wound-care specialist Crawford is considering a market float after the recent success of rival ConvaTec. Crawford is looking “more closely” at an IPO, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph, following ConvaTec’s listing last week. Shares in the company have climbed by some 10 per cent after coming to market on 26 [...]