SSE joins net zero push with 2050 emissions pledge November 11, 2020 Energy giant SSE has become the latest business to commit to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, it was announced this morning. Over 1,000 companies have already signed up to the “Race to Zero” campaign, placing their operations in line with efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. The Scottish business has already put [...]
The public are not to blame for the second lockdown November 11, 2020 Justice secretary Robert Buckland last week blamed the public for England’s new lockdown. In particular, the fault was with people failing to self-isolate properly. Of course, in a purely technical sense Buckland is right. The virus spreads by contact with an infected person. If people do not self-isolate, Covid-19 will continue to percolate across the [...]
Andy Haldane: Gap between poor and rich to be ‘stretched’ in wake of pandemic November 10, 2020 The Covid-19 crisis will likely “stretch” the income gap between the rich and poor, according to Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane. Speaking in a Channel 4 interview, Haldane, who is a member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee and chair of the government’s Industrial Strategy Council, said the pandemic would likely lead to [...]
Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine news set off a $2 trillion trading frenzy on markets November 10, 2020 Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine news set off a $2 trillion trading frenzy on markets
Wall St indexes dip as Pfizer vaccine optimism fades, but FTSE 100 powers ahead November 10, 2020 The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes in New York dipped at the open, halting a rally set off by the Pfizer vaccine results yesterday.
UK unemployment hits four year high as redundancies reach record levels November 10, 2020 Redundancies hit a record high in the three months to September while the unemployment rate jumped, according to new figures which show the UK’s labour market declined rapidly before the chancellor U-turned on coronavirus support measures. A record 314,000 British workers were made redundant in the three months to September, 181,000 more than in the [...]
Spending slipped ahead of lockdown but takeaways and web services stayed popular November 10, 2020 Spending slipped ahead of lockdown but takeaways and web services stayed popular
Wall Street closes just shy of record on renewed hopes of Covid-19 vaccine November 9, 2020 Wall Street surged ahead today as news of the first successful late stage Covid-19 vaccine trials bolstered hopes of the global economy emerging from a year of pandemic-driven crisis, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones opening on record highs. News that Pfizer’s experimental vaccine was found to be more than 90 per cent effective [...]
Rishi Sunak announces post-Brexit outline for Canada November 9, 2020 Rishi Sunak has outlined Canada’s future after Brexit, which will aim to provide stability for EU financial services firms operating in the UK while also trying to open up the sector to more international markets. Sunak said the Treasury today was unliterally publishing “a set of equivalence decisions for EU and EEA [...]
Market surge crashes trading platforms on ‘busiest ever day’ November 9, 2020 Investors trying to cash in on today’s market surge were left disappointed after some of the major trading platforms crashed due to overwhelming demand. Pharma giant Pfizer today announced that early studies of its coroanvirus vaccine are 90 per cent effective which sent markets into a frenzy. The FTSE 100 shot up, closing up 4.67 [...]