Category Archives: Stock markets

Anglo American rejects £31bn takeover offer from mining rival BHP

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All-share proposal had potential to be one of biggest deals in sector for decade but deemed ‘opportunistic’

The board of Anglo American, the London-listed mining company, has rejected a “highly unattractive” £31bn takeover approach from its Australian rival BHP.

BHP’s all-share proposed offer for Anglo American had the potential to be one of the biggest deals in the global mining sector for a decade but has attracted criticism from Anglo’s shareholders as being too low and “highly opportunistic”.

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What’s behind the record FTSE 100 high?

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Hopes of a UK interest rate cut and easing geopolitical tensions are not the only reasons for the intraday peak reached this morning

The UK stock market has hit an intraday record high, lifted by hopes of interest rate cuts and easing geopolitical tensions, after setting a new closing high on Monday. The FTSE 100 index touched 8,076 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, surpassing a previous high of 8,047 reached in February 2023. We explain what is behind the rising London market.

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Billionaire Republican donor’s firm brands Trump’s social media CEO ‘loser’

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Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities claimed Devin Nunes would be ‘fired on The Apprentice’ amid stock trading row

The CEO of Donald Trump’s social media empire was branded a “proverbial loser” whom the former president “would have fired on The Apprentice” by a trading firm owned by the billionaire Republican donor Ken Griffin on Friday.

In an extraordinary statement, Citadel Securities accused Devin Nunes, chief executive of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), of trying to deflect blame for the company’s recent stock market woes. TMTG hit back claiming Citadel was “world famous for screwing over” small investors.

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Middle East conflict risks sharp rise in oil prices, says IMF

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In the UK, anxiety over the crisis after Iran’s missile strike on Israel drives down UK shares

An escalating Middle East conflict risks leading to higher oil prices, a reversal of the recent fall in inflation and a puncturing of the optimistic mood in financial markets, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

The Washington-based IMF said it was closely monitoring events in the region after Iran’s missile strike on Israel at the weekend and stressed the possibility that a war between the two countries could lead to higher interest rates.

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Disney wins boardroom showdown with activist investor

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CEO Bob Iger says defeat of Nelson Peltz campaign will allow company to focus on ‘growth and value creation’ for shareholders

Disney saw off a boardroom coup on Wednesday, defeating a bid by one of corporate America’s most renowned activist investors to overhaul its management.

The entertainment giant announced at its annual shareholder meeting that it had secured enough votes by a “substantial margin” to defeat a campaign launched by the billionaire Nelson Peltz, who has spent months demanding change at the Magic Kingdom and excoriating its top executives.

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Trump’s Truth Social reveals $58m loss as auditor raises doubts about viability

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Shares dropped by as much as 25% as investors scrutinize fundamentals of company’s business

Shares in Donald Trump’s Truth Social dropped by as much as 25% on Monday after the social media company revealed it lost $58.2m last year and an auditor disclosed “substantial doubt” over its ability to continue operating.

An extraordinary stock market debut last week left Trump Media & Technology Group valued at more than $7bn. But it generated sales of just $4.13m in 2023, according to regulatory filings.

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Fast fashion retailer Shein doubles profits as it awaits IPO approval

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Company founded in China and promoted on social media is thought to be considering London listing

Shein, the online fast fashion retailer founded in China, has more than doubled its profits to more than $2bn (£1.6bn) as it awaits approval for a stock market listing in New York or London.

The company, which is growing rapidly around the world by using social media to promote its goods, recorded sales of about $45bn last year, according to a report in the Financial Times based on information from sources close to the company.

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UK Libor trader Tom Hayes loses appeal against rate-rigging conviction – as it happened

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The former star UBS and Citigroup trader was convicted of conspiracy to defraud by manipulating financial benchmark and served 5 1/2 years in prison

Britain’s financial regulator has identified shortcomings in how some motor insurance firms are valuing written-off or stolen vehicles.

A review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found evidence that suggests some firms are offering their customers less than their written-off or stolen vehicle is worth and, in some cases, are only increasing that offer when a customer complains.

Having your vehicle written off or stolen can be intensely stressful and we expect firms to offer the right support to help their customers.

We expect all motor insurers to take note of our findings and we are engaging directly with those that have issues that need to be addressed.

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Trump’s Truth Social valued at nearly $8bn as it goes public in New York

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Trump Media & Technology trading on Nasdaq under ‘DJT’ ticker, using Trump’s initials and closing up 15% after first day of trading

The firm behind Donald Trump’s Truth Social went public on Tuesday at a price that values the minnow social network at close to $8bn.

Shares in Digital World Acquisition, the shell company with which Trump’s social media business has merged, have been surging since the turn of the year.

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Trump could net $3bn after investors approve Truth Social to go public

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Plan approved by vote of shareholders in Digital World Acquisition, with which Trump’s business sought to combine

Investors approved plans to take Donald Trump’s social media platform public on Friday, netting the former president a paper fortune of $3bn.

Trump Media & Technology, the firm behind his minnow social network Truth Social, has spent years fighting to land on the stock market via a so-called “blank check” merger with a shell company.

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Reddit shares priced at $34 in largest IPO by social media company in years

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Platform to make its debut on New York stock exchange on Thursday with a market value of $6.4bn

Reddit will enter a new era as a publicly traded company with a market value of $6.4bn after the social media platform’s initial public offering was priced at $34 per share.

The price, announced late on Wednesday, came in at the top of the target range set by Reddit’s investment bankers as they spent the past few weeks gauging investor demand for the stock. It sets the stage for Reddit’s shares to begin trading Thursday on the New York stock exchange under the ticker symbol RDDT in the largest initial public offering by a social media company in years.

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Women hold 42% of board seats at big UK firms, but just 10 are FTSE 100 bosses

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Burberry, M&S and Next fare best for female representation but too few women are in top roles, report says

Women occupy more than two in five seats on the boards of the UK’s biggest listed companies but there are still “too few” in top positions with just 10 female FTSE 100 chief executives, according to a report.

The proportion of board positions held by women in the FTSE 350 rose to a record high of 42% this year, according to the government-backed annual FTSE Women Leaders Review. This is up from 24.5% in 2017 when the report was launched.

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Elizabeth Warren urges regulators to block Capital One’s takeover of Discover

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Senator says $35bn deal merging two of the largest US credit card firms would ‘threaten financial stability’ and reduce competition

Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged regulators to block Capital One’s $35bn takeover of Discover Financial, arguing that combining two of the US’s largest credit card companies would harm consumers and challenge financial stability.

The blockbuster deal would inevitably lead to higher costs and fees for cardholders, according to the leftwing senator.

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Rishi Sunak’s promise to grow the economy ‘in tatters’ as UK enters technical recession – business live

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UK economy shrank by 0.3% in October-December, worse than expected, putting UK in a technical recession in a blow to the PM

Net trade, household spending and government consumption all contracted in the final quarter of last year, helping to push the UK economy into a technical recession.

Household expenditure fell by 0.1% in real terms (adjusted for inflation) in Q4 2023, following a downwardly revised fall of 0.9% in Q3, as consumers cut back in the cost of living squeeze.

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Shares in chip designer Arm soar by more than 50% leaving it valued at $120bn

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Chief executive, Rene Haas, says UK-based firm is benefiting from huge demand for AI-powered products and apps

Shares in Arm have soared by more than 50% after raising profit and revenue forecasts amid red-hot demand for artificial intelligence technology, valuing the UK-based tech company at double the market capitalisation when it floated in September.

Shares in the world’s biggest supplier of design elements for processing chips used in products from smartphones to games consoles opened up 58% on the Nasdaq in the US on Thursday.

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Comments on Weibo giraffe post bemoan state of Chinese economy

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Social media users get around government crackdown on negativity via US embassy conservation update

A social media post about giraffe conservation has become the latest place for people in China who are unhappy about the economy to vent their frustration, as the Chinese government increasingly cracks down on negative commentary.

On 2 February, the US embassy in China posted an update on its Weibo account about tracking giraffes in Namibia using GPS technology. As of Monday afternoon local time, the post had received approximately 166,000 comments, many of them about China’s economic pains.

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Wall Street notches fresh records as S&P 500 and Dow Jones close at all-time high

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Record highs come amid hopes a cooldown in inflation will allow Federal Reserve to cut interest rates several times this year

Wall Street scaled fresh records on Monday, as the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average each closed at an all-time high.

The S&P gained 0.2% to 4,850.43. The Dow cleared 38,000 for the first time, rising 0.4% to 38,001.81.

Associated Press contributed reporting

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End of era as Toshiba delists from Tokyo stock exchange after 74 years

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Electronics firm taken private in £11bn deal by consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners

Toshiba, the Japanese company synonymous with the country’s 20th-century dominance of electronics, has delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange after 74 years.

The manufacturer, associated in the UK with its 1980s “Ello Tosh, gotta Toshiba” advertising campaign, was taken private on Wednesday in an £11bn deal by a consortium of investors led by the private equity investor Japan Industrial Partners (JIP).

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Businessman who tried to buy Sheffield United accused of ‘elaborate’ fraud

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US watchdog sues Dozy Mmobuosi for allegedly faking documents and making up companies out of ‘thin air’

A Nigerian businessman who appeared to be closing in on a takeover of the Premier League football club Sheffield United is being sued by the US financial watchdog for a fraud, in which he is alleged to have faked documents and made up companies out of “thin air”.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Monday it had filed charges against Dozy Mmobuosi, claiming he inflated his companies’ financial performance by hundreds of millions of dollars to defraud investors.

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Israel investigates claims investors made millions short-selling before Hamas attacks

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US professors detected unusual trading activity on Tel Aviv and US stock exchanges before 7 October

Israeli authorities are investigating claims by US researchers that some investors may have known in advance about the Hamas plan to attack Israel on 7 October and used that information to earn millions of dollars by short-selling Israeli shares.

Research by law professors Robert Jackson Jr from New York University and Joshua Mitts of Columbia University found significant short-selling of shares leading up to the attacks that triggered the war.

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