Category Archives: Stock markets

Homebuilder shares tumble as UK housing market weakens – business live

Posted on by

A profit warning from housebuilder Crest Nicholson has compounded fears of a housing market slowdown, as Rightmove data reveals a further drop in asking prices

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said that while weak house price data (as was “hardly a surprise”, Crest Nicholson’s profit warning has “laid bare the the scale of the impact of a housing slowdown on the housebuilding sector.”

Sales of new homes have plunged alarmingly and, while not all developers in the space are created equal, the news, allied to Rightmove’s latest reading on the property market, has had a knock-on effect on share prices in the rest of the sector this morning.

The £7,000 drop in the average asking price observed by Rightmove in the last month, allied to a big drop in transaction volumes, is the kind of statistic to make estate agents distinctly uneasy.

Continue reading...

UK basic wage growth hits record high; Russia’s central bank lifts rates to 12% – as it happened

Posted on by

UK regular pay growth highest since 2001 while unemployment rate rises unexpectedly; rouble recovers afters Bank of Russia raises rates at extraordinary meeting

The statement doesn’t mention the rouble, which dropped to its lowest level in nearly 17 months yesterday. The Russian currency has been boosted by the central bank’s move.

It now takes 95 roubles to buy a dollar, whereas yesterday the exchange rate was at 102 roubles per dollar at one stage.

The decision is aimed at limiting price stability risks.

Inflationary pressure is building up. As of 7 August, the annual rate of inflation rose to 4.4% while current price growth rates continue to increase. Over the last three months current price growth amounted to 7.6% on average in annualised terms on a seasonally adjusted basis. The same core inflation measure went up to 7.1%.

Continue reading...

Spurs billionaire Joe Lewis pleads not guilty to securities fraud

Posted on by

Lewis, whose family owns Tottenham Hotspur FC, is accused of ‘brazen’ insider trading

Lawyers for the British billionaire Joe Lewis have accused prosecutors of making an “egregious” mistake, as the 86-year-old pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of securities fraud and conspiracy.

Lewis, who heads the family that owns Tottenham Hotspur FC, was arraigned on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court with 16 counts of securities fraud and three of conspiracy to commit fraud, which prosecutors called a “brazen” insider trading scheme to enrich his friends, lovers and employees, including two private jet pilots.

Continue reading...

Make your prices clearer, supermarkets told; ex-banking boss says Coutts-Farage row is a ‘grey area’– business live

Posted on by

CMA will launch a detailed probe into ten product areas including milk, bread, and baby formula to ensure households benefit from lower prices as cost inflation falls

On that subject, the maker of Mr Kipling cakes, Oxo cubes and Bisto gravy granules has said it believes recent food cost inflation has peaked, and it is not planning any more price rises for its food products for the rest of the year.

The news came as owner Premier Foods reported a 21% increase in sales in the first quarter of the financial year, compared with a year earlier.

Evidence to date indicates high food price inflation has not been driven by weak retail competition, but competitive pressure is important as input prices fall

Next phase of CMA probe will examine competition and prices across the supply chain for the product categories identified

Rules on unit pricing should be tightened and retailers must comply to help shoppers compare prices easily

Not everyone is able to benefit fully from strong competition, particularly those who cannot travel to large stores or shop online, and therefore may rely on higher-priced convenience stores.

Now that some input costs are starting to fall, there are some signs that grocery retailers are planning to start rebuilding their profit margins. The CMA will monitor this carefully in the months ahead, to ensure that people benefit from competitive prices as input costs fall.

Continue reading...

UK pay growth hits record 7.3%, despite calls for wage restraint from Bailey and Hunt – business live

Posted on by

Basic pay rises at joint-fastest rate on record, protecting workers from soaring inflation but adding to pressure on Bank of England

Bloomberg agrees that the Bank of England will not be pleased by today’s jobs report, saying:

UK wage growth held at a level that Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said is fueling inflation, maintaining pressure for higher interest rates.

Average weekly earnings excluding bonuses held at 7.3% in the three months through May after figures for the period through April were revised up, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday.

“These figures are another dismal reflection of the Tories’ mismanagement of the economy over the last thirteen years.

“Britain is the only G7 country with a lower employment rate than before the pandemic and real wages have fallen yet again – just as more and more families feel the devastating impact of the Tory mortgage bombshell.

Continue reading...

AstraZeneca considers spinning off its China business

Posted on by

UK’s largest stock-market-listed firm weighs up Hong Kong or Shanghai listing to shield it from geopolitical tensions

AstraZeneca is considering spinning off its business in China and listing it in Hong Kong or Shanghai to shield the multinational drugmaker from geopolitical tensions.

Britain’s largest stock-market-listed company has drawn up the plans in attempt to protect its business from the fallout from increasing tensions between China and the US and its allies.

Continue reading...

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance hits back at SEC lawsuit, saying allegations ‘simply wrong’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed. You can read the full report here: Binance accused of mishandling funds

Here’s a quick summary of what happened today:

The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, the most serious action taken by US regulators against the company.

The SEC said that Binance operated a shell company, Binance.US, to skirt federal regulators, along with diverting customer funds to outside entities.

Binance issued a response to the SEC’s lawsuit saying that it had been complying with regulators’ “questions” and was looking to negotiate a settlement with the agency.

In the aftermath of news of the complaint, the price of Bitcoin fell below $26,000 for the first time since March.

Continue reading...

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator may face jail over alleged insider trading

Posted on by

Prosecutors are reportedly seeking a prison term and a near-£1m fine for ex-Sega developer Yuji Naka

One of Sonic the Hedgehog’s creators is facing possible jail time and a fine of close to £1m for his alleged part in an insider trading scheme, according to a court report by Japanese media.

Yuji Naka, who co-created Sega’s blue-spiked mascot, was arrested in November last year over allegations he traded in stock with privileged information for a significant profit.

Continue reading...

‘Golden shares’ to safeguard sustainability at Tony’s Chocolonely

Posted on by

Chocolate maker appoints ‘mission guardians’ with power to veto changes to ethical strategy

The ethical confectionery company Tony’s Chocolonely has introduced a “golden share” mechanism to prevent shareholders from weakening its sustainability commitments in future.

In an unusual move, the Dutch company, which makes colourfully wrapped chunky chocolate bars stocked in UK supermarkets, has created a new governance structure with golden shares that carry the power to veto changes to its ethical strategy.

Continue reading...

Nvidia gains $185bn in value after predicting AI-driven boom in chip demand

Posted on by

Shares in US tech firm jump by 25% in early trading as quarterly revenue forecast excites investors

The value of the US tech company Nvidia has soared by a quarter after it predicted a boom in demand for its computer chips to meet the needs of artificial intelligence products such as ChatGPT.

Nvidia’s share price rose by 25% in early trading on the back of the announcement, and gave it a market valuation of more than $940bn (£760bn) after stock markets opened on Wall Street on Thursday, up from $755bn on Wednesday evening.

Continue reading...

UK and US shares climb as banks and ministers aim to calm Credit Suisse fears

Posted on by

FTSE 100 rises and European banking shares are up after early jitters over what UBS takeover deal means for bondholders

Stocks climbed on Monday in London and New York after central bankers and politicians sought to soothe jitters triggered by the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse during the weekend.

Central banks in the UK and eurozone issued statements aimed at reassuring investors that – unlike the controversial approach taken by the Swiss authorities in the Credit Suisse deal – their jurisdictions would follow a hierarchy in which equity holders would lose out before bond holders.

Continue reading...

Silicon Valley Bank: global banking shares slide as fallout spreads

Posted on by

Stock markets fail to be reassured by Joe Biden’s intervention, as SVB failure is followed by Signature

Global financial markets have come under severe pressure after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, despite governments on both sides of the Atlantic taking extraordinary measures to maintain confidence in the banking system.

On a day conjuring up memories of the 2008 financial crisis, the US president, Joe Biden, sought to restore calm by insisting the US banking system remained safe, while HSBC stepped in to buy the UK arm of the failed technology lender after a deal brokered by the British government and the Bank of England.

Continue reading...

Silicon Valley Bank fails in largest bank collapse since 2008 crisis

Posted on by

US regulators seize SVB’s assets after a run on the bank, as global institutions monitor situation closely

US regulators rushed to seize the assets of top tech lender Silicon Valley Bank on Friday after a run on the bank, marking the largest failure of such an institution since the height of the financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the nation’s 16th largest bank, failed after depositors – mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies – hurried to withdraw their money this week as anxiety over the bank’s situation spread.

Continue reading...

FTSE 100 hits fresh all-time high as inflation and recession fears ease

Posted on by

Index rises to 7934.30, pushing it above previous record set on 3 February

The UK’s blue-chip shares index has hit a fresh all-time high, only days after a previous record was set last Friday.

The FTSE 100 index rose by almost 1% on Wednesday morning to hit 7934.30 points, surpassing the former high of 7,906.58 points set on 3 February.

Continue reading...

Jo Johnson resigns as director of firm linked to Adani allegations

Posted on by

Former UK PM’s brother quits board of Elara Capital days after it was accused of using funds to manipulate share prices

Jo Johnson, the younger brother of the former prime minister Boris Johnson, has resigned as a director of a London-based investment bank allegedly linked to the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s crisis-ridden business empire.

Lord Johnson, a former Conservative minister who was given a peerage by his brother in 2020, resigned from the board of Elara Capital on Wednesday just days after Elara was accused of using Mauritius-based funds to manipulate the share price of Adani-linked companies and obscure their ultimate ownership.

Continue reading...

Jeremy Hunt tells business leaders energy support is ‘unsustainably expensive’ – as it happened

Posted on by

Business groups fear government will halve energy support after March, while commuters face more disruption on the railway

Households in the UK spent £1.1bn more on groceries in December than a year earlier, taking Christmas spending to a record £12.8bn, but got fewer items in their baskets as rampant inflation hit home.

Many stocked up on alcohol to enjoy while watching the men’s football World Cup, with sales of beer reaching the highest level for the year on the day of England’s quarter-final against France on 10 December.

This was a big drop. Mortgage approvals fell by 11,800 in November, the biggest fall since April 2020 and are at their lowest level since June 2020. This is not the news the housing market was hoping for in the first week of the new year.

Mortgage approvals are the key lead indicator for housing transactions, lower mortgage approvals today means fewer housing transactions tomorrow. A reduction in housing transactions will hurt all those businesses that are involved in the home-moving process, but the absence of forced sellers implies that house prices will not fall as far or as fast as housing transactions.

Continue reading...

RMT chief threatens rail strikes could continue beyond May – business live

Posted on by

Mick Lynch says strikes could carry on into spring unless a reasonable offer is made to the RMT union; transport secretary denies blocking a deal

Huw Howells, head of manufacturing and industrials at Lloyds Bank corporate & institutional banking, said:

Manufacturers start 2023 on somewhat uncertain ground as December shows a fifth month of contraction.

There are silver linings in the supply chain, but unknowns remain for 2023, making forecasting difficult as manufacturers balance demand and supply.

Continue reading...

Wall Street surges and dollar tumbles as US inflation rate drops to 7.7% – business live

Posted on by

Dollar slides and stocks rally in New York on hopes that the Federal Reserve will slow its interest rate rises

The cost of living crisis is driving UK food banks to “breaking point” with almost 1.3m emergency parcels given to people over just six months.

The Trussell Trust charity has said families face record-breaking levels of need, with one in five individuals referred to its network now coming from working households.

Continue reading...

FTSE 100 firms hand billions in dividend payouts to Qatar investors

Posted on by

Critics say everyday UK consumer spending has funnelled billions to controversial World Cup host since 2010

Some of the UK’s largest listed companies including water and energy giants have handed almost £500m to Qatari state-owned investors this year, raising concerns that blue-chip company profits are supporting the controversial World Cup host.

The dividend payouts are the result of the Gulf nation’s investments in a raft of FTSE 100 firms, including Barclays, Shell and utility firm Severn Trent, which have reported strong profits amid a cost of living crisis and the worst UK drought in centuries.

Continue reading...

Meta shares plummet alongside billion-dollar losses in metaverse division

Posted on by

Latest in a series of difficult quarterly earnings reports forced Mark Zuckerberg to defend his virtual reality project

Shares of Meta plummeted on Wednesday after the company announced mixed results in its third-quarter earnings report, alongside billion-dollar losses in the division devoted to its ambitious “metaverse” project.

The Facebook parent company beat analyst predictions for revenue but offered a weak forecast for the upcoming quarter. It posted $27.7bn in revenue for the third quarter, higher than the $27.4bn predicted but 4% less than the same period last year. Its earnings a share, which accounts for expenses, was $1.64 – lower than the $1.89 predicted.

Continue reading...