By William Schomberg and David Lawder | BARI, Italy BARI, Italy Finance chiefs from some of the world’s richest nations began a two-day meeting in Italy on Friday, with Europe, Japan and Canada hoping to come away with a clearer picture of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans on important policies. Inequality, international tax rules, cyber security and blocking the funding of terrorism are the focus of the […]
Profits take a hit at Entertainment One. FT Opening Quote is your early Square Mile briefing. You can sign up for the full newsletter here. Efforts to strengthen Entertainment One’s film division will hit its full-year profits by almost £50m, the company announced today, after it renegotiated one of its main distribution agreements, writes FastFT. Entertainment One is best known for producing television programmes such as Peppa […]
BT’s own goals cost the boss dearly. FT Opening Quote, with commentary by Matthew Vincent, is your early Square Mile briefing. You can sign up for the full newsletter here. Two months ago, all Paris St Germain had to do to reach the quarter finals of the European Champions League was not concede three goals in the final 2 minutes of their match against Barcelona. Barcelona’s ensuing […]
11 May 2017 The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG) announced that it achieved a total operating income of US$ 249 million during the first quarter of 2017 and the total financing and investments recorded slight increases at the end of March 2017 compared to end of December 2016. Al Baraka Banking Group has continued during the first quarter of 2017, […]
Retailers were among Wednesday’s biggest gainers, with Next and AB Foods both in demand on broker upgrades. Next climbed 1.7 per cent to £44.01 on the back of an Investec upgrade to “buy”. Investors have been too preoccupied by Next’s short-term trading and have missed its active estate management, Investec said. Rather than focus on refurbishments, Next has been opening and closing stores to adapt to the […]
Air Arabia has renewed plans that were put on hold after a dip in demand to expand its fleet, with the biggest discount carrier in the Gulf and North Africa encouraged by rebounding sales at its Moroccan unit. The airline, an Airbus SE A320 operator, could reach a decision on new jets as early as this year or into 2018, Chief Executive Officer Adel Ali said in […]
BEIJING China said on Wednesday it had complained to the United States after a U.S. Congressional delegation visited exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in India this week. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi flew with a bipartisan delegation to the Himalayan hill town where the 81-year-old Buddhist leader is based, seeking to draw world attention to human rights in Tibet as President Donald […]
Transport company National Express, stung this week over its CEO’s bonus, said today that currency shifts have helped it produce a near 16 per cent rise in revenues. The bus, coach and rail company, with operations in the UK, Europe and the US, said today that revenues so far this year are up by 5.4 per cent on a constant currency basis, but that translates to a […]
Back to normal, for now… South African stocks hit an 11-month high on Tuesday, as markets calm a month after the surprise ousting of the country’s finance minister, but analysts warned that political worries could rear their heads again soon. The FTSE/JSE All-Share index climbed 1 per cent today, hitting a high of 54,255, its highest level since June 2016. Bank stocks, which were particularly badly hit […]
Bitcoin is now up for 16 of the last 18 days, soaring over 50% in the last month and up almost 90% in 2017 – making its the year’s best performing currency. There appears to be no specitic catalyst for today’s move as the surge in Japanese interest (as we detailed here) and news that Russia is considering, like Japan just did, to allow cryptocurrencies as a […]
On Monday, we brought you the story of TokenCard, the Ethereum-based venture set to revolutionise the world of payments by bringing crypto folk the, errr, power of the Visa network. Yes, you’re wondering, what’s so special about that? Doesn’t every above-board payment facilitator offer Visa access? You’re right. They do. And a card processed by Visa is hardly a breakthrough innovation worth shouting about here in the […]
By Douglas Busvine | DHARAMSALA, India DHARAMSALA, India A U.S. Congressional delegation visited the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in India on Tuesday, seeking to draw world attention to human rights in Tibet as President Donald Trump eyes warmer ties with China. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi flew with a bipartisan delegation to the Himalayan hill town where the 81-year-old Buddhist leader is based, on a trip […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stock markets edged down on Tuesday following a flat close on Wall Street, as investors searched for the next catalyst following France’s presidential election, while oil inched higher on expectations OPEC supply cuts will be extended. Financial spreadbetters expect Britain’s FTSE 100 .FTSE, Germany’s DAX .GDAXI and France’s CAC 40 .FCHI to all open flat. The South Korean stock market, […]
Tuesday 02:50 BST Overview Stocks around Asia were mostly lower following a flat lead from Wall Street and as momentum after the French presidential election faded. Hot topic Emmanuel Macron, the independent centrist, was elected France’s president in the country’s election at the weekend, beating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Although Mr Macron’s victory was a cause for relief in markets and is seen as a broad […]
By Nigel Stephenson | LONDON LONDON European stocks and the euro pulled back on Monday from highs touched after Emmanuel Macron’s emphatic but well-flagged victory in France’s presidential election as investors’ focus shifted from politics to monetary policy. With the political risks that have dominated European markets in a year packed with elections seen receding, the European Central Bank is expected to have more room to tighten […]
Emmanuel Macron’s triumph in the French presidential election nudged the euro to a six-month high against the dollar, with analysts and investors predicting that the result could spur a return of money to the eurozone. The euro inched up 0.1 per cent to $1.1021 in the hours after it became clear the centrist had beaten Marine Le Pen, before dipping 0.1 per cent to $1.0977 as Asian trading started. […]
The Australian dollar was on the back foot following data showing the biggest yearly drop in building approvals in six months. Approvals were down 19.9 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March, tumbling from a 4.9 per cent fall in February, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This was well below expectations among economists for a 10 per cent fall, […]
Sign up to receive FirstFT by email here Emmanuel Macron, an independent centrist, won an emphatic victory in France’s presidential run-off against Marine Le Pen, the far-right Front National leader, on Sunday, taking 65.1 per cent of the vote, according to estimates. Mr Macron’s victory is a phenomenal achievement for the 39-year-old former Rothschild banker, who has never before held elected office and whose political movement En Marche! was […]
LONDON The euro topped $1.10 for the first time since the U.S. elections on Sunday and climbed to a one-year high against the safe-haven yen on relief that Emmanuel Macron had beaten the far-right Marine Le Pen to clinch the French presidency. Early projections showed the market-friendly, pro-EU candidate Macron had been voted in with about 65 percent of the vote, comfortably defeating Le Pen, a nationalist […]
Live Feed from France 24: After an extraordinary election campaign full of twists and turns, Emmanuel Macron won dramatic victory over Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election, taking 65% of the vote, with Le Pen collecting roughly 35%, according to early estimate from four separate French pollsters. Macron, 39, will become the youngest president of France’s Fifth Republic. As BBG notes, the firms sampled real […]
The Federal Reserve risks political interference and losing its independence if it maintains a large balance sheet in the longer term, former Fed officials have claimed, as debate over the central bank’s strategy for unwinding its interventions in financial markets intensifies. Kevin Warsh, a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and former Fed governor, said permanently holding vast quantities of assets like treasuries was […]
By Ingrid Melander | PARIS PARIS After a tumultuous election campaign filled with scandal and surprises, the French public began to vote on Sunday on whether a pro-European Union centrist or an anti-EU, anti-immigration far-rightist will lead them for the next five years. Opinion polls indicate they will pick Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old ex-economy minister who wants to bridge the left-right divide, resisting an anti-establishment tide that […]
By Jonathan Cable | LONDON LONDON The fate of the European Union and the euro could hang on the outcome of Sunday’s French presidential election. The expected victory of centrist, pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron would be taken by markets as a sign that political risk in Europe is receding; a surprise win for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen would raise the risk that the euro zone’s number […]
DUBAI // Social media has changed the face of diplomacy and governments must adapt to their loss of control over information, a US state department official says. Richard Buangan, managing director for international media engagement, said times had changed with the public’s growing access to information and news worldwide. “In diplomacy and media, a conversation can be the most powerful tool we have,” Mr Buangan said. “Conversations […]
