Finance

Stocks are falling in London, as traders rush to sell following last night’s hike in US interest rates. It is the worst performance since Sept 2016. When the markets opened for trading the FTSE 100 shed 119 points (1.6%), which is a new 28-month low of 6646 points. Over in the US, Wall Street stocks slumped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve lifted interest rates, sending major indices to fresh 2018 lows, even as the US central bank signaled it...

Credit Suisse has advised its ultra-wealthy clients to consider moving assets out of the UK due to uncertainty around Brexit. Wealth managers in London have contacted their top customers to warn that a prolonged period of “turmoil” had already caused a rush of clients wanting to “move assets offshore”, the FT has reported. They advised their ultra-wealthy clients that they might want to “accelerate” similar plans too before the rescheduled vote in parliament in early January. Theresa May delayed a vote on her...

Sterling fell to a new 20-month low against the Dollar on Tuesday and it looks like the on-going turmoil is not going to steady the currency for the foreseeable future. Compared to the Euro it was at a three and a half month low. Now with the PM facing a vote of no confidence, the stormy financial weather looks set to continue. Commenting on Sterling’s performance in the wake of the no-confidence announcement, Andy Scott, Associate Director at JCRA, the...

The pound fell to an 18 month low against the dollar after Theresa May called off a vote in Parliament on her Brexit plan. May is now seeking to reschedule the vote on the terms of the U.K.'s exit from the European Union. However, the uncertainty meant the pound fell 0.5% versus the dollar to $1.2664. Commenting on the fall in Sterling following Theresa May’s plans to delay Parliament’s meaningful vote on her Brexit deal, Andy Scott, Associate Director at JCRA,...

Millions of Brits are worried about the cost of Christmas this year, with half revealing they plan to borrow money just to cover expense, a study found. While most will budget just £449 for the festive period – the reality is that we’ll each spend up to a whopping £1,086 on presents, food and drink, hosting friends and family, travel and accommodation. Researchers polling 2,000 individuals found that one in three have considered taking out a credit card, loan or...

The pound is shackled by Brexit drama, is locked in a holding pattern, and nothing is currently priced in, warns the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations. The warning from Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of deVere Group, comes as sterling remains vulnerable to every twist and turn to the political saga over the UK’s exit of the European Union. Mr Green comments: “The pound has been and remains the primary market bellwether since...

The warning came after four gangsters were jailed for 15 years after tricking Chinese students into giving them access to their bank accounts.

The near future of the global economy looks "extremely bleak," according to state of the art statistical analysis of the influential S&P 500 stock market index by nuclear scientists

The Government has accepted the LPC's recommendations for future minimum wage rates. The rates below will apply from 1 April 2019. Responding to today’s Low Pay Commission report on wages, Young Women’s Trust chief executive Dr Carole Easton OBE said:“The Government should go further than adopting the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations and extend the ‘national living wage’ to all workers. Allowing employers to pay young people lower wages for no other reason than their age, as the Government is doing,...