Author: LoveWorld UK

London-listed shares jumped on Wednesday as record gold prices powered miners of the commodity, while insurer Hastings Group soared after agreeing to a $2.2 billion buyout offer. A 17.8% surge for the motor insurer (HSTG.L) drove the FTSE 250 .FTMC up 1%. Almost all the mid-cap sub-indexes were trading higher, led by industrials, consumer discretionary and materials stocks. The export-laden FTSE 100 .FTSE also gained 1%, with investors watching signs of progress in a U.S. fiscal relief bill. White House negotiators have vowed to work “around the clock” to reach a spending deal by the end of the week. “There is optimism that we’ll…

South Africa’s diamond industry, famed for sales the world over and supplying gems for the British crown jewels, is looking closer to home to revive its fortunes following the coronavirus slump. Even before the new virus triggered the COVID-19 pandemic, diamond prices and demand were weak. Global economic weakness has exaggerated that and Anglo American’s (AAL.L) De Beers unit last week reported a plunge in earnings. Some of the many small players who polish the rough diamonds that De Beers and other miners unearth say they have been pleasantly surprised by the extent of lockdown jewellery-buying as enforced proximity kindled…

Lebanese rescue workers dug through rubble on Wednesday looking for survivors after a massive warehouse explosion sent a devastating blast wave across Beirut, killing at least 100 people and injuring nearly 4,000. Officials said the toll was expected to rise after the blast at port warehouses that stored highly explosive material. The explosion was the most powerful ever to rip through Beirut, a city still scarred by civil war three decades ago and reeling from an economic meltdown and a surge in coronavirus infections. President Michel Aoun said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and bombs, had been…

Bank of Ireland’s (BIRG.I) shares rose by 10% on Wednesday as some signs of recovery from the coronavirus crisis outweighed a first-half pre-tax loss of 669 million euros (603.79 million pounds). Ireland’s largest bank by assets put aside 937 million euros mainly to cover likely losses from 105,000 loan repayment breaks for customers hit by the crisis, making up the bulk of a “prudent” 1.1-1.3 billion euro charge expected during 2020. Davy Stockbrokers analysts said that although the impairments were much higher than forecast they appeared to be front-loaded and pointed to a 2020 income outlook that was better than…

British new car registrations rose by an annual 11.3% in July, the only increase so far this year as showrooms across the whole of the United Kingdom were open for their first full month since lockdown measures eased. The rise followed other signs of a gradual recovery in Britain’s economy after its historic 25% contraction in March and April. House prices and manufacturing have risen although jobs cuts are mounting in the retail sector. Dealerships reopened their doors to customers on June 1 in England, June 8 in Northern Ireland, June 22 in Wales and June 29 in Scotland after…

Investors in property funds should wait up to six months before they can get their money back to avoid a stampede for the exit leading to widespread suspensions in rocky markets, Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority proposed on Monday. UK-regulated open-ended property funds offer daily redemptions to entice investors, but nearly all those targeted by Monday’s proposal are suspended following market volatility in March due to the pandemic, trapping more than $7.5 billion (5.7 billion pounds) in assets. Policymakers have warned that property funds should not be viewed like a bank account that can be tapped at will, given they contain…

Nearly five months after the sport was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Donna Vekic became the first player to win a main draw match in the COVID-19 era, beating Arantxa Rus 6-1 6-2 in the first round of the Palermo Ladies Open on Monday. The claycourt event in Sicily marked the return of the WTA Tour which last held a tournament in March as the sport looks to limp back to a semblance of normality, albeit with strict guidelines in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Vekic’s victory was achieved in 75 minutes but just a…

Alphabet Inc’s Google Cloud unit is poised for a surge in fourth-quarter sales from U.S. retailers, as they brace for record online shopping during the holidays because of COVID-19 lockdowns. Cloud technology, used to host websites and store data, is a key part of many retailers’ e-commerce operations. As fees are often pegged to site traffic, a jump in activity will drive up revenue for the unit. Carrie Tharp, vice president of retail and consumer at Google Cloud, told Reuters that her team had this year tossed out its linear growth model to predict how many servers it will need…

BP (BP.L) cut its dividend for the first time in a decade after a record $6.7 billion second quarter loss when the coronavirus crisis hammered fuel demand and it sought to win over investors by speeding up its reinvention as a lower carbon company. Its shares rose 6% in early trading on Tuesday. All major oil companies suffered in the second quarter as lockdowns to contain the new coronavirus limited travel and oil prices LCOc1 fell to their lowest in two decades. Several, including Royal Dutch Shell and Norway’s Equinor, cut their dividend in response. Looney, who took the helm…

Banks’ lending to businesses under a government-backed COVID-19 loan scheme has exceeded 50 billion pounds ($65 billion), while the cost of supporting furloughed workers has increased to 33.8 billion pounds, weekly finance ministry figures showed. Lending across the government’s three main programmes for small, medium and large businesses rose to a total 50.69 billion pounds as of Aug. 2, up from 49.43 billion pounds the week before. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has supported 9.6 million jobs and is the costliest single government COVID relief measure, has risen to 33.8 billion pounds from 31.7 billion pounds a week earlier.