S&P 500 Index rises to record close boosted by corporate earnings beating expectations July 20, 2015 Wall Street was up this afternoon, with Standard & Poor’s 500 Index beating its all-time high close, rising 0.2 per cent to close at 2,130.85. These buoyant figures beat out the previous record close set two months ago, and are boosted by corporate results beating analysts’ forecasts. Commodities were down, with gold prices plunging to [...]
Maurice Obstfeld replaces Olivier Blanchard as International Monetary Fund’s new chief economist July 20, 2015 Maurice Obstfeld replaces Olivier Blanchard as International Monetary Fund’s new chief economist The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced the successor to retiring chief economist Olivier Blanchard. Its new chief economist will be Maurice Obstfeld, taking over the role as director of the IMF’s research department in September. IMF managing director Christine Lagarde commented that [...]
Queue jump app Charity Wait lets you skip the queue if you donate to charity July 20, 2015 Waiting in a never-ending queue for a popular restaurant, it might feel tempting to slip the waiter some cash in return for a table. But queuing has just got a little smarter. Now you can queue-jump guilt-free, with an app that lets you donate money to a chosen charity – in exchange for being seated [...]
Apple earnings: Here’s what to expect after the Apple Watch launch and record iPhone 6 sales in third quarter results July 20, 2015 The world’s most valuable company looks set for another strong quarter, as blockbuster iPhone 6 sales, particularly in China, continue to boost its growth. Apple smashed analysts’ expectations last quarter, with its best second quarter results ever. Sales reaching $58bn and a net profit of $13.6bn caused the tech giant’s share price to soar 38 [...]
Eurozone investor sentiment collapses as investors flock to “safe havens” of gold and UK government bonds July 19, 2015 Eurozone shares have had the largest annual decline in sentiment on record, dropping 19 percentage points in just a month. New figures from Lloyds show investors’ sentiment for Eurozone shares have crashed to -48 per cent, down 30 percentage points over the past year. Ashish Misra, head of portfolio specialists at Lloyds, said the drop [...]
Capita: UK dividend payments hit highest point since 2008 as Lloyds and HSBC return to financial health July 19, 2015 Dividends paid out by UK companies have soared to their highest level since 2008, buoyed by banks hiking their payouts and a lower pound. A total of £29.2bn was paid out during the second quarter, shows data collected by Capita Asset Services, the highest second quarter on record. “To say income investors had a bumper [...]
Royal Dutch Shell expects to save “billions” through BG Group deal July 19, 2015 Royal Dutch Shell has told investors that the massive £55bn takeover of BG Group will produce “billions” in savings. Projected savings from cost reductions verifiable under takeover rules, such as merging headquarters, come to about £1bn, but the company has said that savings are actually likely to be a “multiple” of this, because of “value [...]
Your smartphone knows when you’re depressed – tracking GPS and usage data can predict depression with 87 per cent accuracy July 19, 2015 You may be able to fake a smile, but you can’t hide your true feelings from your mobile phone. It may feel as though our phones know everything about us. Now it seems they can even tell when we’re feeling blue, according to a new study from Northwestern University. Researchers exploring whether a person’s mobile [...]
Bosley explosion: Four missing after wood works blast named by police July 19, 2015 The four people missing after an explosion at Bosley Mills on Friday have been named by police. Dorothy Bailey, 62, Derek Moore, 62, Jason Shingler, 38, and William Barks, 51, have not been seen since the explosion on Friday morning, when two blasts shook the Wood Flour Mills wood works in Bosley, Cheshire. 35 people [...]
Newly elected Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron accused of being “illiberal” on gay rights July 19, 2015 Newly elected Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has come under fire after repeatedly avoiding answering whether he considers gay sex to be a sin. In a live TV interview with Channel 4 news on Friday night, Farron avoided giving a direct answer to the question three times, instead saying that understanding Christianity is “to understand [...]
