News

Investors warned to expect increased volatility as US pulls out of Iran deal

Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the nuclear deal with Iran had swift repercussions on the global markets this morning, as the oil price surged to new post-2014 highs.

The announcement from the US president, who described the deal as “decaying and rotten” was roundly condemned by the remaining signatories to the 2015 deal, with Britain, France and Germany vowing to strive to salvage some aspects of the agreement with fellow parties China, Russia and Iran itself. The announcement left the US looking increasingly isolated, with only Israel and Saudi Arabia declaring their support for America’s withdrawal.

Trump said yesterday America will be imposing “powerful” sanctions with all but immediate effect. The price of a barrel of crude oil rose 1.10% overnight to reach 70.67 WTI.

Tom Elliott, international investment strategist at deVere Group said today investors should expect an increase in market volatility and advises they ensure that they are ...

Google in talks to buy Nokia's in-flight broadband business

Google is in talks to acquire Nokia’s airplane broadband business as the Alphabet Inc unit seeks to tap into new services and reach more users by offering in-flight high-speed internet, people familiar with the matter said.

Nokia’s technology could help Google offer a faster alternative to existing Wi-Fi on airplanes, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Talks are advanced and an agreement may be reached soon, the people said.

A final decision hasn’t been made and the companies could still decide against a deal, the people said. Representatives for Alphabet and Nokia declined to comment.

Nokia’s LTE A2G cellular-based system also creates a direct link ...

U.S. Stocks Surge, but Dow Industrials and S&P 500 Fall for the Quarter

Investors show willingness to buy stocks that have fallen sharply.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 250 points Thursday as investors sought to take advantage of depressed valuations among some of the market’s most sought-after technology stocks.

Investors bought up shares of companies including Facebook, Google parent Alphabet, Nvidia and Amazon.com, among others, on the final trading day of the quarter ahead of the Good Friday holiday.

The stock index of the largest European enterprises Stoxx Europe 600 grew by 0.3%, in particular thanks to the automobile sector. US indices S & P 500 and Nasdaq increased by 0.1% and 0.4% respectively.

According to forecasts, taking into account the current trends, Stoxx Europe 600 will fall by 5% at the end of the quarter, Nikkei - by 7.1%. The indices of Nasdaq, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the Italian FTSE MIB will show slight growth in the quarter.

After a dizzying growth in ...

Facebook's favourability rating dropped twice as much as other tech companies

The SurveyMonkey poll found that Facebook's favourability rating dropped twice as much as other technology companies.

Facebook's favourability rating fell 28 points, which was a far bigger drop than Amazon which fell 13 points, and Google which fell 12 points.

Most technology companies saw drops in their favourability ratings, but Uber, Tesla, and Lyft all increased their ratings.

The polling last week came in the middle of Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which it was discovered that the British political consulting company had obtained data on 50 million Facebook users.

/Source: Business Insider/

Amazon is now second most valuable company in the US

Amazon.com became the second most valuable publicly listed US company, surpassing Google parent Alphabet Inc for the first time.

Amazon shares finished up 2.69 percent at $1,586.51, for a market capitalization of $768 billion, underscoring Wall Street's confidence in its relentless expansion into cloud computing, groceries and other new businesses.

Alphabet lost 0.39 percent, trimming its stock market value to $762 billion, as Wall Street fretted about regulatory fallout following revelations that a political consulting firm had improperly obtained personal data on 50 million Facebook Inc users.

Amazon's stock has surged 81 percent over the past year, through Monday, bolstered by scorchingly fast revenue growth as more shopping moves online and businesses shift their computing operations to the cloud, where Amazon Web Services leads the market.

Apple's market cap would reach $1 trillion around a month later if its stock price continued to rise at the 25 percent pace seen over the past year.

Alphabet's ...

Global political tensions flatten yields, roil stocks

The excitement on Wall Street sparked widespread concern.

In addition to the sudden dismissal of Secretary of State Tillerson, with which the markets were trying to cope, the excitement doubled after the emergence of the probability of a trade war between the US and China.

Negative momentum somewhat faded in Europe, and the European stock index rose 0.3% after falling by 1% on Tuesday.

German state 10-year bond yields approached the monthly lows and are at 20 basis points of their ...

Uber’s self-driving trucks are now delivering freight in Arizona

This method of delivery began to be used in Arizona, where Uber also tests unmanned taxis.

Trucks overpass most of the way on highways, and people are only involved in short-term transportation when taking goods out at the beginning of the journey and delivering to a specific destination at the end of the route.

On the way a safety driver follows the truck remotely, and the live driver only takes the freight outside the city from the start point. Then a trailer with the load joins the self-driven, which overcomes the main part of the road. Then in a certain place it moves out of the highway where the cargo is taken by another live driver and takes directly to the destination address.

Uber planned to launch such a long-distance delivery service from the acquisition in 2016 of a start-up for self-driven trucks Otto for $650 million.

Source: The Verge

China will open the manufacturing sector for foreign companies

China will open doors wider to foreign investors this year by completely opening up its general manufacturing sector and expand access to a number of other sectors, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said today, Xinhua reported.

Foreign investors will have wider access to sectors like telecommunications, medical services, education, elderly care and new energy vehicles, said Li when delivering a government work report to the first session of the 13th National People's Congress.

"We will make market entry standards the same for both Chinese and foreign banks," he said.

Li added that the Chinese government will also spread the use of practices developed in existing free trade zones all over the country, and explore opening free trade ports.

Source: The Standart

Germany Officially Recognized Bitcoin as a Legal Tender

The German Federal Ministry of Finances considers Bitcoin as tax-exempt so long as it is used as a means of payment, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reported Thursday, March 1.

The German federal authority published its decision to not subject purchases with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency to taxes on Feb. 27, citing the European Court’s 2015 decision, which set a precedent for all members of the European Union.

The Court justified its taxing decision by stating that it considers cryptocurrency as a legal means of payment:

“So-called virtual currencies (cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin) are considered equal to the legal means of payment, as long as these so-called virtual currencies have been accepted as alternative and contractual means of payment by the parties involved in the transaction and have no other purpose than being used as a means of payment.”

According to the decision, a conversion from crypto to fiat or vice versa is classified as “other ...

PSA Peugeot Citroen drives to record profits in 2017

French carmaker PSA Group says it made record profits and sales last year despite the costs of buying long-struggling Opel.

PSA, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, reported Thursday an 11.5 percent rise in net income to 1.9 billion euros ($2.3 billion). Sales grew over 20 percent to 65.2 billion euros, partly thanks to the addition of Opel.

CEO Carlos Tavares gave an upbeat forecast for the year and said the group will keep focusing on turning Opel around after years of losses. PSA bought General Motors' Germany-based Opel and Britain-based Vauxhall brands last year.

PSA is also taking advantage of new French labor rules championed by President Emmanuel Macron, planning 1,300 voluntary job cuts this year and restructuring its workforce to boost production of electric and autonomous vehicles.

PSA said it will pay an increased dividend of 0.53 euros per share for 2017, compared with 0.48 euros for 2016. 

Source: Business Insider UK