China Central Bank Cuts Interest Rates Again, Paddy Power and Betfair Announce Merger
August 26, 2015 6:59 am
An initial US stock rally proved to be short lived during yesterday’s session; the Dow fell 204 points to close at 15666, while the S&P500 fell 25 points to close at 1867. Despite the Central Bank cutting interest rates again today – the fifth time it has done so in nine months – the Shanghai Composite continued its drop, though at -1.27% its fall was significantly shorter than in previous days. Over in Japan the Nikkei rose to close up by 3.2%, its biggest daily gain since October 31st.
The Euro was well above Tuesdays low of £1.1396 trading approximately a cent above around the $1.1565 level. The Dollar hovered around the 120 Yen mark but failed to maintain those levels and was last seen around the 119.35 level. The Aussie Dollar was still near six and a half year lows of £0.7044 hit on Monday.
Brent crude futures last traded at $43.36 per barrel, about a dollar above 6 1/2-year low of $42.23 on Monday. The price of copper, often considered a proxy for global economic activity because of the metal’s extensive use, bounced 2.3 percent to $5,065 per tonne. Gold was trading around the 1133 level.
Within the equity space BHP Billiton’s investment-grade credit ratings might come under pressure in the current financial year, ratings agencies said on Wednesday, after the top global miner posted its weakest profit in a decade but still hiked dividends. The stock has been quite volatile over recent weeks due to the rout in commodity prices and is now trading 1% lower at 1015p per share.
This morning also brought some major merger news for the UK’s gambling industry, with Paddy Power and Betfair announcing plans to come together. Just a couple of months ago Ladbrokes and Coral announced their own plans to merge, and this latest move within the gambling industry would tie together a high-street based company (Paddy Power), with an online-gambling firm (Betfair). Betfair’s stock is currently up by more than 15%, whilst Paddy Power stock is up by around 17%.
An initial US stock rally proved to be short lived during yesterday’s session; the Dow fell 204 points to close at 15666, while the S&P500 fell 25 points to close at 1867. Despite the Central Bank cutting interest rates again today – the fifth time it has done so in nine months – the Shanghai Composite continued its drop, though at -1.27% its fall was significantly shorter than in previous days. Over in Japan the Nikkei rose to close up by 3.2%, its biggest daily gain since October 31st.
The Euro was well above Tuesdays low of £1.1396 trading approximately a cent above around the $1.1565 level. The Dollar hovered around the 120 Yen mark but failed to maintain those levels and was last seen around the 119.35 level. The Aussie Dollar was still near six and a half year lows of £0.7044 hit on Monday.
Brent crude futures last traded at $43.36 per barrel, about a dollar above 6 1/2-year low of $42.23 on Monday. The price of copper, often considered a proxy for global economic activity because of the metal’s extensive use, bounced 2.3 percent to $5,065 per tonne. Gold was trading around the 1133 level.
Within the equity space BHP Billiton’s investment-grade credit ratings might come under pressure in the current financial year, ratings agencies said on Wednesday, after the top global miner posted its weakest profit in a decade but still hiked dividends. The stock has been quite volatile over recent weeks due to the rout in commodity prices and is now trading 1% lower at 1015p per share.
This morning also brought some major merger news for the UK’s gambling industry, with Paddy Power and Betfair announcing plans to come together. Just a couple of months ago Ladbrokes and Coral announced their own plans to merge, and this latest move within the gambling industry would tie together a high-street based company (Paddy Power), with an online-gambling firm (Betfair). Betfair’s stock is currently up by more than 15%, whilst Paddy Power stock is up by around 17%.
Related Posts: