^FTSE - FTSE 100
| Previous Close | 6,240.36 |
| Open | 6,240.36 |
| Volume | 0 |
| Day's Range | 6,137.09 - 6,262.71 |
| 52 Week Range | 4,898.80 - 7,727.50 |
| Avg. Volume | 1,059,359,177 |
- Barrons.com
European Stocks Fall as U.S. Takes a Holiday Amid Climbing Covid-19 Cases
European stocks were set to break a four-session win streak on Friday, with upbeat economic data overshadowed by persistent worries about rising virus cases in the U.S.
- MarketWatch
London stocks struggle while U.S. markets are closed for July 4 holiday
London stocks fell on Friday, with the index set to underperform its European rivals for the week, as weak oil prices weighed on major energy names, and alongside concerns that next week’s summer statement from the U.K. Chancellor will lack big tax cuts.
- MarketWatch
European stocks lifted by data, but U.S. holiday keeps a lid on action
European stocks were set to break a four-session win streak on Friday, with upbeat economic data overshadowed by persistent worries about rising virus cases in the U.S. That is as a holiday Stateside was set to keep a lid on trading volumes.
- Financial Times
UK dividends: shaky foundations
On Friday property group Land Securities, having reopened its retail properties, revealed plans to reinstate dividend payments in November. It is one of about half the FTSE 100 businesses that have either cancelled, reduced or suspended payouts this year. It is little surprise that dividend payers more exposed to economic gyrations have cut harder.
- MarketWatch
European stocks surge as U.S. economy adds 4.8 million jobs in June
European stocks surged on Thursday as the U.S. economy regained 4.8 million jobs in June, adding to the global optimism engulfing investors.
- TheStreet.com
Dow Futures Surge On June Jobs Blowout, Coronavirus Vaccine Hopes
The BLS estimated that 4.8 million Americans returned to work last month, as businesses and factories continue to re-open following months of coronavirus shutdowns, adding to further evidence of a broad-based economic recovery.
- MarketWatch
Nasdaq sets record close, Dow ends lower to kick off July after Fed vows to guide markets on rates path
The Dow finished lower Wednesday, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq was vaulted to a fresh record close, giving the year’s second half a mixed start as investors focused on signs of economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis and a new Fed promise for clarity on the path of rates.
- MarketWatch
FTSE struggles for gains after another dire warning over the economy
London stocks carved out modest gains on Wednesday, as the British Chambers of Commerce called for “swift, substantial and immediate action," to deal with a historic setback revealed in its quarterly economic survey.
- Financial Times
US stocks edge higher after strong second-quarter rally
US stocks rose on the first day of the third quarter as bullish investors took heart from cheering economic data and news of a potential coronavirus vaccine. The S&P 500 index rose 0.5 per cent in New York on Wednesday, after the ADP employment report showed US private payrolls rose by 2.37m in June following a sharp upward revision to the previous month’s data. FedEx, seen as an economic bellwether, led gainers, up 11.7 per cent after benefiting from a boom in online shopping and home deliveries.
- Financial Times
Company boards pressed to improve ethnic minority representation
British boardrooms will be asked to recruit at least one person from an ethnic minority background in the next three years by an influential corporate lobby group that wants to harness the momentum of anti-racist protests to push for greater executive diversity. The 30% Club, which was formed a decade ago to push for more women in board positions across the FTSE, will on Wednesday announce a series of targets for the UK for the next three years centred on bringing greater ethnic diversity to top management positions.
- Investing.com
Stocks - Europe Mixed; Sainsbury's Sees Strong Sales Growth
European stock markets traded mostly higher Wednesday, as some better-than-expected economic data indicated that the economic recovery in Europe is on track, despite lingering concerns about the Covid-19 outbreak both at home and, more acutely, in the U.S. It was cautious about the outlook for the rest of the year, but said it had repaid 500 million pounds that it had drawn down from a credit facility as a precautionary measure at the start of the outbreak.
- MarketWatch
European stocks climb to end their best quarter since 2015
European stocks and U.S. futures edged lower on Tuesday, as the Stoxx 600 index headed for its best quarter since 2015.
- TheStreet.com
Dow Futures Slip Lower, Capping Strongest Quarter Since 2009; Powell/Mnuchin Testimony In Focus
Wall Street is set to book its strongest quarterly gains since the global financial crisis Tuesday, with tech stocks driving the Nasdaq to a near 30% gain and Fed and Congressional stimulus lifting both the Dow and the S&P; to double-digit percentage gains.
- Reuters
Standard Life Aberdeen picks ex-Citi executive as CEO
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) <SLA.L> Chief Executive Keith Skeoch will step down after five years at the helm and former Citi executive Stephen Bird will replace him, the British asset manager said on Tuesday. The announcement marks the end of a 14-year career as an SLA director for Skeoch, during which he oversaw the 2017 merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management to create one of Britain's biggest fund managers.
- Financial Times
No time for a mid-year celebration
The first half of an already tumultuous year — and one that has packed in some of the greatest hits from previous episodes of financial turbulence — is closing. For investors there is really no half-time break, let alone a Super Bowl style show such as this epic performance by Prince from a rain-swept Miami in 2007. Instead, investors are left assessing or fretting about the extent of the coming recovery in economic activity and corporate profits.
- Yahoo Finance Video
Boris Johnson looks to boost infrastructure in UK economic recovery
Boris Johnson focuses on infrastructure spending in an effort to revitalize the UK economy. Yahoo Finance’s Tom Belger discusses.
- MarketWatch
FTSE 100 jumps 1.3% amid promises of stimulus from U.K. Prime Minister Johnson
U.K. stocks shake off early losses Monday to turn sharply higher, with investors pinning gains to hopes for possible fiscal stimulus to help an economy pounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. The commodity-weighted index also was supported by gains from BP PLC after the energy giant announced plans to sell its petrochemicals unit.
- MarketWatch
European equities fight for gains amid continued U.S. virus concerns
European stocks struggled for direction as a new week began on Monday, as investors continued to focus on rising coronavirus infection rates in the U.S. and as global cases surged past 10 million.
- TheStreet.com
Dow Futures Gain on Boeing Strength; Global Stocks Weaken As Coronavirus Infections Top 10 Million
U.S. investors face a busy holiday-shortened week this week with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell testifying before Congress Tuesday and the June jobs report slated for Thursday.
- Financial Times
Hydro plants first line of defence in battle to keep Britain’s lights on
In the Welsh and Scottish mountains, a small number of hydro power stations, some of them more than half a century old, have become a first line of defence in the battle to keep electricity flowing around Britain during the coronavirus crisis. Britain’s four “pumped storage” hydro power stations, often referred to as “green batteries”, have played a critical role in helping utility company National Grid address exceptional conditions in the energy system since lockdown. The closure of businesses pushed demand for electricity down by 20 per cent on average in April and May while unusual weather meant the grid was simultaneously flooded with record solar generation and strong output from wind farms.
- Financial Times
UK companies that took government support top pay ratios
The chief executives of FTSE 100 companies that have tapped government support schemes through the coronavirus crisis received higher than average multiples of staff pay, according to new research. A report by the High Pay Centre showed that the 11 FTSE 100 companies found to have used the schemes paid their chief executives an average of 80 times more than their median employee and 109 times more than their lowest-paid staff. Building materials group, CRH, was identified by the High Pay Centre as the FTSE 100 company that used a government support scheme with the highest pay differential — its chief executive was paid 207 times as much as the median employee salary.
- Financial Times
Bookmakers hail return of sports fixtures across Europe
Bookmakers heaved a sigh of relief last week as betting shops reopened in the UK and sports fixtures started to return across Europe after the pandemic-enforced break — even if they were behind closed doors with simulated cheers. Sports betting is crucial for gambling companies. According to the European Gaming and Betting Association, two-fifths of its members annual gross gaming revenue, about €2.4bn each year, is made from sports wagers.
- Barrons.com
The Dow Dropped 730 Points as Bank Stocks Slide, Virus Cases Rise
Weaker-than-expected economic data, rising coronavirus cases, and an unfavorable result for banks in Thursday’s Federal Reserve stress tests knocked the market lower on Friday.
- Reuters
UK homebuilder Berkeley co-founder and chairman dies at 72
Pidgley, 72, helped set up the FTSE 100 company in 1976 and became Berkeley's chairman over a decade ago. Deputy Chairman Barker joined the company as a non-executive director in 2012 after having worked with one of the "Big Four" accounting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers for more than 30 years. Shares of Berkeley, which operates mainly in London, Birmingham and the South of England, closed down 3.8% at 4,105 pence on Friday.
- MarketWatch
Stimulus hints help drive a rally for U.K. stocks
Hopes for more stimulus were a big driver behind gains for London stocks on Friday, allowing investors to ignore a record number of COVID-19 outbreaks across several U.S. states. Shares of Tesco shook off earlier losses to trade higher after results.
