UK Markets close in 8 hrs 28 mins
RANKING:

London retains global finance crown despite Brexit

London consistently performs strongly across all key dimensions

GMB's Ranvir Singh denies claims of a romance with Strictly Come Dancing partner Giovanni Pernice

Their passionate dance on Saturday wasn't missed by Piers Morgan

Latest stories

  • News Quiz of the Week: How much can you remember?

    Take Yahoo's Quiz of the Week to see how many events of the previous seven days you remember.

  • Chess: Carlsen starts well but slows while little-known Swede impresses

    Chess: Carlsen starts well but slows while little-known Swede impresses. World champion admits to errors after four grinding draws as Nils Grandelius surprises the world No 5, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, at Wijk

  • Chorley's Andy Preece: 'Opportunities just aren't there for black coaches'

    Chorley's Andy Preece: 'Opportunities just aren't there for black coaches'. Chorley face Wolves in the FA Cup tonight, but Preece and his fellow coach Irfan Kawri have bigger goals in mind

  • Study: Over-50s’ mental health declined during lockdowns

    Researchers at the University of Exeter and King’s College London studied data from more than 3,000 people aged over 50.

  • China finds coronavirus cluster in major chicken processing plant

    China reported its first cluster of COVID-19 cases among workers in a meat processing plant, raising fears among local consumers who have until now mainly worried about the safety of imported foods. Ten confirmed cases were found in a factory which slaughters 50 million chickens a year in the northeastern city of Harbin and is owned by Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand, one of the world's top poultry producers. Another 28 workers at the plant and three family members were asymptomatic, officials told a news briefing on Thursday.

  • Have your say: Should people be paid £500 if they test positive for COVID?

    People in England could be given £500 if they test positive for coronavirus in a bid to encourage them to stay at home at follow self-isolation rules.

  • NHL roundup: Lightning remain perfect with OT win

    Brayden Point tipped in a pass from Victor Hedman in overtime as the Tampa Bay Lightning stayed perfect on the season with a 3-2 win over Columbus in the Blue Jackets' home opener on Thursday. Hedman rushed out of his own end, started a give-and-go pass with Steven Stamkos and slid a pass to Point for the game winner in close at 1:56 into the three-on-three extra session. Tampa Bay, which played just its third game after postponements against Dallas (COVID-19 protocol) on Sunday and Tuesday, received goals from Blake Coleman and Mathieu Joseph.

  • Indian junior women's hockey team hold Chile senior women's team to 2-2 draw

    Santiago [Chile], January 22 (ANI): A resilient performance from the Indian junior women's hockey team against the Chile senior women's team in their fourth match of Tour of Chile saw the two sides play out a well-fought 2-2 draw here on Thursday evening.

  • Johnson Signals Third U.K. Lockdown Could Last Into Summer

    (Bloomberg) -- The U.K.’s third coronavirus lockdown looks set to endure as the government warned it’s too early to contemplate easing restrictions.Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel did not repeat previous assurances that the U.K. will be getting back to normal by April, even as the mass vaccination program continued to expand to reach 5 million people.Instead, the government focus shifted to reinforcing compliance with the current restrictions, amid concerns that too many people are still flouting the rules, making it harder to control the spread of the disease.Ministers are considering making 500-pound ($683) payments to everyone who tests positive for Covid, in order to persuade more people with symptoms to come forward for testing, the Guardian newspaper reported Thursday. The policy, which would cost about 2 billion pounds a month, would be designed to overcome people’s fear of losing income if forced to self-isolate by a positive test, the paper said, citing a document dated Jan. 19. Patel announced new police fines of 800 pounds ($1,097) will be imposed on people caught attending house parties. When asked if the public should book summer holidays, she said the advice now is to stay home.“It’s far too early to say or even speculate when we can lift restrictions,” Patel said. “This country remains in the grip of a pandemic.”SummerEarlier, Johnson was asked if the lockdown may need to last into the summer, and did not rule it out, warning only that the new coronavirus strain is “much more contagious” and that the U.K. faces “what is unquestionably going to be a tough few weeks ahead.”Their comments suggest a gloomier outlook than just days ago, when ministers were saying they hope to begin opening up the economy in the first half of March.Johnson is under pressure from members of his Conservative Party who are pushing for him to outline a plan to ease the lockdown as soon as the government meets its target to vaccinate the 15 million most vulnerable people, a goal he wants to achieve by Feb. 15.“Vaccinations will of course bring immunity from Covid, but they must bring immunity from lockdowns and restrictions too,” Tory lawmaker Mark Harper, chairman of the party’s so-called Covid Recovery Group, said in a statement. “This cycle of lockdowns and restrictions causes immense damage.”RulesShops, restaurants and schools are closed, and people have been told to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. The restrictions threaten to push the economy into another recession, after suffering its worst decline in three centuries.Northern Ireland’s devolved government announced an extension to the region’s lockdown to March 5.The latest U.K. data showed 1,290 people died from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 95,829, the highest death toll in Europe. It’s had a succession of records this month of both new cases and daily deaths.Read more: Why the Mutated Coronavirus Variants Are So Worrisome: QuickTakePatel said that while most people are obeying the rules, a few are exhibiting “irresponsible behavior” that poses “a significant threat to public health.”Fines for attending parties will double for every further breach to a maximum penalty of 6,400 pounds, she said. Party organizers already faced 10,000-pound fines.Read more: U.K. Has Now Given Over 5 Million Covid-19 Vaccine DosesThe new enforcement action will apply to any gatherings of more than 15 people discovered by police, as ministers get tougher on those breaking lockdown restrictions.Vin Diwakar, the National Health Service medical director for London, said the U.K. is facing its biggest public health crisis since World War II, and likened breaking the rules by hosting or attending large parties to “switching on a light in the middle of a blackout in the Blitz.”“It doesn’t just put you at risk in your house,” he said. “It puts your whole street and the whole of your community at risk.”(Lifts 500 pound payments for self-isolation to fourth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Lockdown Will Take Toll on Malaysia’s Already Steep Yield Curve

    (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia’s yield curve has raced higher over the past year and is now near the steepest since 2017. The return to a strict lockdown and delays to vaccine distribution mean it may have further to run.The spread between the nation’s three-year and 10-year sovereign debt climbed above 90 basis points last week, up from just 16 basis points before the coronavirus selloff in March. The tighter lockdown announced Jan. 11 and the imposition of a state of emergency the following day, are likely to intensify concern that Malaysia will fall short of its growth and fiscal consolidation targets this year, pushing up longer-term yields.The decision to impose new movement restrictions came after the government forecast daily virus cases could jump to 8,000 over the next few months. On Thursday, it said it would extend the initial two-week period until Feb. 4 as the number of cases remains elevated. The previous lockdown that began last March was eventually extended four times until June.Read more: Malaysia Finance Chief Sees 2021 GDP Growth at Low End of TargetWhile neighbors Indonesia and Singapore have started their inoculation programs, Malaysia is only scheduled to get its first delivery of vaccines in February. Malaysia isn’t a laggard, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin sought to stress last week, seeking to counter concern about the slowness of the country’s progress.The lockdown and vaccine delays are helping to spur bets the central bank will cut interest rates again, adding to the yield-curve steepening pressure. While policy makers stayed on hold when they met this week, their statement cited downside risks and left room open for more easing.“The central bank emphasized that the stance going forward will be ‘determined by new data and information,’ which opens up the possibility of a rate cut in the second quarter if the vaccine rollout isn’t as smooth as envisioned,” said Wellian Wiranto, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore.Another curve-steepening factor can be seen in the reflation trade. Malaysia’s bonds are among the most vulnerable in the region to a rebound in U.S. growth, along with Indonesia’s, according to a Bloomberg study of major emerging-Asian debt markets. This is because of their sensitivity to Treasury yields, which have more than doubled since August.There are some positives for Malaysia’s longer-term bonds too.While the government announced a 15 billion ringgit ($3.7 billion) pandemic relief package on Monday, it is likely to be financed through the reallocation of existing funds rather than through new sources of finance, according to analysts at United Overseas Bank Ltd. and Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd. This should ease concern about greater issuance of long-term bonds.December also saw a 10th straight month of deflation, which should help bolster real yields on ringgit-denominated bonds, which are already among the highest in emerging Asia.Finally, investor demand for the securities also remains relatively steady. A 4-billion-ringgit sale of benchmark 10-year debt on Thursday drew a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.0 times, up from 1.99 and 1.73 at the previous two offerings of that maturity last year.Still, while it’s possible to argue the steepening move may be drawing to a close, uncertainties about the lockdown and the delays in inoculation suggest investors may find it wiser to stay clear of Malaysian longer-maturity bonds until an apparent recovery runway comes into view.What to WatchThe Philippines will release fourth-quarter GDP data on Thursday, after the economy contracted in each of the previous three quartersMalaysia will publish trade figures on Friday following three straight months of export growthThailand will announce balance-of-payments numbers for December on Friday, after the nation registered a current-account deficit the previous month for the first time since May 2019Note: Marcus Wong is an EM macro strategist who writes for Bloomberg. The observations he makes are his own and not intended as investment adviceYou want more news on Southeast Asian bond markets? Click here for stories on the rates market, and here for credit.(Updates to add December inflation data in 10th paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Didi to subsidize trips for vaccinations with $10M fund

    As countries around the world prepare to vaccinate people against the coronavirus, tech companies are rushing to demonstrate their willingness to help fight the deadly virus. China's ride-hailing leader Didi Chuxing is pledging a $10 million fund to support COVID-19 vaccination efforts in 13 markets outside its home country China, the company said on Friday. The multi-purpose fund will be used to reduce fees for passengers going to vaccination appointments and frontline healthcare workers traveling to vaccination locations.

  • ECB Seeks New Gauges by March to Aid Pandemic Stimulus Plans

    (Bloomberg) -- European Central Bank officials have asked staff to propose new ways to measure financial conditions in the euro area, potentially assisting future decisions on how much stimulus the region’s pandemic-hit economy needs.The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee was tasked with making proposals in time for the March policy meeting, according to people familiar with the debate. Some officials want new ways to measure the impact of the ECB’s record-low interest rates and asset purchases on credit conditions, the people said, who asked not to be identified as the discussions were private.An ECB spokesman declined to comment on the discussions.The ECB ramped up its monetary policy support to the economy in December and partly justified the decision with the need to preserve “favorable” financing conditions for businesses and households. As the meaning of that term hasn’t been made clear yet, investors have little insight into what conditions would prompt further action from the Frankfurt-based central bank.President Christine Lagarde was quizzed on Thursday about which indicators officials are considering in their judgment, to which she responded saying she and her colleagues would take a a broad approach.“Our assessment of favorable financing conditions is not driven by any single indicator,” she said. “It is a holistic approach. It takes into account multiple indicators. Bank lending is one, credit conditions is one, corporate yields is one, sovereign bond yields is one, and it is by combining all of those that we try to assess whether financing conditions are favorable or not.”Chief economist Philip Lane oversaw discussions on various options during their meeting this week -- ranging from choosing a more or less loose set of indicators to building fixed indexes, the people said. They also highlighted that -- whatever the conclusion -- sufficient flexibility and room for judgment needed to be maintained. Not all ECB officials agreed on the need for new gauges.“We see a big risk that the adoption of an intermediate target -- i.e. financial conditions -- takes the focus away from the ultimate target -- i.e. inflation,” Greg Fuzesi, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said in a report. “In particular, the current level of financial conditions is clearly not calibrated to boost inflation to the target over a normal timeframe.”The euro edged lower on Friday morning and Italian bonds extended declines, pushing the spread on the nation’s 10-year yields over German debt to the highest since November.During a separate seminar on policy instruments that’s part of the ECB’s strategic review, officials also discussed the future of its asset-purchase plans, and whether elements of the pandemic emergency purchase program should remain and be applied to an older asset-purchase program.Some officials argued combining features of the PEPP and the Asset Purchase Program would allow the ECB to maintain some flexibility on securities buying that proved successful in keeping in check the spreads of Italian, Spanish, Greek and other sovereign debt yields during the pandemic. Others insisted the pandemic program should remain a temporary tool.The seminar discussed other broad concepts, including yield-curve control, as part of continued talks tied to the ECB’s strategy overhaul, rather than proposals to be immediately put to use. The ECB is set to present some of the conclusions from that exercise after the summer.(Updates with comment from economist in eighth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Coronavirus news - live: Lockdown may last into summer, PM warns, as £500 could be paid to people with Covid

    Follow for the latest updates

  • TikTok Has Spoken — & It Wants More Fashion Looks From The Biden Grandchildren

    US President Joe Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden along with their family walk up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House north gate January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC after being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) After sleeping on it, one thing about Joe Biden’s inauguration has become clear: The entire day, frojm the swearing-in ceremony to the celebrations afterward, will go down in fashion history. Kamala Harris and Michelle Obama were visions in purple, Lady Gaga nodded to The Hunger Games with couture Schiaparelli, and Bernie Sanders went viral for his mittens knit by a Vermont schoolteacher. But while those looks — as well as Jill Biden’s blue Markarian coat and dress and J.Lo’s all-white Chanel ‘fit — were certainly deserving of praise, according to TikTok, it was an entirely different and less expected group of women that stole the sartorial show: the President’s kin. @jessicamorton1398 BIDENS GRANDCHILDREN. we stan. #inauguration2021 #joebiden #kamalaharris ♬ original sound – jess “The grandchildren of Biden are elite, straight-up elite. Like, undeserving of the flex of coats,” said TikTok user Jessica Morton in a video that first shows the President’s children Hunter and Ashley Biden, before flashing to his grandchildren, Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, and Hunter Jr. To the sound of “Baby I Got Your Money” by Kelis, TikTok user Jett Williams called out Maisy for wearing purple Jordan 1s with an all-black look. “Y’all lookin at Natalie, but Maisy came prepared,” the caption of the video reads. (Meena Harris’ husband Nikolas Ajagu also wore Jordan 1s to the Inauguration; his were a product of Nike’s collab with Dior.) To the same track, TikTok’s @essiehuh called the Biden family’s fashion “immaculate” during a photo montage showing Maisy’s ensemble, as well as the monochrome looks from Natalie, in a bubblegum pink coat by Lafayette 148 New York which made her the day’s style star, and Finnegan, in a camel look from Brandon Maxwell. Biden’s eldest granddaughter Naomi also wore a matching ensemble, choosing head-to-toe white by Adam Lippes. WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden and their family pose at the Lincoln Memorial where the president participated in a televised ceremony on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Biden was sworn in today as the 46th president. (Photo by Joshua Roberts-Pool/Getty Images) But TikTok’s praise of the Biden family’s style game didn’t stop when the sun went down. Rather, the looks they brought for the Celebrating America TV special that followed were even more celebrated on the platform. For the occasion, both Natalie and Finnegan showed up in sequin corset dresses by Markarian, Alexandra O’Neill’s New York-based label that also designed the First Lady’s blue look from earlier that day. Maisy swapped her Jordans 1s for a different pair of Jordan 1s, which she delightfully wore with a pink-and-white dress by Rodarte. @alicenajj 😲🥵Can’t believe that’s her middle name! #ashleybiden #biden #joebiden #inauguration #usa #fyp #greenscreen ♬ I’m Legit – Nicki Minaj Though the jury is still out on whether Natalie’s pink coat-and-mask duo or Maisy’s sneaker flex won for the daytime events, the evening’s winner was unanimous. Thanks to her decision to ditch the status quo and choose a tux (with an unraveled bow-tie!) for the special rather than a dress, Biden’s daughter Ashley stole the hearts of everyone on TikTok (and the entire internet). Between the internet’s praise for Natalie’s eye for coats and Ashley’s tux, the people have spoken about Biden’s family. And what they said was, “[They] are style icons, period.” Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?Bernie Sander's Inauguration Mittens Went ViralJill Biden’s Inauguration Day Look Is A TributeThe Purple Looks Were A Nod To Shirley Chisholm

  • Government considering closing borders to all foreign travellers to prevent spread of new Covid variants, minister says

    ‘There is concern at the moment about the number of mutant strains that there are,’ says George Eustice

  • Virus crisis leads to closure of thousands of licensed premises – report

    The wave of closures across the hospitality sector in 2020 has been devastating, a study suggests

  • Storm Christoph: Weekend Temperatures Could Drop To -10

    Yellow weather warnings in place after dozens of care home residents were rescued from flooding across northern England.

  • Conservatives lash out at Biden over executive order to protect LGBTQ+ rights

    Conservatives criticised the order with posts under the hashtag BidenErasedWomen, even as rights activists welcomed it

  • BH Macro Limited - Investment Management Agreement

    BH MACRO LIMITED (the “Company”) (a closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey with registration number 46235) LEI: 549300ZOFF0Z2CM87C29

  • Lampard deserves more time at Chelsea, says Arsenal's Arteta

    Lampard is under huge pressure at Chelsea after Tuesday's 2-0 loss to Leicester City saw them slip to eighth. "I have known Frank for a few years and I spent some time with him and I would like the club to support him and give him a chance," Arteta, who like Lampard captained the club he now manages, told British media.