Market Pulse
London open: Stocks rally on oil price recovery, Draghi's remarks
UK stocks advanced on Friday after oil prices recovered and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi hinted at further stimulus.
Europe open: Stocks push higher, fuelled by stimulus hopes
European stocks rose in early trade, extending the previous session’s gains as investors took heart from signs that further monetary stimulus may be on its way.
Recent oil price fall is irrational, says Saudi Aramco chairman
The price of oil will recover in 2016 and its recent drop is ‘irrational’ the head of the Saudi state oil company said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, possibly helping to prop up crude oil futures early on Friday.
China undergoing hard-landing, Fed will not raise rates again, Soros says
China’s economy was already experiencing a ‘hard landing’, billionaire investor George Soros said on Friday in remarks to Bloomberg TV.
HICL Infrastructure ups stake in Sheffield schools project
HICL Infrastructure Company has acquired an incremental investment in the Sheffield Schools private finance initiative project with its joint venture partner, Kajima Partnerships from the Kier Group Pension Scheme for £4. 1m.
Computacenter to meet expectations despite currency headwinds
Computacenter, which provides IT infrastructure services, said it expects to meet its upgraded forecasts for 2015 despite currency headwinds.
London pre-open: All eyes on Davos
The Footsie is being called to start the session up to 31 points higher from Thursday’s closing value of 5,773. 79.
Close Bros confident over full year despite difficult conditions
Close Brothers’ loan book rose 4. 9% in the five months to the end of December to £6bn, reflecting growth across all of the group’s lending businesses.
WPP buys majority stake in German digital agency
WPP’s global digital agency POSSIBLE Worldwide has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Conrad Caine GmbH, a full service German digital agency, for an undisclosed sum.
Friday newspaper round-up: Oil prices, robots, UK auto industry
Saudi Arabia has described the collapse in oil prices to below $30 as “irrational” and expects the market to recover in 2016 even as the country continues to keep production high. Khalid al-Falih, chairman of state oil company Saudi Aramco, told the World Economic Forum in Davos that current prices would not last, with many smaller producers facing financial difficulties. “The market has overshot on the low side and it is inevitable that it will start turning up,” said Mr Falih, predicting higher prices by the end of the year.