Market Pulse
Sunday newspaper round-up: Sterling, PMIs, May's Brexit talks, GSK, Sports Direct
Hedge funds and other speculators have cranked up bets against the pound to their highest-ever level as sterling rises close to a three-week high. Short positions on the pound worth $7. 8bn (£5. 9bn) were racked up last week — the largest ever, according to US data used by the Sunday Times, while analysts now expect sterling to finish the year at a new 31-year low of $1. 27, bringing a potential payday for the funds betting big on a renewed decline.
Sunday share tips: Gym Group, Concepta
Buy shares in Gym Group, said the Sunday Times' Inside the City column, as they are cheap and the company is in healthy shape. At just over 200p, stock is available for only slightly more than its initial public offer (IPO) price nine months ago, having flexed as high as 274p in the spring. The competitive situation is that Gym Group is a low-price operator with 80 sites, plus 14 more coming by the end of 2017, versus an industry of well over 6,000 gyms.