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Cryptocurrency passes $30,000 as financial institutions express growing interestBitcoin has surged to a record high amid rising interest from investors and claims that the volatile cryptocurrency is on the way to becoming a mainstream payment method.Having quadrupled in value during 2020, bitcoin began 2021 strongly by breaking through the $30,000 (£22,000) mark for the first time, less than three weeks after first trading above...

Institutional investors help cryptocurrency to 47% gain in December as interest in US dollar declines Bitcoin has continued its end-of-year Santa Claus rally, surging to a new high of more than $28,500.The cryptocurrency gained more than 5% to hit $28,572 on Wednesday. It is up 47% since the start of December and is on track for its biggest monthly gain since May 2019. Continue...

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsIntroduction: All eyes on US electionWhy Senate race will be crucial for stimulus hopesDow jumped 423 points on Monday10.30am: FTSE 100 up 104 points or 1.8% 10.56am GMT The US dollar has weakened against other major currencies today.The greenback has lost three quarters of a cent against the pound, pushing sterling up to $1.2990. The euro...

Covid-19 concerns and pessimism that a US fiscal stimulus package can be passed before next week’s election drag markets lower 8.22am GMT Here in the UK, Boots has announced that it will offer rapid Covid-19 tests in some stores, for £120. The LumiraDx device can produce a swab test result within just 12 minutes, giving customers same-day results, the chain said. Boots cautioned that...

European shares lifted by strong corporate results and Chinese retail sales, despite new Covid-19 restrictions across EuropeCryptocurrency traders wait for Powell speech 11.08am BST UK household finances remained under severe strain during October, according to the latest survey from IHS Markit. Its household finance index remained at 40.8, far below the 50 mark that divides contraction from expansion. Households have been using up more...

Too much is being read into the greenback’s recent weakening against the euroThe dollar is in freefall! The global greenback is doomed! screamed recent headlines. Actually, such sensational headlines are “too sensational”, to echo that noted authority on currencies, Miss Prism, in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.The dollar’s fall in July to a two-year low against the euro was the immediate impetus...

US economy likely to have contracted at fastest pace since Great Depression 8.17am BST AstraZeneca, the UK’s biggest pharmaceutical company, has reported better than expected results for the April to June quarter and stuck to its 2020 forecasts, helped by strong sales during Covid-19 lockdowns and the success of new medicines. Total revenues rose 11% to $6.3bn and core earnings grew 31% to 96...

Precious metals rally cools amid profit-takingStock markets slide, reversing earlier gains on hopes for a Covid-19 vaccine and US $1tn stimulus package; luxury stocks fallNIESR: global GDP to fall 5% in 2020; UK to shrink 10%IATA: air traffic recovery to take a year longer than expected, until 2024Housebuilders lead FTSE 100 gains on hopes of help to buy extension 3.27pm BST A quick note...

GDP posts record fall of 20.4% in April as UK economy suffers total lockdown loss of 25%, one of the worst in the worldUK industrial output, services and construction post record declines 9.22am BST Despite the shocking UK economic data, all of the main UK and European stock markets have now turned positive. 9.20am BST Faced with this unprecedented recession, the Bank of England...

Rolling coverage of business, economics and markets as British prices rise faster than expected Consumer prices rise; house prices increase across the UK Boeing finds debris in fuel tanks of undelivered 737 Max planesMarkets gain amid lull in coronavirus fears Metro Bank appoints new chief executive amid scandal fallout 2.09pm GMT Qatar Airways has spent about £460m on increasing its stake in British Airways-owner...

Rolling coverage of markets, economics and business news amid warning of increased risks posed by non-bank lenders 11.32am GMT Back on the ECB, here’s a bit more detail on those building financial stability risks.Low interest rates – designed by central bankers to stimulate spending – have had the knock-on effect of making it more difficult for investors to make returns on their money. That...

Pan-European share index hits four-year high as traders wait for progress on US-China trade deal 9.32am GMT Russ Mould, investment director at the UK stockbroker AJ Bell, says the move shows the aviation sector is under real pressure to address its environmental impact.Regular fliers often fret about their carbon footprint so EasyJet’s move, at a significant but not unmanageable cost of £25m a year,...

From a festival that helps artists trade work for healthcare to a regional micro-currency, Kingston is trying to build an inclusive and self-sufficient local ecosystemKingston, New York is a diverse city of 23,000, flanked to the east by Rondout Creek and the Hudson River and to the west by the Catskill mountains. It boasts a rustic industrial waterfront, a colorful historic district and Revolutionary...

Rolling coverage of business, economics and markets as non-farm payrolls data show 130,000 new jobsRiskier assets gain after trade war and US data give positive signal German industrial production slump raises recession fearsSterling retreats from no-deal avoidance boost 2.23pm BST Remember that Goldilocks report that we talked about earlier? The non-farm payrolls numbers appear to have delivered pretty much that. Not too hot, not...

Investors are alarmed to see longer-dated UK and US bonds trading at lower interest rates than shorter alternatives, a possible sign of recessionLatest: US yield curve inverts in ‘flashing light’ warningUK yield curve has also inverted - a worrying signAnalyst: Why yield curve inversion could herald recessionEarlier:Breaking: German GDP shrank 0.1% in April-JuneEconomists: Berlin should boost spending 1.26pm BST Yuk: 1.17pm BST The oil...

Sterling bounces back by 0.5%; shares turn negative and gold risesCathay Pacific shares fall after airline bows to China pressureSaudi Aramco, the world’s most profitable company, to host first-ever earnings call, ahead of planned $2tn IPO 11.20am BST European shares have gone into the red. 11.15am BST Gold prices have risen again this morning, beyond $1,500 an ounce (it went through this level last...

Greek unemployment drops to eight-year lowWeekly US jobless claims better than expected Gold, a safe-haven asset, hovers near $1,500 an ounce 2.49pm BST A degree of calm has returned to world stock markets, after heavy selling earlier this week amid fears that the one-year trade war between the US and China was turning into a full-blown currency war. Washington branded Beijing a currency manipulator...

China warns Washington’s labelling of Beijing as a currency manipulator could cause chaos in financial markets, and acts to prop up yuanEuropean shares rise after strong German factory orders 3.07pm BST European and US stocks have staged a recovery after two days of heavy selling, as the US-China trade war intensified. The People’s Bank of China hit back at the White House today, saying...