The U.K. supermarket space has drawn renewed attention from investors following the tie-up between Walmart’s Asda and J Sainsbury. The $10 billion deal between the two grocers, announced last week, was welcomed by the investment community, but according to one asset manager, Tesco is still the best stock pick. “Perhaps with most other people, we’ve […]

BT is cutting 13,000 managerial and back-office jobs and plugging its pension black hole, while placating shareholders by maintaining its dividend, in the latest restructuring by Britain’s biggest telecoms group. The new strategy from Chief Executive Gavin Patterson comes after the group reported a 3 percent drop in fourth-quarter revenue to 5.967 billion pounds, just […]

European markets are expected to begin Thursday morning on a positive note, as investors turn their attention to a monetary policy meeting by the U.K.’s central bank. Looking to major bourses, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 is seen opening up 17 points at 7,680, while the French CAC 40 is expected to rise 16 points at […]

European policymakers are trying to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive, with renewed contacts with both Tehran and Washington. Europeans disapproved of Trump’s decision to leave the agreement, announced Tuesday, and to re-impose sanctions on Iran. The matter seems so urgent for European leaders that European Council President Donald Tusk has added the Iran deal […]

Vodafone has agreed to pay $21.8 billion to buy Liberty Global‘s assets in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania to take on rivals with a broader offer of superfast cable TV, broadband and mobile. The world’s second-largest mobile operator had held repeated talks with John Malone’s Liberty in recent years in a bid to […]

The Bank of England’s (BOE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets Thursday and is expected to keep interest rates unchanged, marking a sharp turnaround from early projections just a few weeks ago. A month ago, short-term interest rates had been pricing in another 25 basis point rate hike with near certainty (90 percent odds). But Governor […]

ING Groep, the largest Dutch-based financial services company, on Wednesday reported a 2.1 percent rise in first quarter underlying pretax profit to 1.69 billion euros ($2.0 billion), beatingexpectations. Analysts polled for Reuters had seen the figure falling to 1.48 billion euros, compared to 1.65 billion euros in the same quarter a year ago. Source: cnbc […]

European markets are expected to open relatively flat to slightly higher Wednesday morning, as investors digest news that the U.S. administration is pulling the country from the Iran nuclear accord. Looking to major bourses, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 is seen flat at the open at 7,566, while the French CAC 40 is also expected to […]

A drug originally designed as a treatment for the bone-thinning disease, osteoporosis, is being considered as a possible breakthrough treatment for bald people. Currently only two drugs — minoxidil and finasteride — are available for treatment of male-pattern balding (androgenetic alopecia). A project by The University of Manchester’s Centre for Dermatology Research in England began […]

Everything will be on the line when Iraqis cast their ballots on Saturday to choose their next prime minister — from rebuilding the economy to the resurgence of sectarian violence and the Islamic State (ISIS). Iraq’s last parliamentary elections were held in 2014. The past four years have seen Iraq lose a third of its […]