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FTSE 100 LIVE: Gold price ROCKETS to record level as pandemic fuels inflation


The rise in the price of gold is reported to have come from investor demand for gold-backed exchange traded funds, according to the FT. This helped the metal rise to record levels. Investors put back a net $7.4bn into gold-backed ETFs last month, according to data from the World Gold Council. 

This added to the record $40bn they invested in the first half of the year. 

Gold would benefit as bond yields continued to slide and inflation started to take shape.

Jim Luke, a fund manager at Schroders. US 10-year real yields, said: “We’re in a world where inflation will move above targets and real rates will be significantly lower than now.”

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1.45pm update: Latest index score

The FTSE-100 index at 1:45pm was up 62.81 at 6098.81.

12.35pm update: William Hill to shut scores of high street betting shops

Betting firm William Hill has announced it is to shut 119 high steet shops after the coronavirus lockdown sparked a trend they fear will never recover.

The FTSE 250 company believes pre-lockdown levels of in-store betting with never recover.

Pre-tax losses dropped to £14.2m in the first six months of 2020l compared to a £51m profit over the same time period last year.

William Hill said: “The group has been impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to the group taking the decision to not re-open a further 119 shops after lockdown restrictions were lifted in the UK and to increased uncertainty of future high street retail cashflows.”

10.50am update: Warehousing group Sergo sees boost during pandemic

Sego has seen pre-tax profits for the first six months of 2020 surge, due to an increase in demand for e-commerce during the coronavirus crisis.

The FTSE 100 firm made a pre-tax profit of £140.4m, a siginficant rise of 6.5 percent when compared to the same period last year.

It’s total valuation has also risen by 0;7 percent to £11.2billion.

9.45am update: Latest index score

The FTSE-100 index at 9:45am was up 46.52 at 6082.52.

9.00am update: Insurance group sees price surge after buyout

The insurer Hastings Group has soared after agreeing to a $2.2 billion buyout offer.

A 17.8 percent surge for the motor insurer drove the FTSE 250 up one percent. Almost all the mid-cap sub-indexes were trading higher, led by industrials, consumer discretionary and materials stocks.

6.28am update: China and US to review trade deal on August 15 – sources

Senior US and Chinese officials will review the implementation of their Phase 1 trade deal and likely air mutual grievances in an increasingly tense relationship during an August 15 videoconference, two people familiar with the plans said.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the principal negotiators for the two countries, will participate in the meeting, an initial six-month review of the pact activated on February 15.

The meeting plans were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. 

Under the Phase 1 trade deal signed in January, China had pledged to boost purchases of US goods by some $200 billion over 2017 levels, including agricultural and manufactured products, energy and services.

But China, battered by the global coronavirus recession, is far behind the pace needed to meet its first-year goal of a $77 billion increase. Imports of farm goods have been lower than the 2017 level, far behind the 50 percent increase needed to meet the 2020 target of $36.5 billion.





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