Pub, leisure stocks help push FTSE higher as England prepares to lift restrictions – business live

Sumary of Pub, leisure stocks help push FTSE higher as England prepares to lift restrictions – business live:

• The Washington-based IMF half-yearly World Economic Outlook (WEO) said successful vaccine programmes, businesses adapting to the challenges of lockdown and Joe Biden $1.9tn (£1.4tn) stimulus package had been key factors in the upgrade..
• After contracting by 3.3% in 2020, the IMF said the world economy would now grow by 6% in 2021 and a further 4.4% in 2022..
• It is one year into the Covid-19 pandemic and the global community still confronts extreme social and economic strain as the human toll rises and millions remain unemployed..
• Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at Aaxi says the low prospects of an Iranian nuclear deal are helping lift crude prices:.
• On Tuesday, EWM Group, the private investment firm controlled by the Day family, said it was providing a deferred loan to a management buyout of Peacocks led by Steve Simpson, the chief executive of Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Day right-hand man..
• The buyout is also being supported by a group of unnamed Middle East investors, understood to be associates of Day, who are providing working capital to help support Peacocks’ return to trading..
• BP chief executive Bernard Looney told investors this morning that net debt fell from $38.9bn at the end of 2020 to $35bn, a target BP had hoped to reach by the end of this year or even early next year..
• UK prime minister Boris Johnson (L) gestures during a visit to AstraZeneca in Macclesfield, Chesire, northwest England on April 6, 2021, to learn more about their $500m (£360m) investment into the Macclesfield site..
• Dave Thompson/AFP/Getty Images Prime minister Boris Johnson has given some fresh comments about the AstraZeneca vaccine and the rollout of vaccine passports..
• He said the government is looking at the role of Covid passports for overseas travel and the kind of signals you can provide to prove you are not contagious..
• Today marks the launch of the UK government Covid Recovery Loan Scheme, which replaces a trio of government-backed business loan programmes including the Coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), its larger counterpart CLBILS, and the 100% state-guaranteed bounce back loan scheme (BBLS)..
• RLS is nowhere near as generous as the other schemes – particularly bounce back loans, which was aimed at the smallest businesses and came with a 2.5% interest rate cap..
• 📈The Recovery Loan Scheme launches today🤝80% government guarantee and interest rate cap➡️Runs until 31 December 2021 As we safely reopen parts of our economy, the Recovery Loan Scheme will ensure that businesses can continue to access finance..
• Loans are worth £25,001 to £10m per business, though they can be as low as £1,000 for a portion of the scheme offering invoice financing (a branch of lending that has come under greater scrutiny in light of the Greensill debacle) Government guarantee:.
• Not permitted on loans less than £250,000, and no business owner can be asked to put their own home up as a guarantee..
• The department store is expected to be joined by many other clothing retailers who are taking advantage of a change in government guidelines, which previously urged the closure of fitting rooms during the pandemic…

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From The Guardian - April 6, 2021