Manufacturers suffered one of their toughest months for a decade at the end of 2019 as demand plunged in the face of political turmoil and an industrial recession across much of the eurozone. British factory activity dropped in December at one of its fastest rates since Europe’s sovereign debt crisis of 2012, according to IHS Markit’s purchasing managers’ index survey (PMI). The influential index dropped to 47.5 in December, marking the ninth consecutive month in contractionary territory. Any score below 50 indicates activity is falling.
Embattled Tullow Oil (TLW) shares tumbled more than 8% after it revealed disappointing results from early testing of a key well – meaning £2.1bn has now been wiped off the business in the past two months. Results from the Carapa-1 well offshore of Guyana suggest it is less commercially attractive to extract oil from than previously thought. Analysts had been closely watching the well as a potential route for Tullow to recover following a disastrous trading update last month when production forecasts were slashed and the dividend axed. The announcement sent shares plunging 72% in a single day.
