In a week when petrol and diesel prices neared a record high, Sir Elton John topped the UK singles chart for the first time in sixteen years, Captain Kirk took a ride to the edge of space and a French ticketholder won a record jackpot of £184million in the EuroMillions lottery, The Weekly has again condensed the news from the last seven days into five short quiz questions to brighten your Sunday morning. Good luck!

Questions:

1. Some good news to start, with the FTSE 100 ending the week at its highest level since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, closing at 7234.03. Despite the obvious pressures from supply chain disruption, higher energy prices, rising wages and the threat of a hike in interest rates, strong results from banks, a decline in new jobless claims and lower than expected producer price inflation all from the US have, according to AJ Bell, served to put investors in a more positive mood. Whilst Ocado and steelmaker Evraz were the top weekly risers, British Airways' parent company, IAG, and Intercontinental Hotels also rallied upon news that England will shortly allow fully vaccinated international passengers from non-red list companies to take a lateral flow test rather than a PCR test. Property firms, banks and oil companies also rallied. So far this year, by what percentage has the FTSE 100 increased?

2. Five and a half years since Carlos Brathwaite ended England’s chances of winning the Twenty20 World Cup by hitting four consecutive sixes in the final over, this year’s tournament begins today, with what only can be described as an absolute belter…Oman vs Papua New Guinea! To be fair though, this is an historic moment for Papua New Guinea, playing in their first World Cup. Unlike many of the other associate nations, they are an entirely home-grown team and they have overcome some significant challenges, not least that they didn't have a turf pitch until a decade ago. And, they still have only got one cricket ground. Whilst their story is captivating, their prospects of progressing appear, on paper at least, to be rather slim. Of their twelve matches in the lead-up to today’s game, how many have Papua New Guinea won?

3. Positivity was the overall feeling emanating out of CBRE’s September 2021’s Monthly Index Results Call on Tuesday morning. At the All Property level, capital values increased by 1.60% in September, the largest monthly increase since June 2014, which equates to 3.8% over the quarter. That makes it the strongest quarter for capital growth since Q1 2010. Over the year to date, All Property capital growth has been 6.4% and total returns have been 10.7%. Perhaps the one note of caution was CBRE’s decision to hold all but one of their investment yields. Can you name the subsector, and for a bonus point, confirm the revised yield level?

4. On Thursday evening at Sotheby’s, Banksy’s famed work Love Is in the Bin sold to an Asian buyer for a record £16 million, more than triple the auction-house’s guide price. Whilst this lot saw ten bidders locked in a ten-minute battle to secure it, all told, the evening’s auction featuring 44 lots tallied up to £65.9 million, well above their £52.8 million high estimate. Encouragingly, the total was 38% higher than last October’s contemporary art evening sale and only a fraction below their auction in 2019. It seems that Asian buyers have been playing an increasingly important role in the international art auction scene, with an intriguing trend from young investors bidding for works by young artists. What percentage of Thursday’s evening’s registered buyers were under 40 years old?

5. Adele's first new music in six years arrived this week and it has already proved to be a hit. Just under 300,000 people watched the video premiere on YouTube. Within twelve hours it had been streamed 12 million times. The release of the single comes just five weeks before the release of her new album on 19 November - which was first teased in a global marketing campaign that saw the number 30 projected on to buildings and billboards in Brazil, Mexico, Dubai, Italy, Germany, Ireland, the US and here in the UK. Like her previous three albums the title is a reference to a specific age in Adele's life. What is the combined age total of Adele’s four albums (including this latest one)?

Answers:

1. 12%.
2. 12 (i.e. all of them!).
3. Solus Prime Bulky Use Retail Warehouses. The yield was moved down from 5.25% to 5.00%.
4. 25%.
5. 95 (19 + 21 + 25 + 30).

Enjoy your Sunday.