Market Buzz
Sunday newspaper round-up: Housing, Sports Direct, TP Icap, Facebook
Brexit is already costing the public purse £500m a week, new research has found – a stark contrast to the £350m “dividend” promised by the Leave campaign. The Centre for European Reform’s analysis also suggests that the government’s austerity drive would be on the way to completion had Britain voted to stay in the European Union. - Observer.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Ryanair, McCarthy & Stone, Sky
As many as 10pc of UK businesses would face bankruptcy if goods were delayed by under 30 minutes as a result of Brexit trade friction, new research has claimed. Businesses are also planning to stockpile goods in order to offset the impact of increased delays, with almost a quarter of companies preparing to stockpile in the future and some 4pc have already started to do so, according to the research from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS). - Telegraph.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, business rates, Debenhams, Deliveroo
Theresa May has faced down cabinet critics of her Chequers plan and won backing from ministers to sell it to next week’s Conservative Party conference. The prime minister also secured cabinet agreement yesterday for a new immigration system after Brexit despite objections from Philip Hammond, the chancellor, on how the change should be managed. - The Times.
Monday newspaper round-up: Danske Bank, River Island, Sky, Drax
US firms are taking advantage of the cheap pound to snap up some of Britain’s most successful businesses at bargain prices, according to the latest mergers and acquisitions data. The value of deals involving US companies buying UK businesses more than doubled to £79bn in 2017-18 from £36. 8bn in the previous year. The low value of sterling, which last week slumped to $1. 30 in the wake of Theresa May’s post-Salzburg statement, has given American buying power a boost and allowed US firms to outbid rivals.
Friday newspaper round-up: Brexit 'humiliation', taxes, Uber, SDX Energy
Theresa May was left fighting to save her Chequers Brexit plan and with it her authority as prime minister after she was ambushed at the end of the Salzburg summit when EU leaders unexpectedly declared that her proposals would not work. On Thursday night the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, hit back for the government, declaring there were no changes to the Chequers plan on the table and the EU’s demands on Northern Ireland were “impossible” for the UK to accept.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, bookies, strikes, ITV
European leaders were divided last night before a critical meeting that will determine the future of Theresa May’s Brexit plans. Some EU countries are pressing for the leaders to engage with British proposals, which they see as a “positive” step towards reaching a deal, [but are] being challenged by the European Commission and the leaders of France and Germany, who are said to be unwilling to make the concessions demanded by the British. - The Times.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Tariffs, taxes, tech, Brexit
Donald Trump has intensified his trade war with China by imposing new import tariffs of $200bn on Chinese goods arriving in the US from next week. The US president announced the tariffs in a statement, saying: “If China takes retaliatory action against our farmers or other industries, we will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267bn of additional imports. ” - Guardian .
Monday newspaper round-up: Tariffs, Brexit, banks, robots, trains
President Trump is expected to announce tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese imports as early as today in the latest front of America’s assault on global trade. He was reported over the weekend to have instructed his officials to hit about 1,000 Chinese goods with import duties of 10 per cent, from refrigerators to electrical components, circuit boards, furniture and toys, which are likely to drive up prices for US consumers. - The Times.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Brexit, ITV, Kier, Intu, Debenhams
Michael Gove has tried to persuade Brexiteers to back the Chequers plan by stressing that the deal can be renegotiated once the UK has left the European Union. The Environment Secretary said that whilst Chequers is “the right deal for now”, a future prime minister would have the power to “alter the relationship” and elements of the agreement. - Sunday Telegraph.
Friday newspaper round-up: RBS, Carillion, house prices, Allianz
The Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive has been accused of withholding information from MPs investigating the bank’s mistreatment of small businesses. In a frosty exchange with Nicky Morgan, the Treasury committee chair, Ross McEwan rejected the suggestion that he had misled MPs at an evidence session into heavily criticised practices at the lender’s Global Restructuring Group. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, RBS, Sports Direct, Vodafone
Theresa May’s Brexit plans have been dealt a blow after the Democratic Unionist Party backed a rival plan drawn up by Tory rebels to allow the UK to leave the EU's single market and customs union without a hard border in Ireland. The European Research Group published a paper calling for equivalence of UK and EU regulations and conformity assessment for all agricultural goods on the island of Ireland. - Telegraph .
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Tesco, payday lender, Sports Direct
Tesco will unveil its new discount chain Jack’s next week as the UK’s biggest supermarket throws down the gauntlet to the German discounters Aldi and Lidl. The first of the stores, named after the Tesco founder, Jack Cohen, will be unveiled by the supermarket’s chief executive, Dave Lewis, in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, on Wednesday. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Apple, cars, IPOs
Downing Street is refusing to consider proposals to have EU officials stationed at British ports serving Ireland, intended as part of a solution to the problem of the Irish border after Brexit. The compromise plan, which is under consideration by Ireland and Brussels, is aimed at “de-dramatising” the Irish border issue, and reflects the fact that many goods enter Northern Ireland via Dublin, and not Belfast or the two other main ports in the region. - Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Debenhams, Tui, IAG
European leaders are expected to agree to modify the EU’s formal Brexit negotiating mandate in a move that acknowledges Theresa May’s Chequers compromises. The heads of the 27 member states will discuss updating their guidelines in Salzburg next week in an attempt to provide impetus to the talks. - The Times.
Friday newspaper round-up: Brexit, bosses, British Airways, Elon Musk
Philip Hammond has warned that the government would have to refocus its priorities if the Brexit negotiations resulted in no deal, as details emerged of a Whitehall contingency plan codenamed Operation Yellowhammer. After Treasury minister John Glen was photographed in Downing Street with a briefing document about planning for no deal, Hammond hinted other areas of public spending would have to take a hit if the UK crashed out next March without an agreement in place.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Debts, HoF, ENRC robots
The British economy is losing almost £900m a year from the rapid rise in personal debt problems, according to a report from the Whitehall spending watchdog. The National Audit Office (NAO) said reduced levels of worker efficiency, people staying away from work and greater chances of people in debt committing crime, meant there was a wider cost of £897m annually to the overall economy. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Amazon, Google Chrome, Mike Ashley, Pfizer
A radical overhaul of Britain’s economy as far-reaching as Labour’s post-war reforms and the Thatcherite revolution in the 1980s is needed to address the UK’s chronic failure to raise the standard of living of millions of workers since the 2008 financial crash, according to a major report. In a damning verdict on the state of the UK economy, the IPPR commission on economic justice, which includes the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, senior business leaders and economists, found that the UK is being held back by a business culture dominated by decades of short-term profit taking, weak levels of investment and low wages.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Energy bills, supermarket sales, SFO, fracking, TSB
Brexit could drive up energy bills, power companies have said, because trade barriers threaten to increase the cost of importing gas and electricity across the Channel. EDF and Engie of France and the UK’s energy industry body urged politicians to avoid imposing tariffs or barriers on energy trading across borders. In a letter to Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, and UK prime minister Theresa May, they said imposing costs on the use of interconnectors – electricity and gas cables between the UK and its European neighbours – would hit consumers and set back the battle against global warming.
Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit, equality, Finsbury Foods, Wonga
Boris Johnson has used his first newspaper column of the new parliamentary term to attack Theresa May’s Chequers plan, saying it means the UK enters Brexit negotiations with a “white flag fluttering”. The declaration amounts to a significant escalation of the former foreign secretary’s guerrilla campaign against the prime minister and her Chequers plan a day before the Commons returns and at a time when party disquiet over the direction of the divorce talks is mounting.