US job creation slowed in January; UK can’t say ‘job done’ fighting inflation, say’s BoE’s Pill – business live
Guardian Live Business Blog
by Graeme Wearden
2d ago
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as UK economic picture darkens…and house prices hit record high Hong Kong’s appeal to the WTO (see earlier post) comes as Donald Trump’s new trade war is further blurring the lines between Hong Kong and Beijing. This is threatening to erode the city’s main selling point as a global financial hub, reports Bloomberg, explaining: When Trump slapped a 10% levy on China this week, that action for the first time also applied to Hong Kong goods, after the president in 2020 signed an executive order to remove the city’s special privileges. On ..read more
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Bank of England expects to cut borrowing costs further after rate cut today – business live
Guardian Live Business Blog
by Graeme Wearden
3d ago
UK central bank cuts interest rates, and warns growth will be half as fast as expected this year, sending pound sliding Bank of England cuts interest rates to 4.5% but halves UK growth forecast Evelyn de Rothschild left bank in 2004 after sexual misconduct complaint Britain’s blue-chip share index has hit a new all-time high at the start of trading, as investors anticipate a cut in UK interest rates today. The FTSE 100 index has gained 0.8% to a new intra-day peak of 8,695 points, up 72 points today, above the previous record of 8,692 points set last month. After a severe allergic reaction o ..read more
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Honda and Nissan’s £48bn merger ‘close to collapse’; UK borrowing costs lowest since December in boost for Reeves – as it happened
Guardian Live Business Blog
by Graeme Wearden
4d ago
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news The eurozone’s private sector returned to growth, marginally, last month, a new survey shows. S&P Global’s monthly poll of purchasing managers across the euro area has found that the region’s economy was able to eke out growth in January, for the first time since August. “The slow pace of growth in the services sector, which was evident almost all of last year, continued at the start of 2025. Putting it more positively, growth at service companies played a crucial role in keeping the eurozone economy in expansion over the past year ..read more
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Eurozone facing ‘sizeable’ hit from trade tensions, as US-China tariff war 2.0 kicks off – business live
Guardian Live Business Blog
by Graeme Wearden
5d ago
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as Trump delays tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and China hits back with its own sanctions China announces retaliatory tariffs moments after US levies take effect – live The 10% US tariff on all imports from China that kicked in today is not a “game changer” for China’s growth forecasts, says European bank ABN Amro. They predict Beijing will respond with “a further stepping up of monetary easing and fiscal support” – meaning interest rate cuts and more government spending. Although the first tariff implementation now seems to have com ..read more
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EU and UK stock markets hit by global trade war fears as JPMorgan says Trump administration may be ‘business unfriendly’ – business live
Guardian Live Business Blog
by Philip Wen (earlier) and Graeme Wearden (now)
6d ago
European markets fall as Trump says EU tariffs will ‘definitely happen’; stocks and cryptocurrencies tumble in Asian trading hours Trump says EU tariffs will ‘definitely happen’ as Mexico, Canada and China retaliate Here’s a chart showing how Canada’s currency fell to its weakest level in more than 20 years overnight. The loonie (as it’s known in foreign exchange circles) fell almost 1.48 per US dollar, its lowest level since 2003, amid a general surge in demand for the US dollar (updated). The immediate market impact late on Sunday was a sharp move higher in the US dollar. EUR/USD fell belo ..read more
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FTSE 100 on course for biggest monthly gain in two years – business live
Guardian Live Business Blog
by Jasper Jolly
1w ago
Live rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as Smiths Group leads index after promising break-up of FTSE 100 engineering company Donald Trump’s White House will invoke emergency powers to introduce tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Reuters reports: Two sources familiar with the matter said that Trump was expected to invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the legal basis for the tariffs, declaring a national emergency over fentanyl overdoses that killed nearly 75,000 Americans in 2023 and illegal immigration. The statute enacted in 1977 and modified ..read more
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European Central Bank cuts interest rates to support growth as eurozone economy stagnates - as it happened
Guardian Live Business Blog
by Jasper Jolly
1w ago
Live coverage of business, economics and financial news as ECB cuts main interest rate by 0.25 percentage points in effort to support European economies It was a flash reading on the Eurozone economy, so we don’t have the details on what the drivers were. But it’s clear that it was a weak end to 2024. But the European Central Bank might be able to spur a bit of economic growth in the eurozone with looser monetary policy. This marks a weak end to last year, following positive growth in the first three quarters of 2024. As a result, first estimates suggest that the currency bloc as a whole grew ..read more
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Lloyds Banking Group to close another 136 branches – as it happened
Guardian Live Business Blog
by Mark Sweney and Jasper Jolly
1w ago
The bank says that the shift to digital banking has prompted further branch closes Rachel Reeves has confirmed that the Labour government will back a third runway at London’s Heathrow airport. If that sounds familiar, it is because it has been heavily trailed in the last week. And readers with longer memories might remember a succession of Labour and Conservative governments saying they would back it. So I can confirm today that this government supports a third runway at Heathrow and is inviting proposals to be brought forward by the summer. We will then take forward a full assessment through ..read more
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Global technology sell-off fades as OpenAI’s Altman vows ‘better models’ to compete with DeepSeek – business live
Guardian Live Business Blog
by Julia Kollewe
1w ago
Donald Trump says China’s DeepSeek is a “wake-up call” for American AI firms We tried out DeepSeek. It worked well, until we asked it about Tiananmen Square and Taiwan Donald Trump has suggested that Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok and that he would like to see a bidding war over the app. When asked if Microsoft was in talks to buy the app, the US president said “I would say yes”, adding “A lot of interest in TikTok. There’s great interest in TikTok ..read more
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Global technology shares tumble, spooked by China’s DeepSeek AI app – business live
Guardian Live Business Blog
by Julia Kollewe
1w ago
Nasdaq futures tumble after Chinese lab DeepSeek rolls out free AI app in threat to US dominance Here is the full story on Good Energy Morgan Stanley has cut its forecast for UK growth this year to 0.9% from 1.3%, mirroring estimates from Wall Street rivals Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. After a grim lead-up to Christmas, the new year hasn’t brought any sense of renewal, with businesses still expecting a significant fall in activity ..read more
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