Market Buzz
Sunday newspaper round-up: Brexit, North Sea, Netflix
Boris Johnson told the EU Britain must have “freedom” to make its own rules last night as cabinet ministers said he should pursue a no-deal Brexit unless Brussels backs down. The prime minister and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, last night agreed to a “final throw of the dice” this week to salvage a deal. But a senior No 10 figure warned the chances of getting an agreement were now “no better than 50-50” after more than four years and five months of talks.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Independent shops, Aldi, AJ Bell
Britain’s independent shops had a sales boost in 2020 despite an overall drop in retail spending, as Covid travel restrictions and working from home prompted consumers to shop on local high streets instead of city centres. Data from Barclaycard shows spending at independent food and drink shops, including off-licences, butchers and bakeries, jumped 28. 6% in 2020 compared with a year earlier. - Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Boeing 737 Max, UK property market, Lloyds Banking Group
Paying passengers flew on a Boeing 737 Max in the US on Tuesday for the first time since safety regulators allowed the plane to fly again after two deadly crashes. The American Airlines flight from Miami to New York City had about 87 passengers onboard, according to an airline spokeswoman. The flight landed safely just after 1pm local time and a return flight was scheduled for later in the afternoon. - Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Electricity, UK tech companies, carbon tax
More than half of Great Britain’s daily electricity came from wind turbines for the first time on Boxing Day, as the country headed for its “greenest year on record”, due in part to the coronavirus. As Storm Bella arrived, bringing gusts of up to 100mph, wind provided 50. 7% of Great Britain’s electricity according to data charting the power generation mix. While wind briefly hit 60% in August, it had not previously sustained such levels for 24 hours. - Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: AstraZeneca, Boxing Day, Britain's economy
The chief executive of AstraZeneca has raised hopes its vaccine with Oxford is more effective than first thought amid the rapid spread of the new UK virus strain across the globe. Pascal Soriot said he believed researchers had found the "winning formula" using two doses and promised to publish the results as reports suggested the UK regulator could approve the jab within days. - Sunday Telegraph.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Alibaba, Now Pensions, Informa
Chinese regulators have launched an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba and called in for talks its online finance spinoff, Ant Group – increasing pressure on the e-commerce company founded by the Chinese tech entrepreneur Jack Ma. On Thursday the state market supervision administration said it had filed an investigation into Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd over “suspected monopolistic practices”. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Boohoo, Whitbread
Tesco has introduced buying limits on items including toilet roll, eggs, rice, soap and handwash. Customers at the supermarket are now limited to one item per person of toilet roll, and up to three products of eggs, rice, soap and handwash. It is understood the extra limits are pre-emptive measures to help smooth demand in the coming weeks, rather than a reaction to shortages or a change in buying behaviour. They are on top of a three-item limit on essential items such as flour, dried pasta and anti-bacterial wipes which has been in place for several months.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Retailers, house prices, Co-op Bank
Almost 40,000 retailers in the UK were in “significant financial distress” even before the introduction of tighter restrictions over the weekend forced non-essential shops to shut. Research by the insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor found that 39,232 retailers – both online and bricks and mortar operations – were experiencing severe financial problems in the three months to 9 December. This was up 11% on the previous three months and 24% higher than the same period a year earlier.
Monday newspaper round-up: Public sector pay freeze, Brexit, retail bosses
The UK government’s partial public-sector pay freeze will hit workers who are already paid less than their counterparts in private companies, according to new research. A report by the Resolution Foundation suggests that the pay squeeze by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, may not achieve his aim of narrowing the gap between government and private workers. - Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Tier 4 lockdown, Business rates, Debt binge
Boris Johnson yesterday revealed in a 4pm emergency press conference that a third of England - including London and swathes of the home counties - would be thrust into a brutal Tier 4 lockdown from midnight on Saturday in a bid to stamp out the 'mutant' strain of coronavirus. The draconian bracket forced all non-essential shops to shut giving Britons just eight hours to complete their gift shopping ahead of Christmas Day. - Financial Mail on Sunday.
Friday newspaper round-up: Supermarket sales, Google, FCA
Supermarket sales figures have captured the way Covid has caused big changes in the way we live, from lager-fuelled barbecues and home-cooked roasts replacing nights in the pub and ready meals, to lower sales of makeup, deodorant and even toothbrushes pointing to people letting themselves go a bit. With coronavirus restrictions often forbidding meals and nights out with friends, Britons put an extra £2. 5bn of beer, wine, spirits and meat in their trolleys as the pandemic “shifted consumer shopping habits to the extreme”, according to The Grocer magazine’s annual Top Products Survey.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Boohoo, Trafford Centre, JCB
Scrutiny of Boohoo’s relationship with Leicester suppliers who paid workers illegally low wages felt like punishment for not taking more business out of the UK, the company’s founder, Mahmud Kamani, told MPs on Wednesday. The billionaire owner of Boohoo was speaking to the environmental audit committee – which is investigating the impact of fast fashion – in an appearance that represented his most substantive public questioning since the scandal emerged this summer.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Vaccination cost, rail fares, LV
Vaccinating the population against Covid-19 will cost up to £12bn, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has disclosed, amid details of tensions between health bodies over the rollout. The National Audit Office said the government would spend up to £11. 7bn on purchasing and manufacturing Covid-19 jabs for the UK before deploying them in England. A report released on Wednesday reveals officials from Public Health England complained that they had been cut out of key decisions despite having previous experience of vaccine delivery programmes.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Automation, Unilever, TalkTalk
More than half of furloughed jobs in the UK are at the highest risk of automation as the Covid crisis accelerates workplace technology change, driving up redundancies and inequality across the country, according to a report. The two-year commission on workers and technology, chaired by the Labour MP Yvette Cooper, found that workers in sectors hit hardest by the pandemic – such as hospitality, leisure and retail – face a “double whammy” as their jobs are at the most risk of being replaced by machines.
Monday newspaper round-up: Made, HSBC, Arcadia
The online furniture retailer Made is giving share options worth more than £10,000 to all its staff after the company benefited from new shopping habits forged during the lockdown. Coronavirus restrictions, coupled with the shift to working from home, proved the catalyst for a boom in home furnishings sales, with consumer cash usually spent on foreign holidays and socialising funnelled instead into interior makeovers, sofas and desks. - Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Coronavirus, AstraZeneca
Britain and the EU have taken a step forward towards striking a post-Brexit trade and security deal after Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen agreed to “go the extra mile” and ordered the resumption of talks in Brussels. The prime minister played down expectations following the telephone conversation with the European commission president, telling the cabinet to prepare for a no-deal exit when the transition period ends in three weeks’ time. But in Brussels, EU embassies were briefed by the commission that “progress has been made” and that “the next days will be important”.
Friday newspaper round-up: JLR, BDO, BT, TalkTalk
Jaguar Land Rover has shut down production at its Castle Bromwich factory until Christmas because “an issue related to Covid” has prevented the delivery of key materials, in another sign of the strains facing the UK automotive industry. Production of JLR’s XE and XF cars stopped earlier this week and will not restart for two weeks, in another blow to the UK’s largest carmaker as it struggles with the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit preparations. - Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Facebook, Boeing 737 Max, Doordash
The US government and a coalition of 48 states and districts have filed parallel lawsuits against Facebook in a major antitrust offensive that accused the social media behemoth of anticompetitive behavior and could ultimately force its breakup. At the heart of both antitrust actions, announced on Wednesday, is Facebook’s dominance of the social media landscape, and whether the company gobbled up potential competitors and blocked market access to others that could have eaten into its staggering market share.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Wealth tax, Primark, Google and Facebook
The government has been urged to launch a one-off wealth tax on millionaire households to raise up to £260bn in response to the coronavirus pandemic, as the crisis damages Britain’s public finances and exacerbates inequality. The Wealth Tax Commission – a group of leading tax experts and economists brought together by the London School of Economics and Warwick University to examine the case for a levy on assets – said targeting the richest in society would be the fairest and most efficient way to raise taxes in response to the pandemic.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: UK unemployment, Toyota, Uber
The threat of a new year surge in unemployment has been highlighted by a labour market report showing that the outlook for jobs in the UK is the weakest in Europe. After a toughening of Covid-19 restrictions in October and November, the regular ManpowerGroup employment outlook survey reported that the chances of finding a job in retail and hospitality were currently worse than during the first nationwide lockdown in the spring. - Guardian.