Financial news

• FTSE 100 suffers biggest fall since Ukraine invasion, wiping out £75bn, as banking crisis spooks markets – business live

  15-03-2023 20:10
  
  Fear has gripped the markets again, after Credit Suisse shares hit record low, as recession fears drive oil downSVB collapse may be start of ‘slow rolling crisis’, warns BlackRock bossBudget 2023 live: Jeremy Hunt sets out economic plan for the UKThe crisis in the US banking sector casts a shadow over the budget today.With three US banks having failed this month – Silvergate, Signature and Silicon Valley Bank – investors have been fretting that there could be further casu
  
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• Colleagues pray for Jezza to cut his losses when his four Es fail to kick in

  15-03-2023 20:04
  
  Education, employment, enterprise and … everywhere? Chancellor’s solutions to heal economy fall flat as he fails to read the roomBudget 2023: key points at a glanceWhat the budget means for people on a range of incomesYou need charisma to pull off a good con trick. To lull your audience into suspending disbelief. A sleight of hand that makes everyone look elsewhere while the economy stalls and the country suffers its worst fall in living standards since records began. And Jeremy Hun
  
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• Argentina’s inflation rate soars past 100%, its worst in over 30 years

  15-03-2023 19:41
  
  Annual rate of 102.5% is denting purchasing power, savings, economic growth and government’s chances in elections next yearArgentina’s annual inflation rate tore past 100% in February, the country’s statistics agency announced, the first time it has hit triple figures since a period of hyperinflation in 1991, over three decades ago.Inflation over 12 months clocked in at 102.5% in the second month of the year, according to government data released on Tuesday, with a higher-than-
  
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• Jeremy Hunt makes U-turn on planned cut to energy support

  15-03-2023 19:33
  
  Campaigners unite with suppliers to call on ministers to give long-term help to struggling householdsQ&A: what Hunt’s U-turn on energy bills support means for youMinisters are under pressure to announce plans for a social tariff to help Britons struggling with their energy bills over the long term, after the government performed a U-turn on a planned cut to support for households.On the morning of the chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s budget speech, the government confirmed the energy pri
  
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• Budget pension shake-up is £4bn tax giveaway for wealthy, critics say

  15-03-2023 19:31
  
  Jeremy Hunt criticised for scrapping lifetime allowance and increasing annual contribution capBudget 2023 live: reaction to Jeremy Hunt’s statementBudget 2023: key points at a glanceThe chancellor has been accused of unveiling a £4bn tax giveaway that will benefit the wealthiest people in the UK by dramatically increasing how much they can stash away in pensions while enjoying the full tax benefits.Jeremy Hunt announced a major shake-up of the rules governing how much people can pay
  
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• Hunt’s disability plans put 1m at risk of losing £350 a month, IFS says

  15-03-2023 19:26
  
  Charities and disability campaigners say chancellor’s proposals set out in his budget more ‘stick than carrot’Budget 2023 - live coverage and reactionUp to 1 million people currently claiming incapacity benefits could lose hundreds of pounds a month as a result of plans outlined in the budget to push ahead with the “biggest reforms to the welfare system in a decade,” experts have said.The warning came as ministers unveiled a range of measures to try to drive more pe
  
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• Budget 2023: Jeremy Hunt announces changes to childcare, pensions and disability benefits – as it happened

  15-03-2023 19:21
  
  Chancellor abolishes lifetime cap on amount workers can save in pensions without paying taxBudget 2023: key points at a glanceAccording to the Telegraph, Jeremy Hunt faces a Tory backlash over his decision to press ahead with the rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25% in the budget. This will take effect from April this year. The increase was first announced by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor, in his spring budget two years ago.In theory Hunt could have abandoned the rise, but for the last t
  
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• Keir Starmer accuses Tories of turning Britain back into ‘sick man of Europe’

  15-03-2023 19:19
  
  Labour leader says government has presided over decade of stagnation, and Tory mavericks attack chancellorBudget 2023 live: reaction to Jeremy Hunt’s statementBudget 2023: key points at a glanceKeir Starmer accused the Conservatives of turning Britain back into the “sick man of Europe” in a budget response that attempted to focus attention on to the Tories’ economic record over the past 13 years.The Labour leader attacked the government for presiding over more than a deca
  
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• Beware Hunt’s hype. There’s more poverty ahead and his budget did nothing to change that | Aditya Chakrabortty

  15-03-2023 19:19
  
  The statement will be remembered for the childcare pledge,but there was nothing to meet the scale of Britain’s economic malaiseI have spent more than 25 years covering budgets, because someone had to, and have learned one golden rule: for all the huff and puff, the ready reckoners and those blessed fan charts, most of what’s said evaporates from the public consciousness by the weekend. Out of all Jeremy Hunt’s promises today, only one will linger in the electorate’s memor
  
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• Credit Suisse has shot itself in the foot – and wounded the banking system | Nils Pratley

  15-03-2023 19:05
  
  The Swiss lender is deemed ‘systemically important’ so the jittery markets are studying the bank carefully – very carefullyCredit Suisse: what’s happening and should we be worried?Full story: Swiss bank’s shares fall to new record lowCredit Suisse’s ability to shoot itself in the foot is legendary but you would have thought its shareholders would have learned not to make matters worse. But no, the chairman of Saudi National Bank, which bought a 9.9% stake in t
  
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• UK to invest £900m in supercomputer in bid to build own ‘BritGPT’

  15-03-2023 19:00
  
  Treasury announces plans for exascale computer so as not to risk losing out to China The UK government is to invest £900m in a cutting-edge supercomputer as part of an artificial intelligence strategy that includes ensuring the country can build its own “BritGPT”.The treasury outlined plans to spend around £900m on building an exascale computer, which would be several times more powerful than the UK’s biggest computers, and establishing a new AI research body. Conti
  
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• Budget calculator 2023: how will your income change?

  15-03-2023 18:30
  
  Find out how Jeremy Hunt’s tax and spending plans will affect your personal financesWhat the budget means for people on a range of incomesBudget changes on pensions, childcare, income tax and moreWhat Hunt’s U-turn on energy bills means for youJeremy Hunt announced a number of changes in Wednesday’s budget including plans to overhaul pension tax allowances and reform the childcare system.The chancellor said the lifetime limit on how much people can save in their pensions tax fr
  
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• What is GPT-4 and how does it differ from ChatGPT?

  15-03-2023 18:23
  
  The most powerful AI model yet from OpenAI, can tell jokes and write bar exams – but can it also cause harm?OpenAI’s latest release, GPT-4, is the most powerful and impressive AI model yet from the company behind ChatGPT and the Dall-E AI artist. The system can pass the bar exam, solve logic puzzles, and even give you a recipe to use up leftovers based on a photo of your fridge – but its creators warn it can also spread fake facts, embed dangerous ideologies, and even trick peo
  
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• What Jeremy Hunt’s budget means for pensions, childcare, income tax and more

  15-03-2023 18:22
  
  How the measures will affect Britons’ finances – and who will be the winnersWhat the budget means for people on a range of incomesHunt U-turns on planned cut to energy bills supportWhat Hunt’s U-turn on energy bills means for youJeremy Hunt’s budget contained several measures to encourage the “economically inactive” back into work and to help parents struggling with sky-high childcare costs.There were also several changes that spell particularly good news for
  
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• 2023 budget: Jeremy Hunt overhauls childcare, pensions and disability benefits – video highlights

  15-03-2023 18:18
  
  Jeremy Hunt has set out the government's 2023 spring budget in the House of Commons. The chancellor confirmed the energy price guarantee for an average household would remain at £2,500 until July, and announced further changes to childcare. The government's economic growth plan included increasing opportunities for people with disabilities and scrapping the lifetime allowance for tax-free pensionsBudget 2023: Hunt overhauls pensions, benefits and childcare in push for growthWhat Jeremy Hun
  
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• Jeremy Hunt accused of ‘£20bn gamble’ on nuclear energy and carbon capture

  15-03-2023 18:07
  
  Campaigners say chancellor is in the grip of the fossil fuel and nuclear lobbies and is ‘squandering taxpayers’ money’• Hunt U-turns on planned cut to energy bills support• What Hunt’s U-turn on energy bills support means for youJeremy Hunt has been accused of wagering a “dangerous gamble on unproven technologies” in an effort to decarbonise Britain’s energy industry after ploughing more than £20bn into a series of projects.In his budget
  
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• Chinese business tycoon and Bannon ally Guo Wengui arrested in $1bn fraud conspiracy

  15-03-2023 17:57
  
  US attorney says Wengui, also known as Miles Guo and Ho Wan Kwok, used stolen money to buy a $3.5m Ferrari and finance a $37m yachtGuo Wengui, a self-exiled Chinese tycoon with close links to prominent Trumpist Republicans including Steve Bannon, has been indicted on 12 counts relating to an alleged $1bn fraud.The charges announced by the US attorney for the southern district of New York on Wednesday include wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. Continue reading...
  
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• Hunt’s budget shows Britain is doing less badly – that’s not the same as doing well

  15-03-2023 17:50
  
  Chancellor delivers ‘budget for growth’ but UK is battling rising interest rates, rising taxes and a cost of living crisisBudget 2023 live: reaction to Jeremy Hunt’s statementBudget 2023: key points at a glanceWhat the budget means for people on a range of incomesIn 2020 it was the global pandemic. In 2022 it was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This year’s budget took place amid fears of a fresh global banking meltdown.Jeremy Hunt only made a glancing reference to the
  
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• RMT members to stage first of four planned 24-hour strikes across UK

  15-03-2023 16:50
  
  About 40-50% of trains expected to run overall on Thursday with wide regional variationsTrain services around Britain will be severely disrupted again as RMT members at 14 train operators stage the first of four planned 24-hour strikes.Passengers have been urged to check before travel on Thursday and are being told to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary, with most affected operators ending remaining services by early evening. Continue reading...
  
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• Hunt’s £4bn childcare boost welcomed but fears remain for struggling sector

  15-03-2023 16:31
  
  Campaigners call for fully funded system saying free 30 hours of support would take years to filter throughBudget 2023 live: reactionKey points at a glanceCampaigners, parents and the early-years sector in England have welcomed a major extension of state support for childcare costs, but warned that the plans would take years to come into effect and fail without sufficient funding.In a move that was met with delight by parents but given a cautious welcome by campaigners, the chancellor, Jeremy Hu
  
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• Sheikh Jassim is favourite to buy Manchester United as talks begin

  15-03-2023 16:14
  
  Qatari’s representatives due in Manchester on ThursdaySir Jim Ratcliffe poised for discussions with club on FridaySheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani is emerging as the favourite to buy Manchester United ahead of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, with each party due to hold its first face-to-face meeting with the club executive this week.Representatives of Thani, a Qatari banker who is seeking to purchase United via his Nine Two Foundation, are expected to meet the hierarchy in Manchester on Thursday. It is
  
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• Budget 2023: what it means for people on a range of incomes

  15-03-2023 16:02
  
  How Hunt’s measures on tax and benefits will affect single people, couples and those receiving pensions Continue reading...
  
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• SVB collapse may be start of ‘slow rolling crisis’, warns BlackRock boss

  15-03-2023 15:53
  
  Larry Fink tells investors more ‘shutdowns and seizures’ in US possible and predicts inflation and interest rates to riseCredit Suisse shares fall to record low as investor rules out more fundingThe collapse of Silicon Valley Bank could just be the start of “a “slow rolling crisis” in the US financial system with “more seizures and shutdowns coming”, the chief executive of the world’s largest asset manager has warned.The CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fin
  
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• Budget 2023: key points at a glance

  15-03-2023 15:51
  
  Jeremy Hunt has delivered his financial update – here are the main points, with political analysisBudget 2023 live: changes to childcare, pensions and disability benefitsHunt U-turns on planned cut to energy bills supportWhat Hunt’s U-turn on energy bills support means for youJeremy Hunt kicks off by telling MPs the British economy is “proving the doubters wrong”, and the OBR is now forecasting there will be no recession, after the gloomy projections made in the autumn. &
  
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• ‘How will I buy?’: housing crisis grips the Netherlands as Dutch go to polls

  15-03-2023 15:12
  
  Housing is key in this week’s provincial elections after years of soaring prices and government neglect Niki Struving, a 21-year-old student in Amsterdam, sits under an umbrella next to a circus tent, in bitter winds and driving rain. She is braving icy weather to campaign for more affordable housing – a key topic in Dutch regional elections this week.For a country known for its fiscal prudence, the Netherlands is suffering a surprising housing crisis. “In a couple of years I w
  
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• 'The UK will not enter a technical recession this year', says Jeremy Hunt – video

  15-03-2023 15:02
  
  Jeremy Hunt delivered the government's 2023 spring budget in the House of Commons on Wednesday. The chancellor started by saying the British economy is 'proving the doubters wrong' after taking 'difficult decisions' in autumn. Hunt confirmed the OBR now forecasts the UK will not enter a technical recession this year, following last November's prediction that Britain would fall into a recession lasting just over a year from the third quarter of 2022. The chancellor announced an extension in finan
  
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• Quitting alcohol, moving home and returning to work at 70: how rising costs have changed Australians’ lives

  15-03-2023 15:00
  
  As the country faces a housing crisis and rising inflation, Guardian Australia readers share how their lives have been affected – and what they’re doing to make ends meetRecent polling from the Australian National University has found that Australians are, on average, facing more financial stress now than during any other time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, almost 28% of Australians said they were finding it difficult to get by on their current income. In No
  
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• UK events company Hyve Group sold to US private equity firm

  15-03-2023 13:53
  
  Providence Equity Partners will pay 108p for each share – worth 610p before Covid sent sales plummetingThe events organiser Hyve Group has become the latest UK company to be sold to a private equity firm, sending its shares sharply higher.In a joint statement, the US firm Providence Equity Partners said it had agreed a buyout deal paying 108p in cash for each Hyve share – valuing the international conference organiser at £481m. Hyve had previously rejected two offers worth 101p
  
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• Budget 2023 live: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs before Jeremy Hunt sets out economic plans

  15-03-2023 13:25
  
  Expanded childcare and energy bill support expected to be announced during budget, which chancellor will set out from 12.30PMAccording to the Telegraph, Jeremy Hunt faces a Tory backlash over his decision to press ahead with the rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25% in the budget. This will take effect from April this year. The increase was first announced by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor, in his spring budget two years ago.In theory Hunt could have abandoned the rise, but for the last tw
  
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• Credit Suisse shares fall 26% to record low as top shareholder rules out investing more – business live

  15-03-2023 13:22
  
  Credit Suisse shares are sliding as its largest investor said it cannot provide the Swiss bank with more financial assistanceJeremy Hunt makes U-turn on planned cut to energy bills supportBudget 2023: Hunt to announce £4bn boost for childcare in EnglandThe crisis in the US banking sector casts a shadow over the budget today.With three US banks having failed this month – Silvergate, Signature and Silicon Valley Bank – investors have been fretting that there could be further casu
  
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• John Lewis and Waitrose owner appoints first group chief executive

  15-03-2023 13:04
  
  Nish Kankiwala to lead staff-owned partnership as it struggles to turn around business amid rising costsFive reasons why John Lewis and Waitrose are having a tough yearBusiness live – latest updatesThe owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has appointed its first group chief executive as it struggles to turn around the business amid rising costs.Nish Kankiwala, a former Hovis and Burger King executive who is currently a non-executive director of the John Lewis Partnership, will take up his new
  
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• Budget 2023 live: Rishi Sunak to face Keir Starmer at PMQs before Jeremy Hunt sets out economic plans

  15-03-2023 12:58
  
  Expanded childcare and extended energy bill support expected to be announced during chancellor’s first budgetAccording to the Telegraph, Jeremy Hunt faces a Tory backlash over his decision to press ahead with the rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25% in the budget. This will take effect from April this year. The increase was first announced by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor, in his spring budget two years ago.In theory Hunt could have abandoned the rise, but for the last two years (a
  
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• Credit Suisse shares fall 20% to record low as top shareholder rules out investing more – business live

  15-03-2023 12:50
  
  Credit Suisse shares are sliding as its largest investor said it cannot provide the Swiss bank with more financial assistanceJeremy Hunt makes U-turn on planned cut to energy bills supportBudget 2023: Hunt to announce £4bn boost for childcare in EnglandThe crisis in the US banking sector casts a shadow over the budget today.With three US banks having failed this month – Silvergate, Signature and Silicon Valley Bank – investors have been fretting that there could be further casu
  
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• Co-op hires delivery droids to drop groceries in Greater Manchester

  15-03-2023 12:46
  
  Fridge-sized self-drive robots from logistics firm Starship Technologies will ‘walk’ to customer homes in Sale and wait outside for drop-offAutonomous delivery robots will hit the streets of Greater Manchester this week as the Co-op partners with the self-driving logistics company Starship Technologies to bring its six-wheeled bots to a seventh British city.Five years after making their first UK delivery in Milton Keynes, Starship has expanded to cover hundreds of thousands of househ
  
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• More than a third of UK workers ‘would quit if told to return to office full-time’

  15-03-2023 12:18
  
  Data from LinkedIn also indicates share of job postings for remote roles has shrunk in past 10 monthsMore than a third of UK workers have said they would quit their job if their employer demanded they return to the office full-time, according to research showing how much the world of work has changed since the first Covid lockdown.Six in 10 employees are considering changing their job this year, according to data gathered by the professional networking site LinkedIn, although one in five of that
  
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• What Jeremy Hunt’s U-turn on energy bills support means for you

  15-03-2023 09:22
  
  From how much households could be paying to what prompted the rethinkHunt makes U-turn on planned cut to energy bills supportBusiness live updates: energy bills support extendedJeremy Hunt has confirmed a widely trailed U-turn on his plan announced last autumn to make the government’s energy support for households less generous.The Treasury has subsidised gas and electricity bills for every household through the energy price guarantee (EPG) since October. On Wednesday morning the Treasury
  
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• Paying for petrol at the pump can plunge you into the red

  15-03-2023 08:00
  
  A ‘pre-authorised’ sum up to £120, taken from a bank card before you fill up, is ring-fencedAt a Sainsbury’s petrol station I opted to pay at the pump. As usual, a whopping £100 was charged to my card before I began filling up. The actual bill came to £18.37. A week later, the £100 has still not been refunded. I need the money to pay for a funeral this month, and I don’t need this extra burden.
  SJ, Dursley, GloucestershireMany people don’t kn
  
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• ‘I’d love to go back to work’: UK’s missing workers on their budget expectations

  15-03-2023 08:00
  
  Over-50s who dropped out of work since pandemic say better and quicker NHS treatment is neededWhen chancellor Jeremy Hunt urged people over 50 who have dropped out of the workforce since the pandemic to get off the golf course, Julie*, 52, from Hertfordshire, “laughed out loud”.Julie has been waiting over a year for a knee replacement operation so she can get back into employment. She is one of many unable to work due to long-term illness who will be looking to the chancellor to prov
  
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• When it comes to pensions, Britain's women are still a long way from equality. Why? | Ros Altmann

  15-03-2023 07:00
  
  State provision is still lagging behind that for men, while women also lose out significantly in private pensionsIn 21st-century Britain, there is still a shocking gap between men’s and women’s pensions. While public discourse has been dominated by the gender pay gap, which has been almost eliminated for women under the age of 40, women remain the poor relations when it comes to financial security in later life.Official figures show most of the UK’s poorest pensioners are singl
  
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• From pensions to pools: what to expect from Hunt’s spring budget

  15-03-2023 07:00
  
  Biggest change to welfare system in a decade and extension of energy price guarantee among expected measuresJeremy Hunt is due to set out the government’s plans for tax and spending in his first budget on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will publish updated economic forecasts and an assessment of the government’s finances for the next five years – running up to and beyond the next election. Here is what to expect. Continue reading...
  
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• UK homeowners still better off than renters despite spike in interest rates

  15-03-2023 01:01
  
  Average monthly cost of owning 3-bed home is £500 a year less than renting, but the gap is narrowingHomeowners in the UK are almost £500 better off a year than renters, according to new research from Halifax.The average monthly cost of owning a three-bed home for first-time buyers is now £971, which is £42 lower than the average cost of renting an equivalent property, the mortgage lender said. Renters pay on average £1,013 each month – 4% more. Continue readin
  
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