Financial news

• Sobering times for UK alcohol-free bars as many struggle to survive

  05-08-2024 19:08
  
  Economics of running a dry bar has led to closures despite the growing popularity of alcohol-free beers and cocktailsWe may be in the era of the “sober curious generation” but alcohol-free bars are struggling to survive.Although growing numbers of people are opting for alcohol-free beers and cocktails at home and in pubs, several exclusively dry bars in the UK and Ireland have closed over the past couple of years. Continue reading...
  
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• Get ready for a long and messy August in the stock markets | Nils Pratley

  05-08-2024 18:45
  
  Complacency from the US and Japan has fed the turmoil, but a gentle-ish landing is still on the cardsChoose the culprit behind the sudden sell-off in stock markets but a common theme in all top contenders is complacency.In the first case, it is the US Federal Reserve that stands accused, in the eyes of the market, of being asleep to the risk of a recession in the US. Friday’s weak jobs numbers intensified the worry that policymakers have waited too long to cut interest rates. Even if a US
  
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• Wife of jailed Azeri banker forfeits house near Harrods and Ascot golf club

  05-08-2024 18:03
  
  High spender Zamira Hajiyeva hands over assets as part of settlement worth £18.5m to taxpayersA mansion in Knightsbridge and a golf club in Ascot owned by the wife of the jailed Azeri banker Jahangir Hajiyev have been forfeited to the British state as part of a settlement worth an estimated £18.5m to taxpayers.The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the luxury properties were obtained by Hajiyev as a “direct result of large-scale fraud and embezzlement, false accounting and money
  
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• Shares in New York and London tumble on fears of US recession

  05-08-2024 17:55
  
  FTSE 100 on track for its lowest close since April and Japan’s Nikkei suffers biggest fall since crash of 1987Business live – latest updatesShares on Wall Street and in London have fallen heavily amid a global stock market rout triggered by fears of a recession in the US.The tech-focused Nasdaq index dropped by 6% as trading in New York opened on Monday, while the broader S&P 500 index fell by 4.2% in a sell-off triggered by weak US jobs data. The Dow Jones industrial average los
  
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• Elon Musk sues OpenAI again, alleging ‘deceit of Shakespearean proportions’

  05-08-2024 17:35
  
  Tesla CEO alleges his former partners, including CEO Sam Altman, manipulated him into co-founding the companyElon Musk is once again suing OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, resurrecting a legal battle against his former partners with a case that now claims they manipulated him into co-founding the artificial intelligence company.Months after abruptly withdrawing a similar lawsuit without explanation, Musk filed a new lawsuit on Monday in a northern California federal court. Continue re
  
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• Is Australia stuck with an airline duopoly? – podcast

  05-08-2024 17:00
  
  When Rex grounded its capital city services and entered into voluntary administration last week, it joined a long queue of airlines that have unsuccessfully challenged Qantas and Virgin’s duopoly.The former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims argues this was caused by ‘public policy failure’ over the allocation of slots at Sydney airport.Guardian Australia’s transport and urban affairs reporter Elias Visontay speaks to Tamsin Rose about how a lac
  
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• Shares in Pringles maker Kellanova jump on Mars bid talks

  05-08-2024 16:35
  
  Cereal and snacks company formerly known as Kellogg’s jumps 18% in early trading on Wall StreetShares in the Pringles maker Kellanova have surged nearly 20% after it emerged that the family-owned snacks company Mars was considering a takeover of the $27bn (£21bn) company.Stock in Kellanova, formerly known as Kellogg’s, rose 18% in early trading on Monday after Reuters reported that Mars was interested in buying the company, known for snacks brands such as Rice Krispies Treats a
  
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• UK carmakers say they may miss government targets on EV sales

  05-08-2024 14:43
  
  Industry downgrades forecast for sales of battery vehicles after18.8% rise in July on a year earlierThe UK car industry has downgraded its forecast for electric vehicle sales this year in the latest sign of pessimism in the industry over its ability to meet government targets for shifting away from fossil fuels.The number of battery EVs sold in the UK in July rose by 18.8% on the figure a year ago, according to data published on Monday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Continue
  
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• Wood Group suitor pulls out of takeover, blaming market turmoil

  05-08-2024 13:07
  
  Shares in FTSE 250 company slump 37% in early trading after Dubai-based Sidara cites geopolitical risk The share price of the British oil services company John Wood Group has plunged by more than a third after a Dubai-based suitor pulled out of a purchase amid global market turmoil.In a statement to the stock market on Monday the engineering company Sidara said it had pulled out of a bid for Wood “in light of rising geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty”. Continue readi
  
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• What can I do about my mortgage now the base rate has been cut?

  05-08-2024 10:00
  
  It was good news for homebuyers as interest rates finally went down. But it has raised a lot of tricky questions for themLast week’s Bank of England interest rate cut, the first since 2020, spelled good news for millions of homeowners and would-be buyers – but it has also given them lots to think about.If you are looking to buy a home, what sort of mortgage do you go for, and is this going to push house prices even higher? And if your existing mortgage deal is about to end, should yo
  
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• Energy firms pile on the agony for the vulnerable

  05-08-2024 08:00
  
  EDF and British Gas have added to the grief and suffering of the bereaved and sickAnyone requiring help in extremis would be well advised not to look to their energy company for a warm embrace. Last week I reported a mother’s struggles to stop E.ON debiting the account of her son who had killed himself.Meanwhile, JL of York says the distress of a double bereavement has been exacerbated by British Gas. He and his sister were executors of his mother’s will and he took over her British
  
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• Manufacturers and unions join forces to press for UK industrial strategy

  05-08-2024 07:00
  
  Exclusive: Industry leaders urge government to ‘seize the goodwill’ while at critical moment in attracting global investmentBritain’s trade union and manufacturing leaders have warned that major international manufacturers are holding back investments in the UK until Labour shows it is committed to boosting the industry.A month after Keir Starmer’s landslide victory, the heads of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Make UK, which represents 20,000 employers across the UK,
  
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• Pharmacies in England cutting services amid financial pressures, research finds

  05-08-2024 01:01
  Poll reveals emergency contraception, free prescription deliveries and extended opening hours among services hit Pharmacies across England are unable to provide critical NHS and public health services owing to the overwhelming financial and operational pressures they are facing, according to research.A poll of pharmacy owners representing more than 2,100 pharmacies found that more than 96% of respondents said they had stopped providing locally commissioned services over the past 12 months. Conti
  
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• Large English vineyards mark boom year as output and investment soar

  05-08-2024 01:01
  
  Though tiny compared with rivals, English wine trade is thriving as climate crisis fuels flood of new capital from investorsThe largest English vineyards increased their revenues by 15% last year, as wine investors respond to the climate crisis by planting more vines.While the UK still languishes well down the list of the largest wine-producing nations, below countries such as Uzbekistan and Tunisia, the industry’s output has soared in recent years, rising by 77% last year to 161,960 hecto
  
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