Closing post
Time to recap.
Global policymakers continue to count the cost of Donald Trump’s trade wars.
The governor of the Bank of England has told MPs that the global trade system has been ‘blown up’, and that fragmenting the world trading system is negative for world growth and world activity.
Andrew Bailey told MPs:
“The overall picture on trade now I’m afraid is one where the rules-based system is sort of dead. That has very serious consequences for the global economy.”
Bailey also warned that the future path of UK interest rate cuts was shrouded in a lot more uncertainty.
The OECD has warned that global economic growth is slowing more than expected, as the trade war weighs on the world economy.
It now expects global growth will slow from 3.3% last year to 2.9% in 2025 and 2026.
The OECD also downgraded its expectations for the UK economy this year and next from a forecast made in March, pushing down UK growth from 1.4% to 1.3% in 2025 and from 1.2% to 1% next year.
China’s factory output fell last month, as manufacturers were hit by falling orders and weaker export demand.
The US private equity group KKR has pulled out of a deal to inject fresh equity into Thames Water, leaving the troubled supplier’s future in doubt and increasing the prospects of a temporary nationalisation.
A review of the water industry in England and Wales has found that its “deep-rooted, systemic” problems are the fault of companies, the government and industry regulators.
UK ministers could give the go-ahead to the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk within weeks, according to reports.
Wall Street trading has begun with little drama, as tariff fears continue to weigh on the New York stock market.
The Dow Jones industrial average is up 13 points, or 0.033%, at 42,319 points. The broader S&P 500 index is 0.03% higher.
Traders are looking for signs of progress in trade talks between the US and its trading partners, and also digesting this morning’s growth forecast downgrade from the OECD.
