Closing summary
Time for a recap before we close for today.
News broke in the last hour that the boss of WeightWatchers has stepped down, as the company struggles to compete with new weight loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound.
Sima Sistani has quit with immediate effect, and board member Tara Comonte will step in as interim chief executive.
US annual inflation, measured by the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure, has fallen more than expected to the lowest level since February 2021, boosting expectations of further interest rate cuts.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, a measure the Fed focuses on to gauge inflation pressures in the US economy, rose by 0.1% in August from July, taking the 12-month inflation rate to 2.2%, from 2.5% in July, the US Commerce Department said. Economists had expected an annual rate of 2.3%.
However, the core measure, which excludes volatile items food and energy, ticked up to 2.7% last month. Fed officials tend to focus on the core measure as a better gauge of long-run trends.
Chinese stocks have had their best week in 16 years, boosted by various stimulus measures announced this week by the Beijing government and People’s Bank of China.
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 2.9%, logging its biggest weekly gain since 2008, up nearly 10% while China’s CSI 300 jumped by 4.5% and had its best week since November 2008, ending 15.7% higher.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose by 3.6% and enjoyed its best week since 1998 with a 13% gain, which was the third-biggest move on record.
The optimism in Asia spilled over into Europe, where the benchmark Stoxx 600 index rose by 0.37% to touch an all-time high.
Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group has made a fourth attempt to buy Rightmove, increasing its offer to £6.2bn as it steps up its pursuit of the UK’s largest online property portal.
The Australian property group, which is controlled by News Corp, raised its cash and shares offer from the £6.1bn offered earlier this week and called on Rightmove’s board to “engage now” after it repeatedly refused to meet the suitor.
Rightmove has rejected three previous non-binding cash and shares approaches from REA this month, calling them “unattractive” and saying the offers “fundamentally undervalue” the company. In a brief statement, the UK firm said it would consider the latest proposal.
Thank you for reading, and have a lovely weekend. Take care – JK
Updated
Rightmove says it will consider REA's latest offer
Rightmove has confirmed that it has received a “fourth unsolicited, non-binding and highly conditional proposal” from Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group for a £6.2bn takeover of the UK property portal.
The board will consider the latest proposal together with its financial advisers and, in the meantime, shareholders are urged to take no action.
There can be no certainty that any offer will be made for the company nor as to the terms on which any offer may be made.
