Closing post
Time for a recap…
The JP Morgan boss, Jamie Dimon, has warned the world may be living through “the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades” as Israel prepares to launch an expected ground offensive on Gaza.
Dimon said:
“The war in Ukraine compounded by last week’s attacks on Israel may have far-reaching impacts on energy and food markets, global trade and geopolitical relationships. This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades.”
Anxiety over the Middle East has pushed up gas prices this week by the most in 16 months, due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, the damage to the Finland-Estonia pipeline, and looming colder weather.
The oil price has also pushed higher today, with Brent crude up almost 4% today at over $89 per barrel.
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has warned that the government will need to take “difficult decisions” in next month’s autumn statement after a sharp worsening of the public finances over the past six months.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has predicted that further UK interest rate decisions will be “tight”, speaking at the IMF’s annual meeting in Morocco.
High interest rates have been blamed, in part, for a 17% surge in company insolvencies in England and Wales last month.
The IMF has criticised the UK’s u-turn on its net zero policies.
Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has called for poor countries to be given $300bn (£246bn) a year from the International Monetary Fund to finance their fight against the climate crisis.
Microsoft has completed the takeover of computer games maker Activision Blizzard, after the UK competition authorities gave their approval to the rejigged deal early this morning….
…and warned other businesses not to follow Microsoft’s approach
The power company owned by the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský has been ordered to pay £23m after the energy watchdog found that it unfairly demanded excessive payments for one of the UK’s biggest power stations, increasing customers’ energy bills.
The maker of the meat alternative Quorn dived £15.5m into the red last year amid soaring costs and a slowdown in sales at supermarkets.
Britain’s FTSE 100 share index has closed for the day, down 45 points or 0.6% at 7,599 points.
