Closing post
Time to wrap up, after a volatile week which has ended with gas prices falling, stocks rising, and the pound battling to stay above its March 2020 lows.
Here’s today’s main stories:
Markets have rallied on both sides of the Atlantic after the US added another 315,000 jobs in August.
The data shows the jobs market remained strong amid signs of a worsening economy, while the unemployment rate rose as more Americans looked for work.
Finance ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies have agreed to implement a price cap on Russian crude oil and petroleum products.
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi says the move will hurt Russia’s ability to fund the Ukraine war:
“We will curtail (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s capacity to fund his war from oil exports by banning services, such as insurance and the provision of finance, to vessels carrying Russian oil above an agreed price cap,”.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said it will deliver a major blow for Russian finances.
We have already begun to see the impact of the price cap through Russia’s hurried attempts to negotiate bilateral oil trades at massive discounts.
I look forward to working with our G7 allies – as well as new coalition partners – as we move quickly to finalize the implementation of the price cap in the weeks to come.”
Here’s the full story, by my colleague Alex Lawson:
The pound is heading towards its third weekly fall in a row, hit by recession fears and political uncertainty….
…while gas prices have fallen on hopes that Russia will turn on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline tomorrow after planned maintenance.
And global bonds have slumped into a bear market, 20%off their record high, as investors are spooked by rising interest rates as inflation soars/
In other news…
Selfridges is aiming for almost half its interactions with customers to be based on resale, repair, rental or refills by 2030 as the upmarket department store responds to increasing demand for more sustainable shopping.
Shell’s long-serving chief executive, Ben van Beurden, is reportedly preparing to step down next year after almost a decade in the role.
One of the UK’s biggest chicken producers has warned food security could be under threat and shoppers exposed to a “price shock” after a more than threefold surge in the price of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Waitrose has admitted to signing deals with landlords halting other supermarkets from opening nearby for a decade, after an investigation by the UK competition watchdog.
Credit Suisse is considering 5,000 job cuts as part of a broader restructuring plan meant to solidify the bank’s pivot towards wealth management after a string of scandals at its investment ban
One of Britain’s major intercity train operators, Avanti West Coast, is expected to part company with its boss a month after the company admitted it was unable to run its timetabled services.
And Laxman Narasimhan has a lot on his plate after swapping the CEO’s seat at Reckitt Benckiser for the same role at Starbucks:
Have a lovely weekend, we’ll be back on Monday…..GW
Updated
Liverpool port workers to strike over pay
More than 560 dockworkers at the Port of Liverpool, one of Britain’s largest container ports, will hold a two-week strike in a pay dispute.
The walkout will begin on September 19th, and run until October 3rd, the Unite union says, after staff rejected a 7% pay rise.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham says the port’s owner, MDHC, can ‘well afford’ to give staff a proper pay rise, not a real terms pay cut.
“Workers across the country are sick to death of being told to take a hit on their wages and living standards while employer after employer is guilty of rampant profiteering.
MDHC needs to think again, table a reasonable offer and fulfil its previous pay promises.”
This adds to the lengthy list of workers taking strike action, including bus and train drivers, barristers, university staff, BT engineers, call centre staff and refuse workers.
