Closing post
Time to wrap up.
Stocks on Wall Street have hit record levels, as investors welcome the choice of Scott Bessent as the next US Treasury secretary.
Both the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 share index touched new peaks, while the dollar has weakened and bond price haves jumped.
Investors are hopeful that Bessent would take a gradual approach to the introduction of new trade tariffs, and reduce the US budget deficit.
These hopes have pushed down the dollar, giving a lift to the pound and the euro – which would both suffer from a new translatlantic trade war:
Swati Dhingra, an external member of the Bank of England’s rate-setting monetary policy committee, has suggested that inflation could fall if Donald Trump imposes massive US tariffs on Chinese imports.
In the UK, chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended her budget against criticism, telling the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference that she hasn’t heard alternative suggestions for how she could have got a grip on the public finances.
Reeves also promised that she doesn’t plan to deliver another budget like last month’s, which hit businesses with a jump in taxes.
However, the chair of the CBI has accused the UK government of treating employers as a “cash cow” in last month’s budget, and urged ministers to water down plans for workers’ rights.
Barclays has been fined £40m by the City regulator, over its 2008 rescue financing from Qatar.
The B&Q owner, Kingfisher, has said uncertainty around the UK government’s budget hit consumer spending, and it will pay an extra £31m in taxes after Rachel Reeves’s rise in national insurance.
Thousands of Amazon workers are expected to protest or strike in more than 20 countries during Black Friday to press for better workers’ rights and climate action from the US retailer.
Q: Will you rethink any of the measures in the budget?
Rachel Reeves says she is determined to be the chancellor that puts the public finances on a firm footing.
Sounding like a lady not for turning, the chancellor insists:
We’ve made our decisions. I’ve had lots of feedback on the budget, but what I haven’t heard is any credible alternative to what I did.
