Closing summary
Stock markets are falling on both sides of the Atlantic. The FTSE 100 index in London has lost 0.7%, or 64 points, to 8,703 while the German and French markets fell by more than 1%.
On Wall Street, shares are trading about 0.3% lower across the Nasdaq, Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices.
Glencore is still the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 index, after it reported a fall in underlying profits in 2024 for the second year in a row, and blamed lower commodity prices, despite a rise in commodities trading.
The Swiss-based miner and commodities trader said it is considering ditching its primary listing in the UK in favour of New York or another location where it can “get the right valuation”. This would deal another big blow to the London Stock Exchange, which has been hit by a string of high profile departures.
Glencore has been listed in London since 2011, when the company was valued at about £37bn – at the time the largest-ever float on the London Stock Exchange. The listing made Nagle’s predecesssor, Ivan Glasenberg, one of Europe’s richest men, with a paper fortune of nearly £6bn. The company became known as a “millionaire factory”.
Last year, 88 companies delisted from the London Stock Exchange or moved their primary listing from its main market. Just 18 listed during 2024.
UK inflation accelerated faster than expected at the start of this year, eating into workers’ wages and reducing the chance of an interest rate cut next month.
The consumer prices index (CPI) measure rose to 3% in January, the Office for National Statistics reported, up from 2.5% in December.
City economists had expected a smaller increase in January’s inflation rate, to 2.8%.
The ONS said a jump in the cost of meat, bread and cereals pushed up food bills, while higher private school fees after the government’s withdrawal of a VAT exemption increased the cost of education services.
Airline tickets fell in price in January, but not by as much as usual, and combined with a rise in fuel costs, pushed up the annual rate of inflation in the transport sector to its highest level since February 2023.
Our other main stories today:
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Cheerio! – JK
US electric carmaker Nikola files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
The scandal-hit US electric vehicle maker Nikola – once a rising star on Wall Street – has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after warning that it could run out of cash.
Its share price tumbled by 41% on the news.
Nikola filed for protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, and said today that it has also filed a motion seeking approval to pursue an auction and sale of the business.
The company has about $47m in cash. Nikola plans to to continue to provide limited service and support for vehicles on the road, including fuelling operations through the end of March, subject to court approval. The company said that it will need to raise more funding to support those operations after that time.
Chief executive Steve Girsky said the group had tried to raise more money and preserve cash but that hasn’t been enough.
Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic factors that have impacted our ability to operate.
The board has determined that Chapter 11 represents the best possible path forward under the circumstances for the company and its stakeholders.
The company’s founder former executive chairman Trevor Milton was convicted in 2022 for misleading investors about its technology. In December 2023, he was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of exaggerating claims about his company’s production of zero-emission 18-wheel trucks, leading to sizeable losses for investors.
Milton resigned in 2020 amid reports of fraud that sent Nikola’s share price into a tailspin, and investors suffered heavy losses.
At his trial, prosecutors said a company video of a prototype truck appearing to be driven down a desert highway had actually rolled down.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Milton misled investors by stating that Nikola had built a pickup from the “ground up”, that it had developed its own batteries even though he knew it was buying them, and that it had early success creating a “Nikola One” semi-truck that he knew did not work.
