Closing summary
Time for a recap
A Bank of England policy maker has warned that UK business investment growth was “stopped in its tracks” by Brexit.
Jonathan Haskel, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, said that this created a productivity penalty of £29bn – or £1,000 per household.
UK businesses began 2023 in a pessimistic mood, according to the latest survey of the economy from BDO. It found that optimism fell last month, as firms experienced a sharp decline in growth as customers cut back.
There’s better news from the eurozone, though – the EC has raised its growth forecasts. It now predicts the European Union will avoid a recession this year, as the fall in gas prices has helped the economy.
Staff at Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Coventry are to walk out on February 28, March 2 and from March 13 to 17, as industrial action at the company intensifies.
But a long-running London bus dispute involving drivers employed by Abellio has ended, after workers accepted a pay rise worth 18%.
Here’s the rest of today’s stories:
As expected, the US stock market has opened a little higher ahead of Tuesday’s inflation report which is expected to show a slowdown in price rises.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which tracks 30 large US companies, has gained 49 points or 0.15% to 33,919 points. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite is 0.2% higher.
Shares in Manchester United are up 3.6%, at $24.40, following a Bloomberg report that Qatar investors could make an offer for the English football giant in the coming days.
Qatari investors are set to make an offer for Manchester United in the coming days, a move that would cement the country's desire to become a major player in global sports https://t.co/YUTVk8thBS
— Bloomberg (@business) February 13, 2023
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