Closing post
Time to wrap up….
The chancellor has seized on official figures showing the UK economy was more resilient than feared at the start of the Iran war as evidence to keep the current Labour leadership in place.
Rachel Reeves hailed the fact that the economy unexpectedly grew in March, during the first month of the Iran war, as proof the government has “the right economic plan”.
“Now is not the time to put our economic stability at risk. To do so would leave families and business worse off,” Reeves said, in a barbed reference to the in-fighting within the Labour party as Keir Starmer fought to hang on to his job.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed growth of 0.3% in gross domestic product (GDP) in March – significantly better than economists’ forecasts that GDP would shrink by 0.2%.
Economists, though, warned that this might be as good as it gets for the UK economy this year, as the Iran war pushed up energy prices and disrupts supply chains.
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In other news….
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British government borrowing costs have hit a three-day low after health secretary Wes Streeting resigned, but didn’t trigger a leadership contest against Keir Starmer.
Ten-year gilt yields are down 5 basis points down on the day at 5.01%, their lowest since May 11, while 30-year yields are also down 5bs at a three-day low of 5.69%.
Traders have been shorting the pound this week, as the Labour leadership battle has gripped the markets.
Food ingredients firm Tate & Lyle has received a takeover approach, lifting its shares by over 40%.
Britain’s competition watchdog is examining Microsoft’s position in the business software market
JLR profits fall 99%
Jaguar Land Rover annual profit slumped by more than 99% as it counted the cost of US tariffs and a cyber-attack that disrupted its factories for months.
Britain’s largest carmaker made only £14m in profit before tax and exceptional items in the year to March, down from £2.5bn the year before, according to financial results published on Thursday.
The manufacturer, which employs 33,000 people in the UK, suffered a series of blows as Donald Trump’s automotive industry tariffs caused turmoil in its important export market.
That was followed by a damaging cyber-attack on the last day of August that forced the company to shut down most of its systems and factories for weeks, with disruption rippling on through the autumn.
