Closing post
Time to wrap up….
Here are today’s main stories:
The UK economy returned to growth in November after a recovery in consumer spending driven by Black Friday sales, with shoppers hunting for bargains as the key Christmas shopping season got under way.
But (as flagged before) some economists fear the UK could yet fall into a technical recession….
Oil prices have hit $80 per barrel as fears grew about the economic impact of disruption to international trade through the Red Sea and escalating tensions in the Middle East.
The electric car manufacturer Tesla is to halt most production at its factory near Berlin for two weeks because of delays in deliveries of parts because of attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
Burberry has warned that annual profits will be sharply lower than previously expected after consumers left its expensive trenchcoats, bags and scarves off their Christmas shopping lists.
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which boasts a $100bn (£79bn) collection of companies including Gatwick airport and the Suez wastewater group, has been sold to the US investment firm BlackRock in a $12.5bn deal.
On Wall Street… JP Morgan has reported a record annual profit, while Citigroup is cutting 20,000 jobs after posting its worst quarter in 15 years.
And it’s been a busy week at the annual CES tech show in Las Vegas:
:
US travel stocks slide
Shares in US airlines are under pressure today.
United Airlines are the top faller on the S&P 500, down 8.6%, followed by American Airlines (-8.2%) and Delta Air Lines (-7.9%).
The selloff came after Delta predicts its adjusted earnings will be $6 to $7 a share this year, rather than hitting its long-term profit target of over $7.
Michael Hewson of CMC Markets explains:
Airlines are lower after Delta Airlines adjusted its 2024 profit targets lower due to concerns over higher costs saying it expects full year profits to come in between $6 to $7 a share, below the previous estimate of more than $7. Q4 revenues came in at $14.22bn and profits came in at $1.28c a share.
Cruise operators are also down, with Norwegian Cruise Line (-4%) and Carnival (-3.8%) among the main fallers on the S&P 500.
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