Closing post
Time to recap.
The UK government borrowed more than expected in October as debt interest payments and public sector pay rises pushed the public finances deeper into the red.
Borrowing rose to £17.4bn last month, the second highest October figure since monthly records began in 1993 and despite a rise in inheritance tax receipts.
City economists had expected a smaller figure, of about £12.3bn for October, after the UK borrowed more than £16bn in September.
The increase piling pressure on Rachel Reeves as she attempts to grow the economy, with economists warning that more tax rises may be needed if the chancellor wants to lift spending in future years.
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After making a run towards the $100,000 mark, bitcoin is now dipping back – it’s currently trading around $96,000, having hit a new all-time high over $98,000 this morning.
Shares in Alphabet, the parent company of Google, are down 6% after the DoJ ordered it to sell its Chrome browser.
After opening higher, shares in Nvidia are now down over 2% despite reporting strong results last night.
Investors at Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water will be forced to pick up the tab for executive bonuses after the regulator determined that the sector had awarded “undeserved” extra payments, worth £6.8m.
The company that owns Royal Mail is considering job cuts and price rises on stamps and parcels as it blamed the Labour government’s first budget in 14 years for adding £120m to its costs.
Three British mining executives who had been detained by the government of Mali have been released and are “safe and well”, days after agreeing to pay $160m to settle a tax dispute.
The City regulator plans to intervene in the car loan mis-selling scandal, in a move that could give lenders up to a year to respond to the rising number of customer complaints after a shock court ruling.
Mild weather and discounting by rivals hit sales at JD Sports in October, as the trainers and fashion retailer said profits will be at the lower end of expectations.
Alphabet shares drop 5% after DoJ proposes Chrome sale
Shares in Google’s parent company, Alphabet, have dropped over 5% in early New York trading after the US Department of Justice said it should sell Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser.
The DoJ made the call as part of a far-reaching overhaul of Google’s structure and business practices, in a bid to end its monopoly on internet search.
The proposal proposals follow a landmark court ruling in August in which a federal judge ruled that Google maintained an illegal monopoly over search services.
