Closing summary: Twitter debt losses, Canary Wharf investment, Alphabet shares fall
With war, uncertainty, a slowdown in the Chinese economy and – perhaps above all – rising interest rates, the signs of strain in the global economy are evident. That can affect anyone who is not careful.
The investment banks who lent Elon Musk money to buy Twitter, now renamed X, have been exposed as the tide has come out.
Canary Wharf Group has needed an injection of £400m as it tries to shift strategy after the coronavirus pandemic.
And even the mighty Alphabet, Google’s owner, is not having it all its own way. Its share price dropped 9% on Wednesday inthe first half hour of trading after it announced that its cloud business was slowing down, even as it tries to jump on the generative AI boom.
In other business news today:
Big European carmakers are desperately calling for the European Commission to back down on rules that will add 10% tariffs to electric car trade between the EU and UK.
Boeing has cut its 737 Max production targets after problems at a supplier.
Lloyds Banking Group said it expects further UK house price declines in the coming year.
Nvidia said that the US had ordered it to halt AI chip exports to China immediately.
Dettol and Durex maker Reckitt has said its sales were lower than expected.
You can continue to read our live coverage from around the world:
In our coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, Israel vows to ‘teach the UN a lesson’ as row over secretary general’s speech escalates
In our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war: Russia set to withdraw from global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests
In the UK, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer clash over housing and the cost of living at PMQs
In the US, Mike Johnson becomes Republicans’ fourth House speaker nominee with support unclear
In our Europe coverage, Robert Fico formally appointed as Slovakia’s prime minister
Thank you for reading today. That’s all from me this week. Normal service resumes with Graeme Wearden tomorrow and Friday. JJ
One of the biggest movers on European stock exchanges today is Paris-listed payments company Worldline. Its share price has plunged 57% after shocking investors with a cut to its full-year guidance.
Reuters reckons that the price drop has wiped $4bn from its market value today, with the struggling German economy particularly in focus.
Worldline counts Marks & Spencer, Subway and airline KLM among its customers, providing tills, online payments and cross-border payment services. However, it said there was a macroeconomic slowdown, and people were diverting spending to essentials such as food rather than discretionary spending. It also said it had ended relationships with some clients who were fraud risks.
The sell-off on Wednesday was brutal.
Gilles Grapinet, Worldline’s chief executive, said:
After a solid start of the year, we now enter into a second semester where the macro environment deteriorates, in particular in Germany.
The company said it would cut €200m in costs as it tries to turn around.
Investors have raced to drag money out of rivals as well. Reuters listed them:
Italy’s Nexi down 20.4%, the second biggest faller on the STOXX 600 and set for its worst daily fall since March 2020.
Shares in CAB Payments shed 9.5%, having already plunged more than 70% on Tuesday after the London-listed company lowered its full-year revenue forecast.
Dutch payments firm Adyen’s AS shares were down more than 11% to a four year low.
US payments companies also fell in pre-market trading. The likes of PayPal, Block, Upstart and Affirm fell between 2.1% and 7.1% ahead of the Wall Street open.
