ENDED · The Guardian · 28 updates
Barclays profits jump ahead of looming bank tax; French bond yields hit fresh 24-year high – business live
Barclays cuts 5,000 jobs as profits jump ahead of looming bank tax; French bond yields hit fresh 24-year high – as it happened
Live updates, newest first
Just one more thing before I go... Forrester Research’s principal analyst JP Gownder has sent us his thoughts on the risks of reducing the workforce to fund AI investments. Too many organisations announce large-scale job cuts while claiming that AI is making workers redundant, when the reality is o…
Closing summary
Wall Street stocks have fallen as strong results from Facebook parent Meta and Tesla failed to counter doubts about the AI outlook, and oil prices jumped to a five-month high. The Dow Jones lost 146 points, or 0.3%, to 52,711, while the benchmark S&P 500 dropped nearly 70 points, or 0.9%, to 7,688.…
kfgo.com
1 more NewsBreak article
Websites across world hit by millions of attempts to exploit PHP code flaw
Websites around the world have been hit by millions of attempts to exploit a recently discovered vulnerability in their code, cybersecurity companies have said, as the US National Security Agency warned the flaw could allow attackers to take control of web servers, steal data and disrupt services.…
theguardian.com
1 more NewsBreak article
Back to our main story today. Barclays announced this morning that it is cutting 5,000 jobs partly due the use of greater technology, namely AI, as it reported a 12% increase in quarterly profits to £2.3bn and a £500m share buyback. A No10 spokeswoman said job losses at Barclays are a matter for th…
upi.com
Turkey cuts interest rates, pointing to slowing inflation
Turkey’s central bank has cut its key interest rate to 36%, the first reduction in nine months, as it pointed to a recent slowdown in inflation. The bank reduced its policy rate from 37% to 36%, in the first cut since January when the bank lowered the key rate from 38% to 37%, a level it stayed at…
dpa-international.com
UK must prepare for infrastructure attacks by hostile states, says Streeting
The defence secretary, Wes Streeting, has said Britain should prepare for the threat of “state-sponsored terrorism” by hostile powers targeting everyday infrastructure as part of a national conversation about resilience in the face of emergencies. He said on Thursday the public should consider how…
theguardian.com
Aldi and Lidl will be subject to same rules as major supermarkets, CMA says
Also on the retail front, Aldi and Lidl will be subject to the same rules as major supermarkets to ensure customers get the best choice of where to shop, the UK’s competition watchdog has said. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has decided to designate Aldi, Lidl GB and Lidl NI as “large…
the-independent.com
Save high street by taxing online sales at higher rate, Burnham urged
Andy Burnham has been urged by one of his most senior former advisers to tax internet sales at a higher rate than those in physical shops to help “level the playing field” for struggling high streets. As the prime minister and his chancellor, John Healey, prepare for their first budget next week, A…
theguardian.com
Meta strikes deal with Zuckerberg to protect him from California wealth tax
Meta has struck a deal with Mark Zuckerberg to protect him from the threat of a California wealth tax targeting billionaires. The social media company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp revealed on Wednesday night that the arrangement would keep its chief executive living in California, where…
theguardian.com
Lunchtime summary: French bond yields jump as oil prices hit five-month high
Time for a summary. Investors are demanding a similar risk premium to buy France’s 10-year government bonds against safe-haven German Bunds to 2011 during the eurozone debt crisis. The spread between bonds of both countries reached more than 173 basis points today, the widest since November 2011, a…
reuters.com
1 more NewsBreak article
French borrowing costs overtake US amid budget turmoil
theguardian.com
Maritime and port workers: how is the Middle East conflict affecting you?
The conflict in the Middle East continues to disrupt shipping across the region, including in the strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest maritime routes. Iran state TV has reported that seven oil tankers were damaged in the Straight of Hormuz on Wednesday night. There has been an increase in…
nerdydigest.com
John Healey says helping entrepreneurs will be a budget priority
A week today John Healey, the chancellor, will be doing a media round defending the budget he is presenting on Wednesday next week. Ahead of that, he has given an interview to Patrick Maguire from the Times. As you would expect, there is no real detail in it about the measures he will be presenting…
the-independent.com
Sainsbury's says households 'finding it tough' in run-up to Christmas
Sainsbury’s has warned of a “pretty challenging” market in the run-up to Christmas as households are “finding it tough” and food producers face rising costs. Simon Roberts, the chief executive of the UK’s second biggest supermarket, called on the government not to “further aggravate” pressure on co…
the-independent.com
Barclays boss backs UK chancellor over expected bank tax hikes
Barclays’ CEO seems to have admitted defeat over bank tax hikes, which are expected to be a headline measure in John Healey’s budget next Wednesday. When asked whether the bank might consider tilting assets or investment out of the UK and to the US - where it also has operations - as a result of hi…
Lorry drivers' blockades bring southern Italy to standstill
French president Emmanuel Macron isn’t the only European leader to be holding emergency meetings. As lorry drivers’ protests bring much of southern Italy to a standstill amid food and fuel shortages, with businesses warning they are on the brink of collapse, Italian authorities have launched a poli…
The ongoing protests in France create a vicious circle, ING’s senior economist Charlotte de Montpellier warned. The yield on 10-year French government bonds OATs has crossed the symbolic 5% threshold, while the spread over the German Bund has widened beyond 160 basis points, from 137bps last Friday…
French business confidence improves but unrest clouds outlook, with more protests planned
French business confidence unexpectedly improved in October, but this does not capture the impact of the latest social unrest, while higher interest rates, a weak labour market and worsening public finances are clouding the outlook further. A closely-watched business confidence index edged up by on…
We’ve launched a fun (??) game – you can pretend to be the UK chancellor and play the budget game to see if you can balance the books. See if you can do a better job than John Healey at creating a budget that keeps MPs and the bond markets onside.
French 10-year bond yield tops US Treasury yield for first time since 2013
The French 10-year government bond yield has risen above the equivalent US Treasury yield for the first time since 2013. The French yield, or interest rate, jumped 10 basis points to 5.09% this morning, while the 10-year US Treasury yield fell 4bps to 5.07%. With higher oil prices stoking inflation…
theguardian.com
While overall profits at Barclays jumped 12% to £2.3bn in the three months to September, analysts had expected an even better performance. Income from fixed income trading slid 19%, worse than a 5% drop among US banks, after a global bond sell-off. The bank’s chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan said…
theguardian.com
A Barclays spokesperson sent us this comment about the 5,000 job cuts, which bosses said are driven by advances in artificial intelligence, adding that greater use of technology makes “our people more productive”. We are positioning Barclays for the future, building the workforce and skills needed…
the-independent.com
3 more NewsBreak articles
Barclays to cut 5,000 jobs by end of year after AI drive
the-independent.com
Barclays cutting 5,000 jobs as it increases reliance on AI
bbc.com
Barclays to cut 5,000 jobs this year
mahoningmatters.com
Barclays CEO: job cuts driven by AI, calls it 'icing on the cake'
The 5,000 job cuts are part of a wider cost cutting drive that Barclays bosses said has been driven by advances in artificial intelligence. The majority (60%) affect support roles. The job cuts will mean getting rid of about 5% of the bank’s 93,000 global staff. The bank’s chief financial officer,…
the-independent.com
3 more NewsBreak articles
Barclays says it is cutting 5,000 jobs
Barclays also said it is cutting 5,000 jobs, amounting to about 5% of its workforce, our banking correspondent Kalyeena Makortoff reports. Its chief financial officer, Anna Cross, told journalists on a call that 1,000 of the job cuts have already been implemented, with another 4,000 to go before th…
NEWSBREAK
reuters.com
1 more NewsBreak article
The Barclays results come after reports on Monday that the Bank of England was examining whether Barclays traders had misrepresented illiquid private credit loans by using derivatives. Barclays shares have fallen by 20% over the last three months, also pressured by the prospect of higher bank taxes…
Richard Hunter, head of markets at the trading platform interactive investor, said the Barclays results are a bit “a mixed bag which is unlikely to blow away the clouds which have been hovering over the sector”. In the investment bank, which accounts for 42% of group revenues, the recent US experie…
Here’s our full story on Barclays: Barclays is giving a further £500m to shareholders after reporting a jump in quarterly profits, as the lender steels itself for an increase in UK bank taxes at next week’s budget. It comes only days before the chancellor, John Healey, is due to announce a hike on…
theguardian.com
Barclays' bumper profits show need for bank windfall tax at budget, TUC says
Barclays third-quarter profits of £2.3bn – bring its profits so far this year to £8.4bn, up 15% on the year. The TUC called the government for higher bank taxes, to fund a social energy tariff. At the moment, the bank surcharge is an additional 3% corporation tax on the profits of banking companies…
Introduction: Barclays profits jump ahead of looming bank tax; French bond yields hit fresh 24-year high
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Barclays’ profits jumped in the last quarter and it handed more cash to shareholders as further bank taxes loom in John Healey’s budget next Wednesday. The UK lender reported a 12% rise in pr…
NEWSBREAK
wtop.com
