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Elon Musk revives deal to buy Twitter in climbdown

Elon Musk - Angela Weiss /AFP
Elon Musk - Angela Weiss /AFP

Elon Musk has caved to Twitter’s legal demands and revived a takeover offer to buy the social media network for $44bn just days before a court battle over the deal was due to begin.

Twitter’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange were suspended from trading on Tuesday night after its price rocketed 18pc following reports that Mr Musk had offered to proceed with the takeover.

Mr Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter, Bloomberg reported, offering to pay the original offer price of $54.20 a share which was first tabled in April.

Twitter’s shares were valued at $47.93 as of their suspension on Tuesday, giving the social media network a market cap of almost $37bn (£32bn).

It comes after the billionaire tried to back out of the deal in July, claiming Twitter management’s figures for the number of fake or spam accounts on the site were misleadingly low.

Twitter bosses subsequently sued him in Delaware Chancery Court to force him to go forward with the purchase, with a trial due to begin on October 17.

Shares in Tesla slumped this evening amid concerns that Mr Musk, who is chief executive of the electric carmaker, may have to sell some of his stock to fund the deal.

Tesla’s shares were trading at $242.30 on Tuesday night paring gains from earlier in the day when they hit $256.

Mr Musk, who is the world’s richest man with a net worth of more than $220bn, sold about $7bn of shares in Tesla in August, saying they could be used to help finance the potential Twitter deal if he lost his battle to get out of it.

It means he may have to raise extra cash to add to the shares he has already sold and funding from outside investors.

News of the renewed offer appeared to have caught staff by surprise. Rumman Chowdhury, Twitter's director of machine learning ethics, tweeted on Tuesday: "I am sitting on 2023 company wide strategy readouts and I guess we are going to collectively ignore what's going on."

The buyout raises fresh concerns that Mr Musk will seek to break what he sees as the left-wing consensus dominating the social media site’s moderators.

Text messages published by lawyers in the run-up to the court battle revealed that Mr Musk wanted to see “someone who has a savvy cultural/political view to be the VP [vice president] of actual enforcement”, fuelling speculation that he will install someone sympathetic to US conservative political views as head of moderation.

Mr Musk has also been linked to suggestions that former US president Donald Trump could return to the site, having been banned after using it to encourage a violent mob to storm the US Capitol building in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential elections.

Another text message from Mr Musk published by lawyers involved in the court case read: “It is better, in my opinion, to take Twitter private, restructure and return to the public markets once that is done. That was also Jack’s view when I talked to him,” referring to Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

Mr Musk is expected to replace current chief executive Parag Agrawal once the $44bn takeover is complete.

Meanwhile, Twitter staff reacted with outrage after Mr Musk first revealed plans to buy the company. “I feel like I’m going to throw up”, one employee posted on an internal noticeboard in April, with another saying they were “honestly kinda terrified” by the billionaire’s plans.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment. Around 98pc of shareholders voted to accept the original deal in mid-September.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to clients: “We see minimal regulatory risk in this deal although now Musk owning the Twitter platform will cause a firestorm of worries and questions looking ahead among users and the Beltway.”


06:45 PM

Tesla shares fall as Twitter deal revived

Tesla shares have fallen following reports owner Elon Musk has revived his deal to buy social media giant Twitter.

The Nasdaq-listed electric carmaker’s stock slumped amid apparent concerns Mr Musk may have to sell some of his stock to fund the deal.

They were trading at $242.30 as of 6.38pm UK time, paring gains from earlier in the day when they hit $256.

Mr Musk sold about $7bn of shares in Tesla in August, saying they could be used to help finance the potential Twitter deal if he lost his battle to get out of it.

Today, he has revived his original proposal to pay $54.20 per share for the site, or $44bn, according to Bloomberg.

It means he may have to raise extra cash to add to the shares he has already sold and funding from outside investors.

Twitter’s shares have climbed 13pc, to $47.93, since news of the revived deal emerged.


05:49 PM

Truss in talks with Norway to supply gas for 20 years

The UK is trying to strike a long-term deal for gas supplies from Norway as concerns grow over energy security.

Ministers are in talks with Norwegian counterparts about prices for a potentially 20-year gas supply contract, Bloomberg reported.

Norway is already the UK’s largest supplier of gas, but there is growing competition for its output as countries across Europe cope with the loss of Russian supplies.

Fears of gas shortages in Europe and the UK this winter have driven major efforts to stockpile supplies and cut usage, while energy executives on Tuesday warned next winter could be worse.

"We may well avoid a disaster this winter, we are more concerned about the following winter,"  Ben Luckock, co-head of oil trading at Trafigura, told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London

Liz Truss, the prime minister, said on Tuesday that ministers were “looking” at multi-year gas deals with Norway and around the world.

"I have not signed any deal. But what I'm saying is that Britain's energy security is vital and what we will be doing is always looking for value for money, of course we will, but it's important that we have that long-term energy security," she said.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the business secretary, is said to have told a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference that he had just been talking to a “friendly country” about energy supplies, Bloomberg reported.


04:54 PM

Tax energy firms to help poor, says Shell boss

Governments should tax energy companies to help the poorest people deal with soaring bills but shouldn’t step in to cap gas prices, according to the boss of Shell.

Speaking at an energy conference in London, Ben van Beurden said: “One way or another there needs to be government intervention.

“Protecting the poorest, that probably may then mean that governments need to tax people in this room to pay for it.”

The EU last week reached an agreement on an initial energy package, including a windfall tax on companies. It has also been discussing a cap on the price of natural gas and power.

But Mr van Beurden criticised the latter approach, saying that companies like Shell would struggle to bring extra supplies of natural gas to Europe if a price incentive wasn’t there.

He said: “We will do our best to bring gas to Europe where it's needed, but if the market signal is not there it's going to be really challenging.”

The Shell chief, who will step down at the start of next year, also said he “struggled” to see how a price cap on Russian oil would work.


03:46 PM

US job openings drop to lowest in more than a year

US job openings fell more than expected in August to a more than one-year low, suggesting labour demand is moderating.

The number of available positions decreased to 10.1m from 11.2m in July, according to Labor Department figures.

The 1.1 million decline in vacancies was the biggest since April 2020 and is consistent with moderating labour demand.

Federal Reserve policy makers have pointed to the high number of job openings as a way to cool the labour market without an ensuing jump in unemployment.

The decline in vacancies is likely welcome news for officials in their quest to tame inflation, but the historically high level of openings suggests wage pressures may remain firm.


03:31 PM

Odey's hedge fund gains hit 193pc on market turmoil

Crispin Odey hedge fund - Julian Simmonds
Crispin Odey hedge fund - Julian Simmonds

Crispin Odey is already having his best year ever, but it's just got better.

The tycoon's hedge fund soared about 25pc in September as he cashed in on volatility sparked by Liz Truss's tax-cutting fiscal plans. He's had long-running short bets against the pound and government bonds.

The latest surge boosted his year-to-date gains to 193pc, Bloomberg reports. His previous best yearly performance was almost three decades ago, when he returned 60pc in 1993.


03:11 PM

Bank of England buys zero bonds

The Bank of England didn't buy any bonds in its latest auction designed to restore stability to bond markets.

The central bank said it rejected £2.2bn of tenders for gilt purchases and didn't buy any.

So far, it's spend around £3.7bn in its bond-buying programme. That's well below the maximum £25bn it could have bought so far.

Read more on this story: Bank of England signals it won't keep borrowing costs down as it rejects £1.9bn of gilts sales


02:55 PM

Former Facebook chief donates $3m to fight anti-abortion laws

Facebook Sheryl Sandberg - AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File
Facebook Sheryl Sandberg - AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File

Former Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg has donated $3m (£2.6m) to support the fight for abortion rights in America, following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade.

Lucy Burton reports:

Ms Sandberg, who has three teenage daughters and whose net worth is $2.1bn, is donating the money to the non-profit American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to give its political arm a “running start” against state anti-abortion efforts, Bloomberg reported.

ACLU was founded in 1920 to defend Americans' constitutional rights and is considered the country's largest public interest law firm, arguing thousands of cases a year.

Anthony Romero, executive director of ACLU, said he hoped Ms Sandberg's donation would encourage other ultra-wealthy individuals to follow suit. The funds are expected to go towards fighting legal battles over abortion rights.

Former Meta Platforms operating chief Ms Sandberg, who was Mark Zuckerberg’s top lieutenant for 14 years, said it was “unfathomable” that her daughters will grow up with fewer rights than she had.

In June, she called the overturning of Roe v Wade a “huge setback” and said: “This is a really important moment for women. This is a really important moment for me to be able to do more with my philanthropy, with my foundation.”

​Read Lucy's full story here


02:37 PM

Nasdaq jumps 2pc as Treasury yields ease

The Nasdaq led Wall Street higher at the opening bell as easing US Treasury yields boosted tech stocks.

The tech-heavy index leapt 2pc at the open. The S&P 500 rose 1.3pc, while the Dow Jones was up 1.1pc.


02:19 PM

Kwasi Kwarteng sparks confusion over fiscal plans

Kwasi Kwarteng Liz Truss Budget fiscal -  Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP
Kwasi Kwarteng Liz Truss Budget fiscal - Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP

There's widespread confusion as Kwasi Kwarteng has indicated he will not be bringing forward his fiscal plan – just hours after telling the Conservative conference it would be published “shortly”.

Our deputy political editor Daniel Martin has more:

The Chancellor told GB News that the medium-term financial statement will be published as planned on 23 November.

On Monday night, a Treasury source had said the fact Mr Kwarteng had used to work “shortly” meant the plan was being brought forward and could be unveiled as soon as the end of the month.

But this lunchtime the Treasury said the Chancellor was merely “considering” an earlier date, and denied Mr Kwarteng had made a u-turn on a u-turn.

A source said the date was November 23 until an announcement is made to change it.

The Chancellor’s comment comes just a day after he performed an about-turn on the 45p tax rate. He had to drop plans to scrap the top rate following a rebellion from Tory MPs.

This lunchtime Mr Kwarteng was asked by GB News what “shortly” meant in his speech, to which he replied: “Shortly is the 23rd.”

Asked whether that meant he was not bringing his fiscal statement forward, he said: “It’s going to be the 23rd.”

The Chancellor was forced to agree to a financial statement to calm the markets, who were spooked by last month’s mini-budget.


02:10 PM

Scholz: Covid recovery fund still available for next crisis

The majority of funds made available in the EU's pandemic recovery fund have not yet been used, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said, as he tried to defend his country's huge energy bailout.

Asked about the possibility of further joint debt to address the energy crisis, Mr Scholz said: "These funds have overwhelmingly not been spent yet."

He added that this support could be "particularly effective" now that a second crisis has followed the pandemic.

In 2020, the EU made an unprecedented agreement to jointly borrow €750bn for a fund to help fight the economic slump caused by Covid and address the challenges of climate change.


01:25 PM

Promoting women to top roles will boost economy by £58bn, report finds

Promoting more women to executive committees at Britain’s biggest companies will boost the economy by nearly £60bn, according to a new report.

Simon Foy has more:

The research found that having more women in top roles at FTSE 350 companies could yield an additional £58bn to the UK economy, equivalent to the UK’s school’s budget and more than what it spends annually on defence and policing.

The Women Count 2022 report, which was published by diversity consultants The Pipeline, said three-quarters of executive committee members at Britain’s top 350 listed companies are men, with a tenth of these companies having no women at all on their senior leadership committees.

It comes as watchdogs and ministers seek to boost diversity within the companies they regulate.

Listed companies have been told that they should have at least one woman occupying a top-four board position by 2025 under fresh proposals launched by the Government.

FTSE 350 companies were told earlier this year that they need to have a minimum of one woman in the role of chair, chief executive, finance officer or senior independent director by the end of 2025 amid concerns that top jobs continue to be dominated by men.

Read Simon's full story here


12:37 PM

Apple will be forced to use new charger following EU vote

Members of the European Parliament have voted to force companies such as Apple to adapt their products to feature a standard USB-C charger.

The vote passed overwhelmingly this morning, though it still needs to get the final sign-off from EU member states.

The plans have angered Apple, which will have to adapt its iPhones as a result. However, the company is currently testing models that replace its own Lightning charging port with a standard USB-C connector, Bloomberg reports.


12:19 PM

Lidl on the hunt for 1,000 new workers as UK expansion gathers pace

Lidl staff expansion - REUTERS/Stephen Hird/File Photo
Lidl staff expansion - REUTERS/Stephen Hird/File Photo

Lidl is hiring 1,000 new workers as it continues its rapid expansion across the UK.

The discount supermarket chain is hiring for roles across its stores and warehouses, including customer assistants, cleaners and warehouse operatives.

New recruits will earn a minimum of £10.90 an hour outside London and £11.95 inside the M25.

Lidl last week opened three new supermarkets in Alperton, Oxford and Gillingham and is set to open further new stores over the next five months.


12:09 PM

US futures jump as Treasury yields fall back

Wall Street is poised to open higher this afternoon as falling US Treasury yields boosted demand for stocks.

Data on job openings and factory orders will also be in focus before the market opens, a day after weak manufacturing activity raised investor hopes that rising rates were taming demand for goods.

Futures tracking the S&P 500 and Dow Jones rose 1.5pc and 1.2pc respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.8pc.


11:58 AM

Mortgage borrowers face squeeze as key rate nears 6pc

Thousands of British homeowners face a squeeze on their finances after the Government's tax cut U-turn failed to halt a sharp rise in mortgage costs.

The average two-year fix-rate mortgage climbed to 5.97pc today, according to figures from Moneyfacts Group. That's up more than 1.5 percentage points since Kwasi Kwarteng sparked market turmoil with his huge programme of tax cuts.

The Chancellor's statement sent the yield on two-year interest rate swaps, which lenders typically use to price mortgages, soaring to the highest level since the financial crisis.

Lenders responded by pulling more than 40pc of all mortgage products, leaving borrowers rushing to secure deals before rates increased.


11:45 AM

Bank of England money printing to blame for Bitcoin bubble, claims ex-Tory party Treasurer

Bitcoin is the “child of the great quantitative easing” by the likes of the Bank of England, the former Conservative Party Treasurer has claimed.

Tom Rees at the Conservative Party conference has more:

Lord Michael Spence blamed the vast programme of bond buying carried out by central banks for creating a price bubble for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, saying the Bank of England “printed too much money” and caused a “very rapid growth in the money supply”.

Cheap money inflated the cryptocurrency market into the “modern day equivalent of the Dutch tulip bubble”, said Lord Spencer, the founder of trading firm ICAP.

The Dutch tulip bubble was an early example of an investment bubble, where the cost of flower bulbs in the Netherlands in the 17th Century exploded before crashing.

“My feeling is bitcoin is a child of the great quantitative easing,” Lord Spencer said at an Centre for Policy Studies event on the fringes of the Conservative Party conference.

However, he praised regulators for quickly clamping down on the cryptocurrency market amid concerns it has become a wild west that risks hurting ordinary investors.

​Read Tom's full story here


11:20 AM

Governments must tax energy firms to help poor, says Shell boss

Governments need to tax energy producers to help the poorest people deal with the soaring cost of fuel, according to the boss of Shell.

Speaking at a conference in London, Ben van Beurden said: "One way or another there needs to be government intervention.

"Protecting the poorest, that probably may then mean that governments need to tax people in this room to pay for it."

The EU last week reached an agreement on an initial energy package, including a windfall tax on companies. It has also been discussing a cap on the price of natural gas and power.

But Mr van Beurden criticised the latter approach, saying that companies like Shell would struggle to bring extra supplies of natural gas to Europe if a price incentive wasn't there.

"We will do our best to bring gas to Europe where it's needed, but if the market signal is not there it's going to be really challenging."


10:50 AM

EU looks at joint debt as Germany's energy bailout sparks division

Two top EU officials have called for the use of common spending to tackle the energy crisis amid growing criticism of Germany's huge bailout plan.

Thierry Breton, EU internal market chief, and Paolo Gentiloni, the bloc's economy czar, said the crisis required solidarity among members states, including the issuance of joint-guaranteed debt similar to its pandemic response.

In joint op-eds published in European newspapers, the two officials wrote:

The energy crisis and rising social anger in a context of record inflation and astronomical gas and electricity prices has brought us to another crossroads.

We must think about mutualized tools at the European level. Only a European budgetary response will allow us, by supporting the action of the ECB, to respond effectively to this crisis and to calm volatile financial markets.


10:36 AM

Truss: UK looking at long-term energy contracts with other countries

Prime Minister Liz Truss has said the Government is looking at long-term energy contracts with other countries, but hasn't signed any contracts yet.

Asked by reporters if she was considering buying Norwegian gas, Truss said:

We will move forward on our own energy security... But we are looking at long-term energy contracts with other countries because as well as making sure we have got a good price, energy security is vitally important.


10:23 AM

HSBC considers sale of Canada operations

HSBC Ping An Canada - Samsul Said/Bloomberg
HSBC Ping An Canada - Samsul Said/Bloomberg

HSBC is said to be exploring a sale of its operations in Canada amid pressure from shareholder Ping An to break up the business.

The bank has instructed JP Morgan to sound out prospective buyers, Sky News reports.

Among the options being explore is a potential sale of HSBC Group's 100pc equity stake in HSBC Bank Canada. The lender said it regularly reviews its businesses in all markets.

It comes as HSBC tries to fend off a campaign led by Chinese insurance giant Ping An – which holds a stake of more than 8pc – to split off its lucrative Hong Kong division from the rest of the group.


09:59 AM

Reaction: Pound rally not necessarily a vote of confidence

Seema Shah at Principal Global Investors says the rally in the pound isn't necessarily a sign of restored trust in the Government.

A number of Trussenomics enthusiasts within the Conservative party have pointed to the fact that the pound has risen against the dollar to the levels it was before the "fiscal event" as evidence that financial markets will warm to the Government's strategy.

It is true that sterling has had a mini-rally but, firstly, this was from historically weak levels to begin with and, secondly, the new value of sterling prices in steep rate rises which have been made necessary by the chaotic market response to the Chancellor's growth plan.

To be back where we were – but with a potential mortgage crisis now baked into the cake – is hardly a triumph.

Indeed, in light of the humiliating and rapid U-turn on the decision to scrap the 45pc highest tax rate, further sterling rises might in fact be telling us that investors believe that the Truss/Kwarteng axis can be brought in line with more orthodox economic thinking by MPs who have not been shy to make their scepticism public and threatened to vote against their own party – quite the opposite of markets “believing” the Government’s vision.

It could even indicate investor opinion that the odds of either – or both - the PM and Chancellor leaving their respective posts earlier than planned are rising.

What looks on the surface like a cautious vote of confidence in the currency markets could, in fact, be anything but.


09:47 AM

Elon Musk sparks uproar with Ukraine 'peace' plan

Elon Musk Ukraine Twitter - Angela Weiss / AFP
Elon Musk Ukraine Twitter - Angela Weiss / AFP

Tesla billionaire Elon Musk has sparked fury in Ukraine after urging Ukraine to seek a negotiated solution to Russia's invasion and give up Crimea for good.

Musk, a notorious Twitter troublemaker, also launched a poll asking citizens of occupied areas in eastern Ukraine recently annexed by Putin – plus Crimea, which Moscow took in 2014 – to decide if they wanted to live in Russia or Ukraine.

He called for the sham referendums conducted by Russia to be redone under UN supervision and said Crimea should be formally part of Russia. He added that Ukraine should remain neutral.

The posts sparked an immediate response, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posting his own poll to ask followers if they preferred an Elon Musk who supported Ukraine or Russia.

Andrij Melnyk, Ukraine's top diplomat in Germany, was even more forthright in his response...


09:32 AM

Bank of England signals it won't keep borrowing costs down as it rejects £1.9bn of gilts sales

ICYMI – The Bank of England has sent a clear signal that it will not hold down UK government borrowing costs after Threadneedle Street rejected almost £1.9bn in bond offers at a special auction.

Szu Ping Chan and Eir Nolsoe have more:

Last week, officials launched a £65bn emergency bond buying programme designed to halt a run on pension funds and restore financial stability. It has been holding daily auctions offering to buy up to £5bn in a bid to smooth market functioning and quell “dysfunction”.

However, the Bank spent just £22.1m on gilts – or government bonds – on Monday. This is well below its threshold and compares with £1.89bn in bonds investors offered up but rejected.

Market watchers took the outcome as a sign that the Bank does not want to be seen to be funding the government by keeping borrowing costs low, a charge known as “fiscal dominance”. Buying at any price offered by the market could drive up the value of bonds and push down yields.

​Read the full story here


09:14 AM

Liz Truss refuses to rule out welfare cuts

Liz Truss has refused to rule out cutting welfare benefits by less than inflation to help fund her tax-cutting plans in what is likely to spark the next political rebellion.

Asked if benefits would rise in line with inflation, the Prime Minister told the BBC: "We are going to have to make decisions about how we bring back down debt as a proportion of GDP in the medium term.

"We have to look at these issues in the round. We have to be fiscally responsible."

Ms Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng are racing to set out how they will pay for more than £40bn of tax cuts.

They've already been forced to scrap plans to abolish the top rate of tax following a market meltdown and opposition from within their own party.


08:59 AM

Made.com surges as it starts talks with potential buyers

Made.com sofa sale shares
Made.com sofa sale shares

Shares in Made.com soared in early trading after the online furniture retailer said it had started talks with a number of potential buyers.

The company, which put itself up for sale at the end of last month, said it had given interested suitors until the middle of October to put forward takeover proposals.

It added that it would make bidders aware that funding of up to £70m would be needed over the next 18 months to allow it to operate as a standalone company.

Shares in Made.com jumped as much as 39pc – the biggest on record.


08:47 AM

FTSE risers and fallers

The FTSE 100 has started the day firmly on the front foot as a semblance of calm returned to markets.

The blue-chip index jumped 1pc, lifted by financial and commodity stocks as the Government's U-turn on tax cuts sparked a market rally.

Legal & General jumped 3.5pc as it reassured investors about its pension funds after the recent bond market turmoil.

Energy stocks including BP and Shell gained ground, while miners also rose as the dollar weakened after soft US manufacturing data.

The domestically-focused FTSE 250 leapt 1.6pc, with Greggs rising 8pc after it reported an increase in quarterly sales.


08:33 AM

Utilities face risk of U-turn on windfall tax, warns Citi

Power generators are at risk of a U-turn by Liz Truss on the issue of a windfall tax, Citi has warned.

Analysts said that if negotiations between the Government and companies over contract-for-difference prices don't succeed, ministers may need a different plan to help support the growing deficit.

Meanwhile, Labour's surge in the pools could add to the risk of a windfall tax, as shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed the party would extend the levy to the oil and gas sector and power generators.

Citi also noted Sir Keir Starmer's pledge to launch a nationalised energy company, adding to the risk of low returns for the sector.


08:21 AM

Pound's rally will go into reverse, warn analysts

Sterling is enjoying a sharp rebound this morning, but analysts are still bearish on the outlook.

Most strategists are sticking to bets the currency will resume losses, with some predicting a new record low by the end of the year.

Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Canada both expect the pound to tumble almost 10pc from current levels by the end of the year after the Government's mini-Budget shattered investor confidence.

Nomura and Morgan Stanley are among those forecasting it will tumble to parity with the dollar during the same period.


08:11 AM

Greggs sales jump with inflation baked in

Greggs sales inflation cost-of-living - Ian Forsyth/Bloomberg
Greggs sales inflation cost-of-living - Ian Forsyth/Bloomberg

Greggs has posted a sharp jump in sales over the last three months as cash-strapped customers opted for cheap meals.

The bakery chain said trading slowed during August as people ditched pandemic-era staycations in favour of holidays abroad, but that momentum returned in September.

It said the sales increase came "in an environment where cost pressures are significant and our outstanding value-for-money positioning is ever-more important to consumers".

Greggs also said its sales growth dipped by about 1pc as a result of closing its shops for the Queen's funeral.

Cost inflation for the year is expected to remain at its previous estimations of 9pc as the sausage roll specialist faces surging costs of raw materials, production, and energy.

Greggs previously announced that customers would see 5p or 10p increases on some items as it was forced to raise prices for the second time this year.

But the chain said it has fixed prices with suppliers for a good level of its future food and energy costs.


08:01 AM

FTSE 100 opens higher

The FTSE 100 has risen at the open as Kwasi Kwarteng indicated he'll move forward the details of his fiscal plans, helping to restore some calm to markets.

The blue-chip index jumped 0.7pc to 6,958 points.


07:54 AM

Gas prices fall further on mild weather and stockpiles

Natural gas prices have extended their declines this morning as mild weather and ample stockpiles eased concerns about shortages.

Benchmark prices declined as much as 6.4pc to the lowest level since late July.

Forecasters are predicted higher than normal temperatures in the UK and continental Europe over the next two weeks, which is likely to delay withdrawals from gas inventories for heating.

Reserves have also been filling at a steady pace as countries ramp up imports of liquefied natural gas and pipeline supplies from Norway to make up for the lack of Russian flows.

That said, questions still remain over Europe's ability to replenish reserves after the end of winter.


07:45 AM

Legal & General 'on track' despite pension fund crisis

Pension and insurance giant Legal & General has said its balance sheet remains strong and that full-year earnings are on track despite the mini-Budget market turmoil that left some pension funds on the brink of collapse.

The FTSE 100 group said the market chaos that caused the pound to plunge to record lows against the dollar and sent gilt yield soaring had caused "challenges" for the pension fund clients and counterparties of its LGIM UK Liability Driven Investment (LDI) business.

But it said the Bank of England's emergency gilt-buying programme had "helped to alleviate the pressure on our clients".

It added: "We are continuing to work closely with them to achieve appropriate hedging levels in their portfolios."

L&G said its annuity portfolio had also not suffered any problems in meeting collateral calls and said it had "not been forced sellers of gilts or bonds".

The group said it expects to deliver 2022 operating profit growth in line with the 8pc growth delivered in the first half, while capital generation set to come in at £1.8bn.

Sir Nigel Wilson,  chief executive of Legal & General, said:

Our businesses are resilient, and we are on track to deliver good growth in key financial metrics for full-year 2022.

Our balance sheet and liquidity position remain strong, and our businesses are highly cash generative.

We continue to work closely with our customers to support them through this period of increased market volatility.


07:31 AM

Gilt market resilient despite turmoil, says debt office boss

Bank of England bonds gilts DMO - REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo
Bank of England bonds gilts DMO - REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo

Britain's bond market is undergoing a "major repricing" but should comfortably be able to handle the extra £62bn of debt announced in Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-Budget.

That's according to Robert Stheeman, head of the UK Debt Management Office, who's tasked with overseeing the UK's £2.1 trillion pound government bond market.

Mr Stheeman drew a parallel between the volatility of the past 10 days and the early days of the pandemic, when the Bank of England also intervened to calm markets.

But he said the situation was different, as bond traders had generally been better able to keep trading, "albeit in very difficult conditions".

He told Reuters: "Gilts and other sovereign bond markets are all having to undergo some major repricing.

"There are so many uncertainties... in terms of not just the fiscal picture, but the potential monetary policy response. That is what is causing a very large part of the market volatility."

The DMO increased its 2022/23 financing target by £72bn to £234bn after Kwarteng's mini-Budget, £62bn of which would be funded by gilts.

Mr Stheeman said: "I am confident that it can be digested reasonably smoothly."


07:23 AM

Pound rallies as Kwarteng bows to pressure

It's a strong start to the day for sterling, with markets taking comfort from another U-turn by Kwasi Kwarteng.

The Chancellor is expected to publish details of how he'll pay for the massive tax cuts outlined in the mini-Budget later this month, despite previously insisted he would wait until November 23.

There will also be independent forecasts from the OBR, which were lacking from the original announcement.

That helped to restore some calm to markets after a tumultuous period, when investors baulked at the impact of the fiscal plans on government debt.

The pound jumped 0.4pc to as high as $1.366.


06:38 AM

Cornered Kwarteng wants to convince markets he is realistic

On Sunday, when asked by the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg if she was absolutely committed to abolishing the 45p tax rate for the wealthiest people in the country, Liz Truss replied: “yes”. Less than 24 hours later the answer had become “no”, writes Ben Wright:

It's hard to recall such flip-floppery so early in a new Prime Minister's tenure. It's not a good look for an administration hoping to push through a hugely ambitious reform agenda.

The ridicule might be even more damaging. The Prime Minister’s economic policy is being branded “Trussian roulette” and her Chancellor has been labelled “Kami-Kwasi Kwarteng”.

Read Ben's op-ed here.


06:30 AM

Australia will hold 30pc of landmass for conservation

Australia will set aside at least 30pc of its land mass for conservation in a bid to protect plants and animals in the island continent famed for species found nowhere else in the world, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Tuesday.

Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent and has one of the worst rates of species decline among the world's richest countries, a five-yearly environmental report card released in July by the Government showed.

That report showed the number of species added to the list of threatened species or in a higher category of risk grew on average by 8pc from the previous report in 2016.

"The need for action to protect our plants, animals and ecosystems from extinction has never been greater," Ms Plibersek said in a statement.


06:16 AM

Pound hits two-week high after tax cut U-turn

Stocks bounced on Tuesday morning after the Government scrapped part of its controversial tax cut plan, tentatively improving global market sentiment and rallying bonds and the pound.

Sterling drifted up to an almost two-week high of $1.134, which means it is now up almost 10pc from a record low last week after plans for unfunded tax cuts unleashed chaos on British assets.

In trade thinned by holidays in China and Hong Kong, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose one per cent, led by a 2.5pc gain in Australia. Japan's Nikkei rose 2.6pc.

Tory rebels forced the Government into a humiliating U-turn on Monday over plans to cut the top rate of tax.


05:30 AM

Investors take heart from stability

Good morning. 

Investors have taken heart from some stability at the long end of the gilt market, even though emergency purchases from the Bank of England have only been relatively modest. S&P 500 futures rose 0.6pc, following a 2.6pc bounce for the index overnight.

It comes after Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday released a statement reversing planned tax cuts for top earners. It makes up only £2 billion out of a planned £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts that had sent the gilt market into a tailspin last week.

5 things to start your day 

1)  Vodafone merger talks with Chinese-owned rival trigger alarm over undersea cables Vodafone is preparing the biggest test yet of takeover laws meant to protect national security

2) Ben Marlow: The alarm over Credit Suisse signals a financial system losing its grip There is a new dynamic in world markets that regulators need to take more seriously

3) Truss commits to £25bn railway across the North of England New line with station at Bradford announced amid calls for HS2 to be scapped

4) Transport Secretary backs third runway at Heathrow Anne-Marie Trevelyan says she's an ‘absolute believer’ in expansion's potential benefits

5) Kim Kardashian fined for touting crypto on social media Reality show star was paid $250,000 to promote the token on her Instagram

What happened overnight 

Tokyo stocks opened higher Tuesday after Wall Street shares rebounded, with the rises coming despite a North Korean missile test shortly before the opening bell. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 2.59pcin early trade, while the broader Topix index added 2.68pc.

US blue chip shares staged a broad rebound as soft economic data fuelled hopes that Fed officials may soften their resolve to hike interest rates to fight inflation. The Dow surged 2.7pc, while Nasdaq advanced 2.3pc.