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British companies face a “cost of doing business crisis”, ministers have been warned, with many commercial energy bills poised to rise more than fourfold this autumn. The majority of UK companies are due to renegotiate their electricity and gas rates in October, the month fixed prices for businesses have been set since energy markets were

One of the UK’s largest energy groups has told ministers that a rescue plan to protect households from rising bills will need funding of more than £100bn over two years, underlining the scale of the crisis engulfing Britain as gas prices surge. Keith Anderson, chief executive of Scottish Power — one of the “Big Six”

US stocks suffered their biggest decline in two months on Monday, with tech shares falling sharply on worries about the gloomy economic outlook and concerns that members of the Federal Reserve will adopt a hawkish tone at a symposium this week. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index slid 2.1 per cent, its most severe one-day

Moscow sees no possibility of a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine and expects a long conflict, a senior Russian diplomat has warned, as President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion reaches the six-month mark this week. Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, told the Financial Times that the UN should

Some investors are warning of a mismatch between market expectations and the Federal Reserve’s stated commitment to stamping out inflation as traders stand by their wagers on interest rate cuts next year. Traders in the futures market are betting the central bank’s main interest rate will be cut to 3.3 per cent by the end

Investors are raising red flags over a stock market rally that has added more than $7tn in value to US equities since June, with many of the gains being driven by hedge funds unwinding bearish bets rather than newfound conviction that it is time to buy. Traders at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase

UK consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since comparable records began almost 50 years ago as the rising cost of living stokes concerns over personal finances and economic prospects. In monthly research from data provider GfK, the August index score for overall consumer confidence fell to -44 from a figure of -41 the

Federal Reserve officials discussed the need to keep interest rates at levels that restrict the US economy “for some time” in a bid to contain the highest inflation in roughly 40 years, according to an account of their most recent meeting. Minutes from the meeting, at which the US central bank raised its benchmark policy

The global energy crisis deepened on Tuesday as a further surge in natural gas prices in Europe and the US threatened to push some of the world’s largest economies into recession. Gas markets in Europe jumped by as much as 10 per cent to as high as €251 a megawatt hour, equivalent in energy terms

US homebuilder confidence fell in August, as high home prices, construction costs and interest rates threatened housing affordability and depressed demand. The National Association of Home Builders’ housing market index for August dropped 6 points to 49, below economists’ forecasts of 55, according to a Refinitiv poll. This is the first time since May 2020

A new lender has been granted a licence by UK financial regulators to offer mortgages with fixed rates of up to 50 years in a move aimed at helping borrowers manage soaring inflation. Perenna, a UK-based specialist lender, is initially planning to provide home loans that lock in rates for 30 years, before rolling out

Activist investor Dan Loeb is agitating for sweeping changes at Disney, including a shake-up of its board, a spin-off of the sports television network ESPN and aggressive cost-cutting after rebuilding a stake in the entertainment and media group. The head of the Third Point hedge fund also recommended that the company take full control of

When the UK’s new prime minister forms a government on September 6, he or she will need a rapid plan to address soaring household energy bills this winter. With estimates that the annual average combined gas and electricity bill will rise from £1,971 in the summer to £3,582 at the start of October, and more

Britain’s cost of living crisis is deepening by the day. Millions worry about how they will pay their winter heating bills. The UK government, meanwhile, is frozen in inaction as it waits for the result of a two-month, presidential-style campaign to elect the next Conservative party leader and prime minister. The two candidates have sparred

If I scatter broken glass on the ground and someone else walks over it and cuts their feet, does it matter “when” they cut their feet? That’s the thought experiment at the start of the philosopher William MacAskill’s forthcoming book, What We Owe The Future. MacAskill’s argument is that harm is harm, whether my littering

Stock markets were subdued on Monday as disappointing Chinese economic data and an interest-rate cut by the country’s central bank complicated the global outlook. US equity futures declined, with contracts tracking the S&P 500 falling 0.5 per cent. The broad Wall Street index on Friday closed out its fourth consecutive week of gains. Contracts tracking

For a man who had been held up at gunpoint the previous evening, Mmusi Maimane was on surprisingly good form, when I met him in Cape Town this month. Maimane, one of South Africa’s leading opposition politicians, was in a suburban restaurant when armed men entered, forced all the diners to lie on the floor

Hong Kong’s accounting watchdog has launched an investigation into Evergrande Property Services, a major subsidiary of the embattled Chinese property developer, and its auditor PwC over a $2bn loan scheme that led to an executive clear-out last month. The investigation will put more scrutiny on Evergrande, the world’s most indebted real estate developer, after it

China has cut a crucial lending rate in an effort to shore up growth as the world’s second-biggest economy is buffeted by repeated lockdowns and a worsening property downturn. The People’s Bank of China on Monday reduced the medium-term lending rate, through which it provides one-year loans to the banking system, by 10 basis points

Liz Truss, the Tory leadership favourite, has ruled out splitting up the UK Treasury if she becomes prime minister next month, but she will turn Number 10 into an “economic nerve centre” calling the shots on economic policy. Truss believes that many of Boris Johnson’s problems as prime minister arose because he did not have