Global oil inventories falling at record pace amid Iran war; US producer price inflation hits four-year high – as it happened

Global oil stocks are being run down at a record pace as supply losses mount due to the ongoing Iran war, the International Energy Agency has warned.In its latest outlook report, the IEA reports that global oil inventories fell by 129 million barrels in March, and by a further 117 million barrels in April, as countries dipped into their reserves to cover the shortfall following the Middle East conflict.The IEA, which ordered the largest release of government oil reserves in its history in mid-March, reports:double quotation markMore than ten weeks after the war in the Middle East began, mounting supply losses from the Strait of Hormuz are depleting global oil inventories at a record pace.The IEA also forecasts weaker demand this year, as the jump in prices for crude oil and refined products leads to demand destruction.World oil demand is forecast to contract by 420,000 barrels per day this year, to 104m bpd, which is 1

Nissan ponders building cars for Chinese rivals at Sunderland plant

Nissan’s chief executive has confirmed he would consider building cars for other manufacturers at the UK’s largest car factory in Sunderland, amid talks with China’s Chery.Ivan Espinosa said Nissan was “looking at options” for Sunderland and its 6,000 workers as the struggling Japanese carmaker on Wednesday reported steep losses for the year to March.Nissan announced last week it was closing one of its two production lines at Sunderland, in north-east England, because of faltering demand for its vehicles. However, it has held talks to produce vehicles on behalf of Chery, according to industry sources. Chery is pushing aggressively into the UK and Europe with its Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda brands

Lab testing group Intertek to back £10.6bn takeover by Swedish firm EQT

The laboratory testing company Intertek has become the latest FTSE 100 business to agree to a takeover, backing a £10.6bn approach from a private equity firm owned by Sweden’s billionaire Wallenberg family.After rebuffing three previous approaches, Intertek’s board said it was “minded to recommend” the £60-a-share tilt from the Swedish buyout firm EQT to shareholders, if there was a firm offer.The deal is worth £10.6bn including debt, or £9

UK housebuilder Vistry warns of ‘significantly’ lower profits amid Iran war uncertainty

One of the UK’s biggest housebuilders has said its profits will be “significantly” lower, as it was forced to cut prices after heightened uncertainty caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.Vistry’s shares plunged 10.5% in early trading on Wednesday, hitting their lowest level in nearly 15 years, as it told shareholders its first-half profits would be hit by the fallout from the Middle East conflict.In a stock market update hours before its annual general meeting, the housebuilder, which owns Bovis Homes, Countryside and Linden Homes, said circumstances had changed since it last updated investors in March. It said: “The level of macroeconomic uncertainty has increased, and with it the range of potential outcomes for the current year

How new owner became all powerful in ‘high stakes’ attempt to revive former WH Smith chain

Shoppers at WH Smith were once accustomed to being offered cheap chocolate stacked high at the counter while buying their morning newspaper. Now, the chain’s former high street stores have themselves become the subject of a cut-price deal – as the low-profile investment group that snapped them up appears set to pay less than half of the original cash price.The paperclips to books chain had notched up 233 years on the British high street when it was bought by Modella Capital last summer.In less than a year, the future looks very different for the chain, which was hastily rebranded to TG Jones. First established in Little Grosvenor Street in London by Henry Walton Smith and his wife, Anna, WH Smith grew rapidly in the 19th century, building a newspaper distribution business as the railway network expanded

JP Morgan could scrap £3bn London HQ if Starmer is replaced by PM ‘hostile to banks’

The boss of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, has warned he could scrap plans to build a new £3bn UK headquarters in London if Keir Starmer is replaced by a new Labour prime minister who is hostile to banks.JP Morgan revealed plans last November to build the tower in Canary Wharf, hours after lenders were spared tax hikes in Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget following strong lobbying by the banking sector.Dimon said the US bank could look past the current political instability around Starmer’s future in No 10, which has roiled bond markets and sent domestic bank shares plunging.However, he warned that plans to build the bank’s new HQ – which will house more than half of its 23,000 UK staff – could be reversed if a new leader were to target lenders.He told Bloomberg TV during an interview in Paris on Tuesday that construction plans would be threatened “not [by] political instability, but if they become hostile to banks again”

Investor jitters over Starmer uncertainty drive UK borrowing costs to 28-year high

Long-term UK borrowing costs soared to the highest level in almost three decades on Tuesday as fears about a change of Labour leadership triggered investor jitters and warnings of further bond market turmoil.With investors worried about potential changes to Labour’s tax and spending plans, the yield – in effect the interest rate – on 30-year government bonds, or gilts, hit a high on Tuesday of 5.81%, a rise of 14 basis points and the highest since 1998.Neil Wilson, an investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said: “We could see a blowout in longer-dated gilts if this turns into a dogfight – political, fiscal and inflationary risks will rise. Markets tend to dislike a lack of certainty over who runs a government; the fiscal position is already fragile and likely to become worse should a left-leaning ticket prioritise spending, and that makes inflation stickier

GameStop hits the limits of credibility with $55.5bn eBay bid | Nils Pratley

“Neither credible nor attractive.” No, not a line from a junior minister’s resignation letter on Tuesday. It was eBay’s succinct appraisal of the bizarre $55.5bn (£41bn) takeover offer from video games retailer GameStop, an affair that offers light distraction from the sight of UK 10-year gilt yields at 5%-plus.To recap: GameStop is the “meme stock” company that became famous a few years ago when amateur traders on a Reddit forum piled in furiously in an attempt to burn the short-sellers who were betting on the struggling retailer’s demise

UK long-term borrowing costs dip from 28-year high after Starmer allies back PM – as it happened

After a rocky session, UK government bond prices were significantly lower as trading drew to an end in London.That shows that the day of political drama, as Keir Starmer fought off efforts to make him step down, have pushed up UK borrowing costs as the markets anticipated the possibility of a more left-wing successor.The UK 10-year bond yield, which hit its highest since 2008 this morning at 5.13%, has eased back to 5.1%, up from 5% yesterday (that’s a rise of 10 basis points)