Wednesday 18 April 2018

Company news, markets and financial talking points, available from 8am Monday to Friday

IMF sounds UK warning as it forecasts global growth

The International Monetary Fund says 2018 will be the strongest year for global growth since 2011. Although it predicts growth this year and next of 3.9%, it added a cautionary note, saying that performance could be curtailed by trade barriers. For the UK, the picture is not quite so rosy: while the IMF has made a modest upgrade for growth this year to 1.6%, for next year, the forecast has been reduced, to 1.5%.

Have UK workers enjoyed first 'pay rise' for a year?

British workers have seen their first real pay rise in a year, reports The Guardian. The latest update from the Office for National Statistics showed pay rising above inflation for the first time since January 2017. This brought to an end 12 months of falling living standards. However, several economists said it was too early to declare the return of real wage growth.

Facebook u-turns on facial recognition tech

Facebook is controversially turning on facial recognition in Europe after promising regulators it would abandon the technology six years ago. The social network giant is using new European data protection regulations as an opportunity to collect more information if users opt in to the service. The feature has faced huge opposition across the globe, particularly in the United States.

Unprecedented number of over-55s release equity

A record number of over-55s are using equity release to cash in on their homes, notes The Times. Between January and March, an unprecedented total of £870m was borrowed by homeowners over the age of 55 using equity release plan. This was a 120% increase from the same period two years ago, the Equity Release Council said. Over-60s hold 17 times more wealth in their homes than those in their early 30s.

Costa makes cup recycling promises

Costa Coffee has vowed to recycle as many disposable cups as it sells by 2020 in a bid to reduce landfill waste. The UK's biggest coffee chain says its scheme will see 500m coffee cups a year recycled, including some sold by rivals. To encourage waste collection firms to collect the cups it will offer them a supplement of £75 per tonne. About 2.5bn disposable coffee cups are thrown away each year in the UK.

Quote of the day… New tech will deliver big backlash

"If we’re not careful, if we don’t manage better, we are going to find ourselves up against what I call a big backlash." Royal Mail boss Moya Greene says businesses must prepare for the upheaval created by new technologies.

THE NUMBERS... AT 0709 GMT

FTSE 100: up +0.39 to 7226.05
Dow Jones: up +0.87 to 24786.63
Dax: up +1.57 to 12585.57
Cac 40: up +0.76 to 5353.54
Nikkei: up +1.54 to 22183.75
Hang Seng: up +0.82 to 30309.14
US dollar: buys €0.8079 and £0.6990
Sterling: buys $1.4308 and €1.1557
Oil: $72.66 up +0.81