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Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n Global markets are racking up their fourth day of losses in a row, as concerns over technology valuations are worrying investors.<\/p>\n Asia-Pacific stocks have dipped to a one-month low today, amid signs that the enthusiasm that has driven stocks higher in recent months is fading, with shares, risky currencies and crypto assets all sliding<\/p>\n MSCI\u2019s<\/strong> broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan has lost 1.8%, slipping to its lowest level since mid-October. South Korea\u2019s KOSPI<\/strong> has lost 3.5%, and Hong Kong\u2019s Hang<\/strong> Seng<\/strong> is down 1.9%.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225<\/strong> is also having a very rough day, down over 3%, on concerns over an escalating dispute with China over Taiwan<\/p>\n Last night, the US stock market fell, with the S&P 500<\/strong> share index closing at its lowest level in a month.<\/p>\n European stock markets are heading for losses when trading begins at 8am GMT too.<\/p>\n Various reasons are being cited for the mood change. Investors are fretting that US interest rates may not be cut as quickly as hoped, following hawkish commentary from some policymakers.<\/p>\n Jitters are building ahead of AI behemoth Nvidia\u2019s<\/strong> results on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n The huge sums of money being committed by AI companies to fund their infrastructure is also raising eyebrows, especially as it is being increasingly funded by debt.<\/p>\n Last night, Amazon<\/strong> raised $15bn in its first US dollar bond offering in three years, adding to a spree of jumbo debt sales by technology firms as they race to fund artificial-intelligence infrastructure.<\/p>\n Michael Brown, <\/strong>senior research strategist at brokerage Pepperstone<\/strong>, explains:<\/p>\n Those Nvidia earnings, incidentally, once again stand as a major macro risk, as enthusiasm around the whole AI frenzy seems to ebb, with the market having shifted from an \u2018all capex is good capex\u2019 mood, to one where whether firms are actually able to monetise that expenditure has become the million (or more!) dollar question.<\/p>\n On that note, Amazon kicking-off a six-part bond sale didn\u2019t help matters much yesterday, following hot on the heels of similar sales from Meta and Alphabet in recent weeks, and further fuelling concern that AI expansion is now being fuelled by debt, and not by free cash flow, in turn exacerbating jitters over the sustainability of all the spending that we currently see.<\/p>\n 10am GMT: Treasury Committee hearing on risks and rewards of embracing crypto<\/p>\n<\/li>\n 1pm GMT: Huw Pill, Bank of England\u2019s chief economist, to give speech at Skinners Hall, London<\/p>\n<\/li>\n 3pm GMT: US factory orders and durable goods data for August (delayed by lockdown)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Share<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n <\/span>Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Wall Street\u2019s fear index has hit a one-month high today, Reuters reports, as investors have grown more jittery.<\/strong><\/p>\n The CBOE volatility index, known as the VIX, is currently up 1.2 points at 23.58 points.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n We also have fresh evidence that US companies cut jobs last month.<\/strong><\/p>\n With official economic statistics slowly roaring back into life after the US government shutdown, economists are indebted to other sources, such as payroll operator ADP<\/strong>.<\/p>\n According to ADP\u2019s<\/strong> latest weekly data, US companies shed 2,500 jobs per week on average in the four weeks to 1 November.<\/p>\n That suggests the pace of job cuts slowed at the end of the month \u2013 a week ago, ADP reported that US companies shed 11,250 jobs per week on average in the four weeks ending on 25 October.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Ironically, today\u2019s sell-off comes at a time when optimism among European investors improving.<\/strong><\/p>\n Bank of America\u2019s latest fund manager survey, released today, found that a net 77% of respondents expect stronger European growth over the coming twelve months, up from 57% last month. That\u2019s the highest reading since mid-2021.<\/p>\n BofA say:<\/p>\n Growth optimism continues to build, especially in Europe, while the US labour market & an AI bubble is a concern but not more<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Record bullishness on European equities driven by hopes for earnings upgrades, though Europe\u2019s relative appeal has slipped<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Banks remain the biggest sector overweight in Europe amid broadening confidence in cyclicals versus defensives outperformance<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Share<\/span>The floor at the New York Stock Exchange.<\/span> Photograph: Brendan McDermid\/Reuters<\/p>\n We\u2019re still expecting Wall Street to open lower in about an hour, after chunky losses yesterday.<\/p>\n The S&P 500<\/strong> index, which lost 0.9% yesterday, is down another 0.5% in the futures market.<\/p>\n Fawad Razaqzada,<\/strong> market analyst at FOREX.com, <\/strong>says:<\/p>\n US index futures came off their worse levels at the European open, before resuming lower a few hours later along with European markets as the bounce didn\u2019t have much firepower.<\/p>\n Markets have been under intense pressure in recent days across the world, with the risk off sentiment also hurting cryptocurrencies, copper and commodity dollars. Even gold has been forced lower despite being a haven asset.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Robert Booth<\/span><\/p>\n A key piece of the internet\u2019s usually hidden infrastructure suffered a global outage today, causing error messages to flash up across websites.<\/strong><\/p>\n Cloudflare, a US company whose services include defending millions of websites against malicious attacks, suffered an unidentified problem on Tuesday, which meant internet users could not access some customers\u2019 websites.<\/p>\n Neither could some site owners access their performance dashboards. Sites including X and Open AI suffered increased outages at the same time as Cloudflare\u2019s problems, according to Downdetector.<\/p>\n The outage is ongoing but as of 12.21pm GMT, the company said:<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing services recover, but customers may continue to observe higher-than-normal error rates as we continue remediation efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.57 EST<\/p>\n Britain\u2019s blue-chip share index has fallen further through the morning, to its lowest level in almost a month.<\/strong><\/p>\n The FTSE 100 index is now down 132 points, or 1.35%, at 9543 points. That\u2019s its lowest level since 23 October.<\/p>\n Kathleen Brooks, <\/strong>research director at XTB,<\/strong> says:<\/p>\n There are multiple drivers of markets right now, including fears about AI tech stock valuations, concerns about a weakening US economic outlook, and concerns that the Fed won\u2019t cut interest rates fast enough.<\/p>\n Even traditional safe havens are faltering this morning; gold is lower by $23 per ounce and is just about clinging on to the $4,000 level. Luxury stocks, which used to be considered \u2018recession proof\u2019, are leading European indices lower. Hermes and LVMH are some of the worst performers on the Eurostoxx so far on Tuesday and are falling alongside tech stocks such as Dutch giant ASML.<\/p>\n In FX, the yen and the Swiss Franc are performing like their safe haven status would suggest, and they are leading the G10 FX pack so far this morning.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Valuations in the booming AI industry are due for a reassessment, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Vice Chairman Daniel Pinto.<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking at the Bloomberg Africa Business Summit in Johannesburg today, Pinto<\/strong> also warned that any decline would reverberate across the stock market.<\/p>\n Pinto<\/strong> warned:<\/p>\n \u201cThere is probably a correction there.<\/p>\n That correction will also create a correction in the rest of the segment, the S&P and in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Concern has been growing in recent weeks that the valuations of the world\u2019s largest technology companies could have risen too high, based on an overly optimistic view of how quickly AI would delivery productivity benefits.<\/p>\n As Pinto<\/strong> explains:<\/p>\n \u201cIn order to justify these valuations, you are considering a level of productivity that, it will happen, but it may not happen as fast as the market is pricing now.\u201d<\/p>\n More here.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Lisa O\u2019Carroll<\/span><\/p>\n Ireland\u2019s long-standing finance minister Paschal Donohoe is to step down to join the World Bank as its managing director.<\/strong><\/p>\n Donohoe<\/strong>, who has been in finance or public expenditure departments for the past 10 years, will also step down from his job as head of the Eurogroup, the alliance of member states who use the euro currency.<\/p>\n The Irish cabinet was given the surprise news on Tuesday and was told that the appointment of Donohoe<\/strong> to the board of the World Bank had been approved on Monday night.<\/p>\n Donohoe<\/strong> has been a stalwart of Irish politics during Brexit years, covid and beyond and his steady hand made him seem as a potential front runner for taoiseach.<\/p>\n But he lost out on a key opportunity last March 2024 when the leadership of his Fine Gael came up with Simon Harris quickly amassing enough support within the party to take over following the resignation of the former Taoiseach Leo<\/strong> Varadkar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n He has been tipped for international jobs ever since, including the head of the International Monetary Fund, however he has always professed loyalty to his position in the Irish cabinet or missed out to other candidates.<\/p>\n His resignation could trigger a cabinet reshuffle but it will also prompt what is likely a hard by-election in Dublin central, a constituency shared in the multi seat system by Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary<\/strong> Lou<\/strong> McDonald<\/strong>, and in which Gary<\/strong> Hutch \u2013 <\/strong>who had links with the Hutch criminal gang \u2013 also ran in last November\u2019s general election.<\/p>\n Donohoe\u2019s departure is a significant blow to the Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il partnership and to the EU as one of the longest serving ministers attending EU summits.<\/p>\n He played a significant role in protecting Ireland\u2019s economic strategy in relation to foreign investment and corporate tax when under serious international attacks from the likes of France and a court case, which Ireland ultimately won, over the Apple\u2019s corporate tax.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.15 EST<\/p>\n Julia Pyke<\/strong>, joint managing director of the nuclear power project Sizewell C, said:<\/p>\n Cornwall Insight\u2019s analysis shows exactly why Britain needs more nuclear, not less.<\/p>\n A stable, low-carbon baseload from projects such as Sizewell C avoids the expensive system charges that households are now paying for and protects the UK from volatile markets from overseas.<\/p>\n She said the RAB (regulated asset base) contribution, a new charge on UK electricity bills to help fund new nuclear power stations, is little more than \u00a310 a year,<\/p>\n but it unlocks at least 60 years of clean, reliable, homegrown power that can stabilise bills for generations and creates tens of thousands of British jobs and opportunities which completely transforms communities.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n The forecaster Cornwall Insight has issued new forecasts for the January energy price cap.<\/p>\n The energy regulator Ofgem\u2019s price cap is expected to dip by 1%, taking it down by \u00a322 to an average bill of \u00a31,733 a year for a typical household from January.<\/p>\n But analysts at the specialist consultancy said they expect the price cap to tick higher again from April.<\/p>\n Jess Ralston<\/strong>, energy analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said:<\/p>\n As temperatures drop, many will be worried about how they are going to pay their energy bills. Rumoured cuts to home insulation schemes at the budget next week could leave the most vulnerable households facing higher bills for years to come and exposed to the kind of price spikes we\u2019ve seen over the past few years.<\/p>\n Low levels of investment into infrastructure like schools has been mirrored in our electricity system and that is now catching up with us. But an upgraded power grid will enable the UK to use more of its own renewable power, making it less reliant on foreign gas imports and less at the mercy of the kinds of foreign price swings that saw household bills soar.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.03 EST<\/p>\n The housebuilder Crest Nicholson<\/strong> has put out a profit warning after \u201csubdued\u201d sales over the summer, and also blamed uncertainty around the government\u2019s tax policy ahead of the 26 November budget.<\/p>\n The shares tumbled 13% on the news.<\/p>\n The company is closing one divisional office and will cut 50 jobs, including staff at the site and some \u201cselective other roles\u201d across overhead functions.<\/p>\n Crest said its adjusted profit before tax for the year to 31 October would be at the low end, or slightly below, its range of \u00a328m to \u00a338m,<\/p>\n reflecting a housing market that has remained subdued through the summer, and the continued uncertainty surrounding government tax policy ahead of the forthcoming budget.<\/p>\n It cautioned that near-term market conditions were likely to remain challenging.<\/p>\n The company expects to complete 1,691 homes this year, at the lower end of its range of between 1,700 and 1,900 homes, including 35% affordable units.<\/p>\n Its sales rate was 0.51, compared with 0.48 in 2024, although it dropped to 0.45 in the last 13 weeks of its financial year.<\/p>\n It has sold five land parcels from larger sites as it trims its landbank, and is working on a new house type range.<\/p>\n Rival builder Taylor Wimpey has also reported a drop in sales in the key autumn period.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.52 EST<\/p>\n Britain\u2019s competition watchdog has begun investigations into eight companies about their online pricing practices, expressing concern over additional fees and sales tactics such as \u201cdrip pricing\u201d and \u201cpressure selling\u201d.<\/p>\n The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was looking into the ticket sellers StubHub<\/strong> and Viagogo<\/strong>; AA Driving School<\/strong> and BSM Driving School<\/strong>; the US gym chain Gold\u2019s Gym<\/strong>; and the retailers Wayfair<\/strong>, Appliances Direct<\/strong> and Marks Electrical<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The investigations are the first launched by the CMA using its new consumer protection powers. The watchdog said it had concerns over practices including drip pricing \u2013 when consumers are shown an initial price and then face additional fees in the checkout process \u2013 and the use of misleading countdown timers, which are banned under the new regime.<\/p>\n The investigations follow a cross-economy review by the CMA since April of more than 400 businesses in 19 sectors to assess their compliance with price transparency rules.<\/p>\n The watchdog has also written advisory letters to 100 businesses across 14 sectors outlining concerns about their use of additional fees and sales tactics. It is publishing new guidance for businesses to help them comply with the law.<\/p>\n The regulator\u2019s new powers enable it to decide whether consumer laws have been broken, rather than having to go through the courts. If the CMA finds there has been an infringement of the law, it can order businesses to pay compensation to affected customers, and can fine companies up to 10% of global turnover.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction: Market selloff continues Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Global markets are racking up their fourth day of losses in a row, as concerns over technology valuations are worrying investors. Asia-Pacific stocks have dipped to a one-month low today, amid signs that the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[1120,904,5570,303,2071,3771,2016,6419,132,306,18658,5965,1060],"class_list":{"0":"post-34295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-boss","9":"tag-bubble","10":"tag-bursts","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-company","13":"tag-continues","14":"tag-google","15":"tag-immune","16":"tag-live","17":"tag-market","18":"tag-selloff","19":"tag-stock","20":"tag-warns"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The agenda<\/h2>\n
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BofA’s European Fund Manager Survey: Getting more and more bullish<\/h2>\n
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Cloudflare outage takes websites offline<\/h2>\n
FTSE 100 index near one-month low<\/h2>\n
JPMorgan\u2019s Pinto Warns of Possible \u2018Correction\u2019 in AI Valuations<\/h2>\n
Ireland’s finance minister steps down to join World Bank<\/h2>\n
Cornwall Insight: Energy price cap to dip by 1% to \u00a31,733 annual bill from January<\/h2>\n
Crest Nicholson warns on profits amid ‘subdued’ summer sales and budget uncertainty<\/h2>\n
Eight firms under investigation in crackdown on additional online fees<\/h2>\n