Seven days in the Square Mile

The FTSE 100 broke successive records to hit an all-time high, buoyed by the falling pound, which touched its weakest level of 2018, and the rising oil price. The price of crude hit $80/barrel for the first time since 2014, on the back of supply disruptions in Venezuela and ongoing political tensions in the Middle East. Markets globally were heartened by the apparent breakthrough of a deal between the US and China, averting the immediate threat of a trade war. There were signs of trouble in Italy, where shares and bonds came under pressure, and also in Turkey, where the sell-off of the lira accelerated, threatening chaos ahead of next month’s election. The EU opened trade talks with Australia and New Zealand, jumping the gun on Britain by gaining a year’s head start in getting a potential free-trade deal finalised. The Bank of England’s governor, Mark Carney, outlined that British households are more than £900 worse off after the Brexit vote. M&S said it would accelerate its store closure plan, as sales across all three divisions fell and the cost of the closure programme kicked in. Shares in Bloomsbury jumped after the publisher announced strong results with both revenues and profits experiencing double-digit growth, boosted by the Harry Potter series and a weight-loss book by TV chef Tom Kerridge. The City reacted coolly to speculation about a possible mega banking merger between Barclays and Standard Chartered.