THE DAILY BRIEFING
TRADE VICTIM
Chinese chip maker ZTE has seen nearly £5.5bn wiped off its value this week after US lawmakers moved to uphold sanctions against it.
The White House had said the company would be given relief from measures taken against it but the Senate has since voted to overrule that decision.
It means the deal struck by president Donald Trump’s administration with ZTE could be thwarted if the House of Representatives backs the Senate bill.
FUND BOOST
Bosses of a small business-backing investment fund have trumpeted their market-beating results. F&C Global Smaller
Companies delivered returns of 9.3pc in the year to April 30, against an average of 7.9pc for its chosen sector, and the total annual dividend was hiked by 17.6pc to 14.4p per share.
£155m FINE
Troubled German lender Deutsche Bank has been hit with a £155m fine in the US for unsafe foreign exchange trading practices from 2007 to 2013. The bank has already shelled out billions of pounds on fines for everything from money laundering to rigging Libor rates.
AMERICAN STAKE
Retail chain Sports Direct has taken an 8.6pc stake in US firm Iconix Brand Group. It comes after it lost a holding in American sportswear retailer Finish Line following its purchase by rival JD Sports. Iconix licenses sportswear brands to retailers like Macy’s, Target and Kohl’s.
FASTER WEB
Tech giant Vodafone is to test cutting- edge 5G mobile internet in seven UK cities. The company said it would start rolling out the technology from october at locations including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Manchester.
ASSET SALES
oil and gas company Shell is selling its stakes in Draugen and Gjoa oil fields to Norwegian firm okea, for £421m. Shell is selling off assets to pay for its £47bn purchase of BG Group.
DEAL AGREED
The £ 126.7m takeover of Richard Desmond’s Express and Star newspaper empire by Trinity Mirror will not be referred for an in-depth competition probe, the Government has announced.
HACKERS STRIKE
Bitcoin website Bithumb has had £23.9m of digital currency stolen by hackers, as a crime wave sweeps the industry.