Tesla price cuts send carmaker into a spin

TESLA shares skidded lower after it cut the price of its models by as much as 20pc around the world.

In a bid to boost sales and put pressure on rivals, the electric car maker slashed prices of its Model 3 and Model Y cars in the US and across Europe.

The impact has been felt sharply in the UK, with discounts on some Tesla models of up to £9,000.

Tesla shares, which lost around two thirds of their value in 2022 in its worst ever year on the stock market, fell as much as 6pc in early trading on Wall Street.

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said the Tesla price cuts come amid a brutal ‘ arms race’ between electric car makers.

But he also warned Tesla is grappling with a growing squeeze on consumers as the global economy slows, with demand ‘ starting to see some cracks’.

The rout in the Tesla share price has been costly for boss Elon Musk who has seen the value of his 13.4pc holding plummet.

His stake was last night valued at around £42bn. Those shares would have been worth £142bn a little over a year ago.

Back in London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.64pc, or 50.03 points, to 7844.07 as it closed in on a record high. The FTSE 250 gained 0.56pc, or 111.71 points, to 19952.84.

Taylor Wimpey said it was considering job cuts and would buy less land and build fewer homes this year as the housing market slows. The housebuilder – whose shares climbed 1.9pc, or 2.1p, to 114.75p – outlined plans to save £20m a year as the industry reels from the impact of rising mortgage rates and economic uncertainty on demand.

Rivals Persimmon (up 0.8pc, or 11.5p, to 1416p) and Barratt Developments (up 0.8pc, or 3.8p, to 455p) also sounded the alarm over a slowdown in the housing market following the pandemic boom. Taylor Wimpey built 14,154 homes in 2022, just below the 14,302 completed in 2021, and cancellation rates for the year hit 18pc, up from 14pc a year earlier.

But despite the turmoil caused by rising mortgage rates following September’s disastrous mini- Budget, Taylor Wimpey profits for 2022 were likely to have met market expectations of around £921m.

Smaller rival MJ Gleeson also said it sold fewer homes last year, down 4pc to 894 in the six months to the end of December.

It flagged falling cancellation rates in the six weeks to Christmas and said it was ‘cautiously optimistic’ of a recovery in the housing market this year as mortgage rates ease and customers switching from other developers to buy some of its more affordable properties.

Shares shot up 8.2pc, or 31p, to 411p. Over at Redrow, the mid-cap housebuilder completed its £100m share buyback programme. Shares fell 0.3pc, or 1.5p, to 522.5p.

Shares in bookie William Hill’s owner 888 fell 4.6pc, or 4.25p, to 89.25p after it reported a 3pc fall in annual revenues despite a boost from the World Cup. The slide was driven by a 15pc fall in online revenues in 2022 to £1.33bn.

Investors in Capricorn Energy will decide the future of the oil and gas company with two crunch votes on February 1.

On a mammoth day, shareholders will vote on whether to back Capricorn’s proposed merger with the Israeli gas company Newmed and attempts by the third- largest investor Palliser Capital to overhaul the board. Shares slid 0.8pc, or 2p, to 242.8p.

Meanwhile, C&C, the Dublinbased drinks company, warned that its profit for the year would be lower than hoped amid falling consumer spending and the impact of ongoing rail strikes.

The FTSE 250 company behind Bulmers, Magners and Tennent’s plunged 9pc, or 16.6p, to 167.2p.