Seven days in the Square Mile

The FTSE 100 reacted benignly to Philip Hammond’s second Budget. Investors seemed reassured that the cut to UK growth forecasts was in line with consensus, and they welcomed a fasterthan-expected fall in the UK’S budget deficit. Investors also brushed off fears over the collapse of German coalition talks, pinning hopes on an Angela Merkel-led minority government. US stocks came close to recent highs and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed above the 30,000 points level for the first time in ten years. B&Q and John Lewis warned of “challenging” conditions ahead as inflation hit retailers. A report by Visa and HIS marketing suggested that festive spending in Britain this year could fall for the first time since 2012 because of lethargic growth and falling real wages. It predicts a 0.1% fall in spending over the 2017 festive period. Britain’s information commissioner said it had “huge concerns” following a breach that exposed the details of Uber’s 57 million customers and drivers; the company kept the attack quiet and paid a ransom to hackers to delete the data. Jaguar Land Rover was reported to be testing driverless cars on public British roads; Uber struck a deal to buy 24,000 driverless cars from Volvo; and Tesla unveiled its first electric truck and a new Roadster sports car. The price of Bitcoin broke the $8,000 barrier for the first time, prompting speculation that it could pass $10,000 by the end of the year.