Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as regulator says five companies can raise bills to pay for infrastructure for new housing and datacentresThe biggest factor for the FTSE 100’s underperformance on Thursday morning relative to other European markets is a big decline in the mining sector.Chilean miner Antofagasta is the biggest faller on London’s benchmark index, down 4.9% after it cut its guidance for future output.The London-listed miner cut its 2026 copper output estimate to between 625,000 and 655,000 metric tons, from a previous forecast of 650,000 to 700,000 tons, due to a shutdown at its Los Pelambres mine in July after extreme rains prompted Chile’s government to declare a “state of catastrophe” in the Coquimbo Region.While there has been no material impact on key equipment and infrastructure, the miner said it will need to repair some pipeline platforms and water management systems. Continue reading...

13 Aug 2026 13:58 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Weaker growth, rising energy costs and persistent inflation mean Britain could face tougher times in the autumnUK economic growth slows downBusiness live – latest updatesIn the spring the International Monetary Fund warned Britain faced the heaviest economic blow from the Iran war among the world’s most advanced nations. Almost six months into the conflict, on the surface, the UK appears to be proving the forecasters wrong.The latest official figures show the UK maintained its pole position as the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of 2026. Despite the gloomy international backdrop and yet more domestic political uncertainty, consumers have largely continued spending and business investment has boomed. Continue reading...

13 Aug 2026 10:26 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

GDP expanded by 0.4% in three months to June, but analysts warn growth is ‘likely to fade’UK economy shows surprising resilienceBusiness live – latest updatesEconomic growth slowed in the second quarter of the year, as the disruption unleashed by the Iran war began to take its toll, official figures show.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said GDP expanded by 0.4% in the three months to June, down from 0.6% in the first quarter, in line with City economists’ expectations. Continue reading...

13 Aug 2026 06:59 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

A cheap currency helps finance the US tech boom. Washington is intervening because allies matter only when they are usefulJapan’s yen has slid back towards 160 to the dollar, despite last month’s extraordinary US-Japanese intervention. Traders are betting that its role as a cheap funding pipeline for global finance will continue. Earlier this month the Trump administration stepped in to help Tokyo stabilise its currency. “Japan’s been very good to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor,” Donald Trump explained. More help is likely to be on its way.But this is less a rescue of the yen than an attempt by Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, to preserve a cash spigot that benefits the US. Japan’s ultra-cheap money has become a global funding utility: bankers borrow yen, sell them for dollars and buy higher-returning US assets, notably tech shares. Rising American stock markets support collateral and investment. Japan’s “carry trade” is one of the reasons Wall Street can lever hundreds of billions into AI. Research suggests AI sucks up more than 1% of US GDP.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

12 Aug 2026 17:39 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Premier of the People’s Republic of China regarded as an economic reformer who declared that the country had become ‘the factory of the world’Zhu Rongji, who has died aged 97, was the fifth premier of the People’s Republic of China and one of its most effective administrators and economic reformers following its foundation in 1949.In 1991, Zhu was summoned to Beijing, in the footsteps of the then president and party secretary Jiang Zemin, and in the aftermath of the 1989 uprisings in Beijing and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Continue reading...

12 Aug 2026 16:42 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Mortgage and student loan balances saw ‘small decline’ with increases elsewhere, says post alongside Fed reportCredit card debt in the United States is growing close to a record high, having crept up from $54bn to $1.26tn between April and June compared with the same period last year, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.That figure is just shy of last year’s record high of $1.28tn. Continue reading...

12 Aug 2026 14:58 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

The International Energy Agency calls for urgent reopening of the strait of Homuz amid ongoing pressure on global oil suppliesOpec has lowered its full-year forecast for world oil demand growth for the fourth month in a row.The oil producing cartel said it was now expecting oil demand to have grown to 580,000 barrels per day, according to a copy of the monthly report seen by Reuters. Continue reading...

12 Aug 2026 13:54 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN