Key events
Closing summary
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq is 0.4% ahead while the S&P 500 has gained 0.5% and the Jones is trading nearly 0.6% higher, as traders await the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision later today.
Markets are expecting no change, but will be closely watching Fed chair Jerome Powell’s press conference for any hints on future policy, and his assessment of the US economy in the wake of Donald Trump’s trade tariff announcements.
European stock markets are sliding, with the UK’s FTSE 100 index down 45 points, or 0.5% to 8,551. If it closes lower, it would end its record run of 16 sessions of increases. Germany’s Down is down by 0.4%, France’s CAC has lot 0.9% and Italy’s FTSE MiB is trading 0.4% lower.
There has been a muted reaction to news that top trade officials from the US and China will meet this weekend for the first time since the US president launched tariffs against Beijing.
Asian stocks rose with the exception of Japan’s Nikkei, led by the Shanghai composite, up by 0.8%, after China said it would cut interest rates.
Oil prices have fallen back too after rising by more than 1% earlier. Brent crude is down 0.2% at $62.01 a barrel.
Our other main stories today:
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care – JK
Here are our full stories on the UK construction downturn, China cutting interest rate and Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk downgrading its forecasts.
BMW boss predicts Trump’s 25% tariffs on foreign cars will be lowered by July
The boss of BMW has predicted that Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports of foreign cars will be lowered this summer, as the German carmaker reported that its profits for the first quarter tumbled by 25%.
Oliver Zipse, BMW’s chief executive, said that he expects Trump’s 25% tariffs on the import of foreign cars will be dropped by July.
He made the prediction after the German carmaker reported a 25% drop in profit for the first quarter of the year to €3.1bn (£2.6bn) as it braced for the effects of Donald Trump’s trade war and strong competition in China.
Zipse also said he expected a return to lower tariffs between the US, Canada and Mexico – previously a free-trade zone under a deal he signed – because the “costs are far too big for everybody”.
A one-of-a-kind mortgage offering a major financial perk – no repayments for the first three months – has been launched in the UK.
The deal, unveiled by Skipton Building Society, is the latest innovation aimed at cash-strapped first-time buyers and is designed to provide them with a bit of breathing space as they settle into their new property.
However, while the new Delayed Start mortgage should help ease the strain of the costs that come with buying a first home, those first three months are not free. Interest will start to accumulate from day one and will be added to the overall mortgage balance – so some may view this as something akin to “buy now, pay later” for mortgages.
Skipton said the new product was exclusively for first-time buyers and available to those borrowing up to 95% of a property’s value.
It said its survey of people who had bought their first house in the last five years found that first-time buyers were spending upwards of £30,000 during the first three months of moving in. This was causing almost two-thirds of them to feel “financially strained” during that period, with many saying that the entire moving process “cost a lot more than they expected”.
A spokesperson for Skipton said the new product
will enable first-time buyers to settle into their new home with no mortgage repayments due for the first three months, allowing them to manage the extra costs associated with buying and moving into their first property.
If train drivers – like police officers – start looking younger, it may not just be you. Britain’s trains could soon have 18-year-olds in the cab, with the government likely to cut the minimum age to plug a shortage of drivers.
Currently train drivers can obtain a licence from the age of 20 – although the vast majority of drivers are much older.
The Department for Transport said the change could lead to teenage applicants being recruited from December. The government hopes to boost job prospects for young people, with thousands of apprenticeships made available to school-leavers, as well as making train services more reliable.
According to data from the rail regulator ORR, 87% of P-coded cancellations – those made the night before a service is scheduled to run – are caused by driver shortages. Services are also frequently disrupted because of a reliance on “rest day working” across parts of the industry where operators rely on drivers voluntarily undertaking additional shifts.
Unions and the rail industry also hope the move will lead to a more diverse workforce at the controls. Drivers are typically white middle-aged men, with an average age of 48. Fewer than 9% of train drivers are female, while under 12% are from a minority ethnic background.
Novo Nordisk has become the latest drugmaker to drop its gender goals in the US.
The maker of Wegovy and Ozempic said it would drop gender representation requirements for its US business, following executive orders by Donald Trump to stop diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The company said:
While Novo Nordisk maintains our global aspiration of a minimum 45% representation for each gender by the end of 2025, Novo Nordisk‘s operations in the US will no longer participate in this global initiative due to evolving legal requirements.
Other European drugmakers have also ditched DEI targets, including the UK’s GSK in February and Swiss drugmaker Roche in March, while Novartis ended its use of diverse panels for US hiring.
Barclays AGM attracts protests from pro-Palestinian activists
Barclays’ annual meeting today attracted fresh protests from activists opposed to its alleged provision of financial services to Israeli defence firms, forcing the lender to increase security checks on attendees in a bid to reduce disruption seen in previous years.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the event in Westminster, central London, waving Palestine flags and holding banners that accused Barclays of “arming Israel” and “banking on genocide”.
Reuters saw at least one protester physically ejected from the building shortly before the event was due to begin. The activist was heard to shout “Free Palestine” as he was escorted out by security.
As well as bombing Gaza incessantly, the Israeli government has blocked aid and the territory is on the brink of catastrophe after two months of a total blockade by Israel, aid workers say.
Britain’s financial watchdog plans to simplify mortgage rules, and has launched a consultation.
The Financial Conduct Authority said:
We want to make it easier, faster and cheaper for borrowers to make changes to their mortgage. Doing so will help consumers better navigate their financial lives and support growth, both priorities in our new strategy.
This includes making it
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quicker and easier for consumers to discuss options with a firm, while still having access to advice if they want or need it
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easier for consumers to reduce their mortgage term, lowering the total cost of borrowing and reducing the risk of repaying into later life
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easier for consumers to access cheaper products when remortgaging
The FCA has introduced Consumer Duty – a set of rules to improve consumer protection which it says sets clearer, up-to-date standards in financial services.
The watchdog also said it had reminded firms of flexibility in its rules to help people access a mortgage. In June, it will follow this work with a further public discussion on the future of the mortgage market, including risk appetite and responsible risk-taking, alternative affordability testing and product innovation, lending into later life and consumer information needs.
Emad Aladhal, director of retail banking said:
Our strategy aims to deepen trust and rebalance risk to support growth and improve lives.
That’s why, with the Consumer Duty now in place to maintain high standards, we want to make it easier, faster and cheaper for borrowers to access and make changes to their mortgage.
Novo Nordisk’s finance chief is sceptical that Donald Trump’s executive order to reduce the time it takes to approve pharmaceutical factories in the country will significantly change timelines for the pharma industry.
Trump signed an executive order on Monday that aims to reduce the time it takes to approve pharma plants in the United States, as part of new regulations to encourage international drugmakers to shift their operations to the country.
Wegovy and Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk’s chief financial officer Karsten Munk Knudsen told Reuters that it takes years for a pharmaceutical company to build a factory in compliance with the quality protocols set and enforced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
We would welcome if there are more pragmatic ways through it, but I’m sceptical that it will markedly change timelines in our industry.
The trade group PhRMA estimates it takes five to 10 years to build a new pharmaceutical plant in the US.
Amazon makes ‘fundamental leap forward in robotics’ with device having sense of touch
Amazon said it has made a “fundamental leap forward in robotics” after developing a robot with a sense of touch that will be capable of grabbing about three-quarters of the items in its vast warehouses.
Vulcan – which launches at the US firm’s “Delivering the Future” event in Dortmund, Germany, on Wednesday and is to be deployed around the world in the next few years – is designed to help humans sort items for storage and then prepare them for delivery as the latest in a suite of robots which have an ever-growing role in the online retailer’s extensive operation.
Aaron Parness, Amazon’s director of robotics, described Vulcan as a
fundamental leap forward in robotics. It’s not just seeing the world, it’s feeling it, enabling capabilities that were impossible for Amazon robots until now.
The robots will be able to identify objects by touch using AI to work out what they can and can’t handle and figuring out how best to pick them up. They will work alongside humans who now stash and retrieve items from shelving units which are manoeuvred to them at picking stations by wheeled robots – of which Amazon now has more than 750,000 in operation.
Vulcan will be able to stow items on the upper and lower levels of the shelving units – known as pods – so that humans no longer need to use ladders or bend so often during their work. Robots now operating in Amazon’s warehouse are able to shift items around or pick items using suction cups and computer vision.
Danish firm shelves huge UK windfarm project over rising costs
Turning to corporate news again… One of the UK’s largest planned offshore windfarms has been cancelled by its developer, the Danish wind power company Ørsted, as a result of higher costs and greater risk.
The fourth phase of the huge Hornsea windfarm development, located off the Yorkshire coast, was expected to include 180 giant turbines, capable of generating the equivalent of enough green electricity to power 1m homes.
However, Ørsted’s chief executive, Rasmus Errboe, said in a statement to investors it was discontinuing the development: “The combination of increased supply chain costs, higher interest rates, and increased execution risk have deteriorated the expected value creation of the project.”
As a result, the company expects to incur breakaway costs of between 3.5bn and 4.5bn Danish kroner (£399m-£513m).
