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Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

Sunday newspaper round-up: Bank of England, Virgin Media O2, THG

(Sharecast News) - Experts at Investec believe that the Bank of England will stand pat on rates when it meets this week due to financial stability concerns triggered by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and bailouts for Credit Suisse and First Republic Bank. "The degree of conviction in this view is necessarily small when inflation is still in double-digits but stability concerns have suddenly surged," they said. Inflation data out on Wednesday on the other hand was expected to decline to just below 10%, posing a dilemma for Bank. Yet senior Treasury officials think the rate of inflation could halve to roughly 5% over the next few months. Similarly, the Office for Budget Responsibility sees inflation tumbling to 2.9% by the end of 2023. - Financial Mail on Sunday Virgin Media O2 is studying a takeover offer for rival broadband supplier Cityfibre of up to £3bn. Virgin Media 02 parent company Liberty Global boss, Mike Fries, and Cityfibre head Greg Mesch, have already held initial talks about a possible tie-up. Cityfibre already reaches approximately 2.0m homes will full fibre brodband and hopes to reach 8.0m by 2025. An acquisition would help Virgin Media both expand its own network and help it hit its own target of upgrading the entirety to full fibre. One source said that Cityfibre, which enjoys the backing of Goldman Sachs, might fetch a price tag of over £3bn. - The Sunday Telegraph

Sparta Capital, a hedge fund set up by a former executive of US outfit Elliott Advisors, has taken out a stake in THG. It joins another activist investor on THG's shareholder register, Kelso. The latter is expected to be close to making its recommendations to THG's board public and is expected to push for the online retailer to move its shares to the premium segment of the main market. - The Sunday Times

The country's lenders have been told by Bank to disclose their exposures to global dent markets. At a meeting last week, officials at Threadneedle Street held talks with lenders, both large and small, to assess their risk profiles and asked them to provide breakdowns of their bond market investments. Also discussed was whether they had any direct exposure to Credit Suisse, which was understood to be minimal. The intervention was only a precautionary action and did not reveal any immediate threats to the UK financial system. Nonetheless, the unusual intervention was a reflection of the degree of concern sparked by the failure of SVB and the situation at Credit Suisse. - Sunday Telegraph

Former top Bank of England official David Blanchflower believes that the central bank should slash interest rates and stop selling Gilts in the aftermath of the turmoil in the banking sector. Blanchflower, who sat on the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee during the 2008 crisis, recommended cutting Bank Rate by 100 basis points to 3% at next Thursday's policy meeting. Blanchflower and fellow economist Richard Murphy said in a submission to the Commons Treasury select committee that Bank should resume Gilt purchases at a pace of £50bn per year in order to keep the economy out of recession. - Guardian

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Thursday newspaper round-up: CMA, Riverford, Lloyds, Arm Holdings
(Sharecast News) - The appointment of the former boss of Amazon UK to lead the competition watchdog poses a threat to its independence and pledge to hold big tech to account, according to a group including tech companies and the former business secretary Vince Cable. The group - which includes the News Media Association, the Firefox developer Mozilla, the consumer group Which? and the Future of Technology Institute - has written to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to raise concerns about the appointment of Doug Gurr as the interim chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). - Guardian
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, Johnson & Johnson, BoE
(Sharecast News) - Thames Water may need as much as £10bn in debt and equity investment to repair its finances, according to a representative of creditors hoping to lend the struggling utility another £3bn. London's high court heard evidence on Tuesday that suggested the UK's largest water company may need significantly more resources than the roughly £6.3bn it has previously indicated. - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: Zero-hours contracts, Barclays, Asos
(Sharecast News) - Hundreds of thousands of British workers are on zero-hours contracts despite being with the same employer for years, according to analysis from the TUC. The majority of zero-hours contract workers have been with their employer for more than 12 months, while one in eight have not been granted regular employment rights after more than a decade working in the same place, the organisation said. - Guardian
Friday newspaper round-up: Apple, Daily Mail, OpenAI, Homebase
(Sharecast News) - Apple slightly beat analysts' expectations in its first-quarter earnings for fiscal year 2025 on Thursday. The iPhone-maker's revenue rose by 4%, coming in at $124.30bn, barely above estimates of $124.12bn. Earnings per share were $2.40, just ahead of analysts' expectations of $2.35. Shares rose more than 8% in extended trading after CEO Tim Cook indicated in an earnings call on Thursday that Apple is on the trajectory for revenue growth next quarter. - Guardian

Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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