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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: Debt interest, Autumn Budget, RC Fornax

(Sharecast News) - Rachel Reeves has been left facing a £50bn bill as a result of higher debt interest payments following a rout in the bond market. And City exports caution that the bill could keep climbing. Hence, the Chancellor may soon have to choose between either bending her own fiscal rules, enacting tax increases or cutting spending. The rout has seen the tiny £10bn buffer left by Reeves to meet her main fiscal rule, which requires that tax revenues cover day-to-day expenditures, evaporate. - The Financial Mail on Sunday Private equity outfit TDR Capital has dropped plans to sell BPP Holdings for £2.5bn as no buyer was found who would pay the asking price. Hence, TDR will now look to secure a debt deal in order to refinance the company, a specialist in training courses. The parties which had initially expressed an interest later balked. due to the "political noise" in the aftermath of the autumn budget, three sources close to the talks said. - The Sunday Times

Defence engineering consultancy RC Fornax is looking to raise at least £5m via a flotation in London which would see the outfit fetch a £25m valuation. The listing will give the AIM market a boost on its 30th anniversary. The business rang up annual revenues of £6.5m in 2024 and is now hoping to tap into the expected increase in defence outlays due to the heightened geopolitical tensions. It also stands to benefit from the Ministry of Defence's stated aim of directing a quarter of procurement funds to small and medium-sized enterprises. - The Financial Mail on Sunday

British Steel is set to bin plans to brin steelmaking back to Teesside in what amounts to a big blow to jobs in northeast England. The Chinese-owned group has been planning to construct one "green steel" furnace at Teesside and another at Scunthorpe. Instead, both will now be built at the latter site. - The Sunday Times

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Friday newspaper round-up: Barclays, BP, JPMorgan
(Sharecast News) - The UK government will "wait and see" whether tariffs announced by Donald Trump "actually come to pass", a senior minister said. The US president announced what he called "reciprocal tariffs" on all other countries on Thursday evening, claiming it was "fair to all". But it was unclear how this would apply to the UK, especially as Trump suggested his policy regarded VAT as a tariff. - Guardian
Thursday newspaper round-up: Solar panels, OBR, Chevron
(Sharecast News) - California's home-insurance safety net does not have enough money to pay all of the claims from damage caused by the Los Angeles wildfires and has asked private insurers to contribute $1bn toward those claims. All private insurers operating in California are required to contribute to the Fair plan, a plan of last resort established so all Californians would have access to fire insurance. More than 450,000 California homeowners got their insurance through the Fair plan in 2024 - more than double the number in 2020. As of 4 February, the plan had received more than 4,700 claims from the Palisades and Eaton fires, almost half of which were for "total losses". - Guardian
Wednesday newspaper round-up: British economy, Heathrow, FOS
(Sharecast News) - The British economy is on course to expand by 1.5% this year after the budget gave a boost to public spending but could be blown off course if Donald Trump goes ahead with threatened tariffs, a leading economic thinktank has warned. In a boost to Rachel Reeves after a bruising month of negative economic figures, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) upped its annual growth prediction from 1.2% to 1.5%. - Guardian
Tuesday newspaper round-up: OpenAI, EVs, gas prices
(Sharecast News) - Elon Musk escalated his feud with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman on Monday. The billionaire is leading a consortium of investors that announced it had submitted a bid of $97.4bn for "all assets" of the artificial intelligence company to OpenAI's board of directors. The startup, which operates ChatGPT, has been working to restructure itself away from its original non-profit status. OpenAI also operates a for-profit subsidiary, and Musk's unsolicited offer could complicate the company's plans. The Wall Street Journal first reported the proposed bid. - 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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