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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.

Thursday newspaper round-up: 'Buy EU', BrewDog, Morgan Stanley

(Sharecast News) - The European Commission has proposed a "Buy EU" plan to boost domestic low-carbon industries and help the continent compete against China. The commission published a draft regulation - called the Industrial Accelerator Act - on Wednesday, setting demands for EU-made and low-carbon content on bodies spending public money. The rules mark a big shift in economic thinking from Brussels, long a bastion of open markets. - Guardian The co-founder of BrewDog, James Watt, met with short shrift from small investors who have been left empty-handed by the company's sale for just £33m, after he admitted to "many mistakes". Watt issued a mea culpa via the professional social networking site LinkedIn, a platform he has regularly used to espouse political views, including complaints about the level of tax he is asked to pay. - Guardian

Rachel Reeves's plan to raise the minimum wage for young people will push up the cost of hiring them by almost £7,000. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned that employers faced a 40pc real increase in costs under Labour's proposals to scrap the youth rate of the minimum wage. The think tank laid bare the extra burden on business caused by Labour's manifesto pledge to end what it has branded "discriminatory age bands". - Telegraph

A London-listed oil services company has evacuated staff from the Persian Gulf amid escalating conflict in the region. Gulf Marine Services (GMS) received instructions from one of its clients in the Middle East to evacuate staff from "liftboats", giant ships equipped with legs that can be extended to the seafloor, as a "safety precaution". The company operates a fleet of 14 of the liftboats. Each ship typically carries 150 crew. - Telegraph

Morgan Stanley is laying off about 2,500 employees, despite reporting record revenue last year. The banking giant is planning to cut about 3 per cent of its global workforce across its investment banking and trading, wealth management and investment management divisions. The lay-offs were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. - The Times

The competition regulator has announced that it is to launch a full market study into the £8.4 billion private dentistry market. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its study would look at both essential care and cosmetic treatments and it was seeking feedback from consumers and dental professionals, including on how hard it is to find a dentist, understanding of prices and knowing where to go if something goes wrong. - The Times

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Monday newspaper round-up: Job losses, net zero, Blue Origin
(Sharecast News) - A quarter of a million people could lose their jobs by the middle of next year as Britain "flirts with recession", analysis suggests, after business confidence was shattered by the US-Israel war on Iran. As the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, summoned bank chiefs for talks aimed at containing the fallout, twin reports from top accounting firms underlined the scale of the economic threat facing the UK. - Guardian
Friday newspaper round-up: Defence spending, Metro Bank, Aston Martin
(Sharecast News) - Rachel Reeves has warned "difficult choices" are required to increase defence spending and other budgets may have to be cut, including welfare. Under pressure for a faster rise in the military budget amid the Iran conflict and Russia's war in Ukraine, the chancellor said she was "working through a range of options" but preferred not to increase taxes or add to government borrowing. - Guardian
Thursday newspaper round-up: Private rents, NHS drugs, data centre
(Sharecast News) - Average private rents have stopped rising in Great Britain after almost a decade of increases, as more landlords cut their prices to secure a tenant, data shows. The typical advertised private rent outside London for properties coming on to the market remained flat at £1,370 a calendar month in the first three months of 2026, according to the property website Rightmove. It is the first time since 2017 that rents have not increased in the first three months of a year compared with levels at the end of the previous year. - Guardian
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Lidl and Iceland, Help to Buy, shadow banking
(Sharecast News) - Lidl and Iceland have become the first companies to have ads banned after the introduction of rules cracking down on the marketing of junk food in the UK. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been policing the ban on ads featuring junk food on TV before 9pm, and in paid online advertising at any time of the day, since 5 January. - 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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