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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: Housing market, Tata Steel, electric cars

(Sharecast News) - The housing market has had some "respite" in recent weeks as activity picked up amid easing mortgage rates after a challenging 2023, according to surveyors. Inquiries from new buyers are approaching a flatter trend, after falling in recent months, according to the December report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). - Guardian Concern is mounting that Tata Steel will confirm plans to shut down much of its production at the Port Talbot steelworks during a crunch meeting with trade unions, putting thousands of jobs at risk. Three sources said they believed that Tata, owned by the Indian billionaire Ruia brothers, was on the brink of confirming plans to close Port Talbot's two blast furnaces, ending more than a century of making steel from scratch in south Wales. - Guardian

Electric cars lose as much as half of their value after just three years on the road, new figures show, as the rate of depreciation far outstrips conventional equivalents. Research from Auto Trader said there were "unsustainable levels of depreciation" in the electric car market, with used prices of battery-powered vehicles dropping by 23pc in the last year alone. - Telegraph

Chinese brands will launch a price war and will capture a sixth of the UK electric car market by 2030, according to Auto Trader. With BYD, China's largest electric car manufacturer, having overtaken Tesla as the world leader in zero-emission vehicles and with Shanghai Automotive's MG brand already out-selling Volkswagen and BMW in the segment in Britain, a new order is coming, according to the online car-buying platform's latest The Road to 2030 report. - The Times

Britons doubled their spending on bowling in December compared with the same month a year ago, according to Lloyds Bank. People also spent more on booking holidays last month, with demand for cruises up by more than a quarter compared with December 2022, the high street lender said. - The Times

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(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
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(Sharecast News) - An increasingly complex tax system is burdening the government and businesses with hundreds of millions of pounds more in administration costs, Whitehall's spending watchdog has warned. The report by the National Audit Office (NAO) also said "poor levels of service" meant some taxpayers and their representatives were "finding it more difficult to deal with their tax matters and are losing trust in HM Revenue & Customs [HMRC]". - 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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