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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.

Tuesday newspaper round-up: Banks, Woodford Fund, Abcam

(Sharecast News) - The UK's largest banks will be tested on their ability to withstand a rise in defaults linked to sky-high energy prices, as part of the Bank of England's delayed health check of the financial industry. The Guardian understands that Threadneedle Street has crafted a new crisis scenario that will feature a deep economic recession, punctuated by soaring energy bills that could make it harder for some borrowers - particularly businesses - to afford loan repayments. - Guardian The administrator of the failed fund run by the former star stock-picker Neil Woodford could be forced to pay investors up to £306m in compensation, the City regulator has said. The Financial Conduct Authority said on Monday it was ordering the fund's administrator, Link, to ringfence the sum as part of conditions related to Link's takeover by the Canadian cloud-based software company Dye & Durham. - Guardian

Electric car owners will save up to a third on charging their cars thanks to Liz Truss's energy support pledge. The cost of charging will be held back under the Prime Minister's plan to cap the cost of electricity units, saving drivers around a third compared to what had been expected from next month. - Telegraph

Abcam is to go ahead with a plan to scrap its London listing after investors backed a proposal by the biotechnology company to have its shares traded solely in New York. The decision by the Cambridge-based business is a blow to the British stock market as it wrestles with competition from foreign exchanges. Abcam has a market capitalisation of almost £3 billion, making it one of the biggest groups on Aim, London's junior market. It is also quoted on the Nasdaq in America. - The Times

The owners of Asda were dealt a blow yesterday after a leading credit rating agency warned about the highly-leveraged supermarket group's debts after its £600 million purchase of Co-operative Group's petrol forecourts. Fitch Ratings said it was cutting its outlook on the investment vehicle that owns Britain's third-biggest supermarket chain from "stable" to "negative". - The Times

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Friday newspaper round-up: OBR, franchise agreements, GoCardless
(Sharecast News) - MPs have launched an inquiry into the role and performance of the Office for Budget Responsibility. The all-party Commons Treasury committee will spend until the end of next month investigating the independent agency's forecasting performance and impartiality. The panel will consider whether reforms are needed 15 years after the OBR was set up by George Osborne when he was Tory chancellor. - Guardian
Thursday newspaper round-up: Youth employment, SpaceX, EY
(Sharecast News) - Britain is slipping down the global league table for youth employment amid a dramatic rise in worklessness that is putting a generation's future at risk, research has warned. Sounding the alarm over a worsening youth jobs crisis, the report from the accountancy firm PwC said Britain's economy was missing out on £26bn a year because of sharp regional divisions in youth joblessness. - Guardian
Wednesday newspaper round-up: UK borrowing costs, Channel 4, Anduril
(Sharecast News) - The "premium" that the UK pays to borrow money compared with its international peers may be coming to an end as markets grow more confident about the government's plans, a thinktank has suggested. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said that the chancellor Rachel Reeves's announcement in the autumn budget that she would be more than doubling the UK's financial headroom by 2030 from £9.9bn to £22bn had begun to assure bond markets about Labour's fiscal approach. - Guardian
Tuesday newspaper round-up: household spending, British Library, Jamie Dimon, WPP
(Sharecast News) - UK households cut back on spending at the fastest pace in almost five years last month as consumers put Christmas shopping on hold, according to a leading survey. Adding to concerns that uncertainty surrounding the budget has helped dampen consumer confidence, Barclays said card spending fell 1.1% year on year in November - the largest fall since February 2021. The bank said retailers still enjoyed their busiest day of the year so far on Black Friday, with transaction volumes 62.5% higher than the average day for 2025. - 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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