Tuesday newspaper round-up: Retail sales, Google, Warren Buffett

(Sharecast News) - The late arrival of warm summer weather drove a recovery in retail sales last month, industry data shows, despite continuing signs of consumers holding back on big ticket purchases amid the cost of living crisis. Figures from the British Retail Consortium showed that UK total retail sales increased by 0.5% year on year in July, a recovery from the washout month of June when colder weather deterred shoppers from spending on the high street. - Guardian Google violated antitrust laws as it built an internet search empire, a federal judge ruled on Monday in a decision that could have major implications for the way people interact with the internet. Judge Amit Mehta found that Google violated section 2 of the Sherman Act, a US antitrust law. His decision states that Google maintained a monopoly over search services and advertising. - Guardian

Warren Buffett's stock empire has lost at least $15bn (£11.75bn) on its biggest holdings amid a global stock market sell-off. The money was wiped from the paper value of Berkshire Hathaway's stock portfolio on Monday as Apple, Bank of America and Mitsubishi plummeted in value. The decline comes despite Mr Buffett's investment company building up major cash reserves in recent months by slashing its stock market positions. - Telegraph

Sensitive British military projects face disruption from the threatened closure of one of the country's last remaining microchip factories. Coherent, a US semiconductor company, ceased taking orders at its facility in County Durham and said the 310,000 sq ft site may have to be sold after Apple dropped the business as a supplier. It can now be revealed the factory's customers also include Leonardo, the Italian defence giant that makes radar systems, electronic warfare devices and helicopters in the UK. It is understood the plant has previously supplied chips used for radar power amplifiers in Typhoon jets and other British military platforms. - Telegraph

A global scramble by opportunistic hedge funds to exit a well-trodden cheap borrowing gambit has been blamed for the share sell-off that shook financial markets on Monday. Japan suffered a fully fledged flight from shares with stock prices falling by 12 per cent and the jitters reverberated round the world, with share prices in London and then Wall Street falling sharply amid a stampede to reduce risk in portfolios and raise hard cash. - The Times

Rachel Reeves has refused to rule out changing a measure of the UK's debt pile, in a move that could free up billions of pounds for the chancellor at her forthcoming autumn budget. Speaking on a trip to New York and Toronto, Reeves said she would set out the "precise details" of her fiscal rules in her maiden budget, amid speculation that the government will change its debt-to-GDP measure to exclude losses made by the Bank of England's bond-buying programme. The tweak could free up to £17 billion in headroom for the government, according to calculations from City analysts. - The Times