Wednesday newspaper round-up: Oil prices, IPO market, Tony Blair

(Sharecast News) - Rishi Sunak is facing a fresh setback to his target of halving inflation as oil prices hit $95 for the first time this year. The price of Brent crude closed in on $96 per barrel on Tuesday, the highest level since November 2022 as Russia and Saudi Arabia conspire to limit production and push up global costs. Inflation figures published on Wednesday [today] are expected to show the first acceleration in consumer prices since February. Analysts have forecast a 7.1pc rise for August on the year, up from July when consumer price inflation came in at 6.8pc. - Daily Telegraph San Francisco-based Instacart's initial public offering was priced at the top end of its $28 to $30 price range, raising a total of $660 million, out of which $237 million will go to investors who sold their shares in the flotation. It gave the company a valuation of nearly $9.9 billion, a fraction of the $39 billion it was worth in 2021, the company's last funding round. Instacart's strong debut, along with that of Arm, the British technology chip designer, last week, could encourage other startups to test the waters and potentially revive the IPO market after a near 18-month dry spell. - The Times

Tony Blair helped broker Keir Starmer's meeting with Emmanuel Macron yesterday as part of secret plans to 'reverse Brexit', it emerged last night. A Whitehall source said the former prime minister had used his extensive EU contacts book to arrange the meeting on a day when the bloc released plans that could see Britain effectively rejoin the EU as an 'associate member'. The source said Sir Tony was 'convinced that Brexit is now a vote-winner for Labour' and was pushing his successor to open the door to reversing it. - Daily Mail

Revolut is delaying its results for a second year in a row as pressure mounts on the former fintech darling. The company was due to publish its figures at the end of September, nine months after the end of the 2022 financial year. But it has now been given until the end of December to post its numbers on Companies House - repeating the extension it was given for its 2021 results last year. - Daily Mail

After the staff shortages, the strikes, the difficult restart following the Covid-19 travel restrictions and the airline complaints, Heathrow has regained its prepandemic status as the world's most-connected airport. In a further boost for Europe's largest airport, Heathrow in west London is pulling away from two of its main rivals on the European mainland, Frankfurt and Paris Charles de Gaulle, for international travellers' business. - The Times