Business news - live: Pound gives up gains after DUP says it will oppose freshly agreed Brexit deal
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The pound soared against the dollar and euro after the EU and UK agreed a Brexit deal this morning.
Sterling surged 0.9 per cent to $1.29 after Jean-Claude Juncker confirmed that the two sides had reached an agreement after talks went down to the wire. However, the pound later gave up the gains after Boris Johnson's DUP allies quashed his hopes of progress by declaring they will oppose the plan.
Elsewhere, WHSmith agreed a $400m deal to buy US travel retailer Marshall and RBS boosted its Brexit contingency fund to £8.2bn.
More on those retail sales figures.
Lisa Hooker, consumer markets leader at PwC, says they are better than they first appear.
“While many will focus on the slight decline in retail sales reported by the ONS in September vs. August, looking behind the headlines, retail sales actually increased by a respectable 3.6% year-on-year excluding petrol.
“Indeed, there has been growth, albeit modest, in every major category of retail, confirming what British consumers told us in our own consumer sentiment survey last month, where, despite an 8 point decline in sentiment since the Spring, we found that consumers were still more optimistic than at any point during the last recession or recovery period."
Moneysupermarket found comfort in its energy division in the last three months as fears that Ofgem's new price cap would make customers less likely to change energy supplier, proved false.
The company said that revenue from its home services division, which is mainly includes energy, rose 21% compared to the same period last year, to £17.7 million.
Alongside volatility in its insurance segment, which represents nearly half of all sales, the energy boom helped lead to an overall revenue rise of 4% to £100.9 million.
Meanwhile, its money division "underperformed due to continuing challenges in product availability", the firm said.
Banks and other financial services have not offered significantly better deals via the site, meaning fewer people switch to a different product.
Press Association
Number of UK businesses in significant distress up 40% since Brexit referendum
The number of UK businesses in significant financial distress has soared 40% in the three years since the EU referendum, according to a report.
Insolvency specialists at Begbies Traynor said 489,000 companies are now in significant distress, with property, construction, retail and the travel sectors suffering hardest - an increase of 22,000 since the same time last year.
It comes at a difficult time for businesses, with many complaining that they are being left in the dark over what happens next in the Brexit process.
Several big-name companies have failed in recent years, including Toys R Us, Carillion and Thomas Cook, with others said to be struggling as big spending decisions are put on hold.
Julie Palmer, partner at Begbies Traynor, said: "With a considerable increase in the number of businesses suffering significant financial distress in the last three years there is growing frustration among businesses that they cannot plan for the future and the whole economy is lagging as a result.
"Much investment is on hold as businesses have their hands tied by not knowing what the state of play will be post-Brexit and whether the agreements or contracts they currently have in place will still be valid following the expected withdrawal, which is contributing to stifled growth nationwide."
Press Association
BREAKING: Brexit deal is now done, says Jean Claude-Juncker
Jean Claude-Juncker has confirmed the reports: a Brexit agreement has been reached.
Boris Johnson faces uphill struggle on new Brexit deal as talks go down to the wire
Boris Johnson faces an uphill fight to keep his pledge to leave the EU at the end of the month.
Negotiators failed to strike an agreement on Wednesday despite working overtime in Brussels, although leaders still hope to be able to scrutinise a final accord at the summit in the EU capital.
The prime minister could yet be forced into an extension by parliament after EU member states said it was now too late for leaders to formally sign-off the plan in Brussels. If no agreement is in place by Saturday – when parliament will meet for an extraordinary weekend sitting – the prime minister by law has to ask for a delay.
Pound jumps after Brexit deal agreed
Sterling is up 0.9 per cent so far against the dollar to $1.29, after the UK and EU agreed a Brexit deal.
DUP does not back Brexit deal
The prospect (or lack thereof) of a Brexit deal is driving all of the movements in the pound at the moment.
And the DUP is not behind the deal. If Johnson had enough MPs backing the deal, the pound would no doubt have risen further than it has so far.
Marc Ostwald, global strategist and chief economist at ADM Investor Services International, says: “This takes no deal off the table.”
But he notes that the pound had already strengthened substantially in the past week on hopes of a Brexit deal, limiting today’s further rise.
Doubts over whether the deal that has just been agreed will be approved by UK parliament are also keeping a lid on the pound.
“What we really need is some more clarity on how the parliamentary arithmetic is going to work out, so it’s going to stay choppy for the time being,” he said.
Ministers will have to decide which companies to save and which to let go after no-deal Brexit, says report
If the UK crashes out of the European Union without a deal at the end of the month, the government will be flooded by so many appeals for help from affected businesses that it will have to decide “who to save and who to let go”, a new report has warned.
The study by the Institute for Government said “no amount of preparation” by the government can eliminate the risks. Assessing ministers’ efforts to prepare the UK for no deal, it cited boxer Mike Tyson: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
Thousands of businesses can be expected to be hit by an unpredictable range of problems ranging from the imposition of new tariffs and trading barriers to congestion at ports and airports, falling demand, a collapse in sterling, tighter credit conditions, and changes to the rules on the movement of data and people.
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