Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- Wall Street opens higher as dollar dips
- Latest: US jobs growth picks up, but below forecasts
- What the experts say
Earlier:
- Facebook faces antitrust investigations in UK and EU
- UK construction output growth highest since 2014
- Rolls-Royce, IAG and easyJet hit by Portugal move
- Tour groups and airlines shed more than £2bn after Portugal downgrade
Back at the G7 finance ministers meeting in London… the UK has said that progress is being made in talks to reform global corporate tax rules.
In a statement, the Treasury says:
“The group held productive negotiations about reforming the global tax system and tackling the tax challenges that arise in a complex, digital global economy.
Related: Global corporation tax reform: what are the key issues in G7 negotiations?
UK says G7 finance ministers' talks were productive https://t.co/LycmQzeS93 pic.twitter.com/A51MNYw1mI
NEW:
Just spoke to French fin minister Bruno Le Maire at G7 in London.
We are “just 1mm away from an historic agreement” – says countries such as Ireland need to get “on board”.
Remaining sticking point – min tax rate, 15% “only a starting point” excl on @BBCNews channel soon
Le Maire: rate is “most tricky difficulty, and I think that if the negotiation is still underway, that's because we are still working on these really tricky points of the rate”..
“clearly 15% is only a starting point. And if it can be higher, it is better to have a higher level”
“we are spending a lot of public money to protect our economies against the consequences of COVID, and to have a quick and v strong economic recovery, but we need money, & we need new resources, I would think that these new resources are the right ones and useful for all of us.”
New minimum & digital tax should raise “significant sums” not just for US, Le Maire tells me. Asked how he will sell 15% plus min corp tax to his colleague the Irish finance minister:
“even Ireland.. must understand they have to give the agreement to these major breakthrough”… pic.twitter.com/IahIVmPiN7
“I can understand the difficulty of Ireland & some other European countries, but when there’s such international impetus, this is in the interest of all 27 EU member states to say, yes, we are on board, and we are supporting this new international tax system” Le Maire tells me
European stock markets have closed at a new record high tonight.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 0.4% higher at 452.57 points, with gains in Germany (+0.4%), France (+0.1%), and Italy (+0.46%).
“The positive direction of wage growth and low unemployment will be welcomed, but today’s lacklustre job numbers will raise concerns around the resilience of the U.S. labour market – and to what extent the pace of the Covid-19 vaccination programme will boost economic activity and employment.
“However, as we move into the summer, the pace of economic growth remains robust, notwithstanding the weaker than expected jobs report. With vaccines continuing to bring COVID cases down, and the economic reopening kicking into higher gear, the data is starting to shine. Gross domestic product (GDP), although a lagging indicator, grew at an annualized quarter over quarter rate of 6.4% in the first quarter. Much of the strength is rightly attributed to the fiscal aid that has been injected into the economy.