Bitcoin plunges then rebounds; UK factory growth surges; government borrowing lower in May – as it happened
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- Latest: Bitcoin falls to lowest since January
- UK manufacturing output surges at record pace
- EU opens antitrust investigation into Google
- UK borrowed £24.3bn in May, down from £43.8bn in May 2020
- Reopening of economy improving public finances
And finally…. the Labour party has urged the UK government to step in to ensure a potential private equity takeover of supermarket chain Morrisons does not affect Britain’s food security, damage farming, or lead to job losses, my colleague Rob Davies reports.
Opposition MPs said ministers must be ready to prevent the Bradford-based company falling victim to the kind of asset-stripping often associated with private equity buyers, who typically look to make their targets more efficient, before selling at a profit.
“Morrisons isn’t just a big supermarket, it is also an important food producer.
“Government must ensure in the event of a takeover that jobs are protected, the business isn’t broken apart and that our nation’s food security is protected.”
Related: Labour urges government to protect Morrisons in potential private equity takeover
Over on Wall Street, the Nasdaq hit an intra-day record high, as major tech firms rally.
New record highs for the Nasdaq 100 here:#NDX 14240.7 +0.73% pic.twitter.com/eGS5x7cDHP
So-called value stocks, expected to benefit from the economic recovery, have outperformed in 2021, while growth stocks, including major tech names like Apple and Nvidia, have rallied since the Fed last week took a stance on future rate hikes viewed by many as more aggressive than expected.
The S&P growth index has added over 1% since before the Fed last Wednesday projected an accelerated timetable for interest rate increases, compared to a nearly 2% drop in the value index
FANG+ Constituents:$AAPL 133.31 +0.76%$AMZN 3507.12 +1.55%$BABA 211.12 +0.02%$BIDU 186.54 +0.51%$FB 335.08 +0.83%$GOOG 2529.97 +0.03%$NFLX 509.26 +2.45%$NVDA 751.43 +1.95%$TSLA 624.35 +0.57%$TWTR 63.33 +2.21%$MSFT 264.67 +0.77%
