Author: WTX Business Team

  US President Donald Trump said Monday that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s dark-horse entry into the AI race should serve as a “wake-up call” for American companies developing artificial intelligence. “Hopefully, the release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win,” Trump told a Republican congressional retreat in Florida. Trump’s comments came after the AI model powering DeepSeek’s chatbot began outperforming top US models, with the Chinese company saying they were made at a fraction of the cost. By Monday, DeepSeek’s chatbot was the number…

Nvidia sinks as Chinese AI startup Deepseek spooks global markets Nvidia shares and other US tech giants tumbled on Monday as Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup Deepseek disrupted global markets. Nvidia, a key driver of the AI stock boom due to its advanced chips, saw its shares plummet over 11 per cent on Germany’s Tradegate on Monday. The $3.49 trillion (£2.79 trillion) worth chip maker is trading at $142.62 (£114.09), nearly ten per cent down in pre-market from Friday’s close. Meanwhile, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 3.2 per cent, with the S&P 500 also dropping 1.9 per cent early Monday. https://www.cityam.com/nvidia-sinks-as-chinese-ai-startup-deepseek-spooks-global-markets/

UK economy: Firms prepare to cut staff as they brace for slowdown, CBI says A persistent slowdown in activity among private sector firms could weigh on economic growth over the coming months, with businesses set to cut staff and raise prices, according to a survey. The upcoming increase to national insurance contributions has prompted firms to assess their budgets urgently, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said. Output across the private sector is expected to drop over the next three months, having fallen over the previous three-month period, the survey found. Activity has been flat or falling since the middle…

Billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik injects £630m to prop up Netflix-rival DAZN as losses mount Billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik has injected a further $827m (£630m) into streaming giant DAZN in a bid to become a major rival to Netflix. The businessman has now invested more than $6.7bn (£5.3bn) in the London-based sports streaming service, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House. DAZN is owned by Access Industries, a New York-based private holding company founded by Ukrainian-born Sir Leonard in 1986. The company was created in 2007 following the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group. https://www.cityam.com/billionaire-sir-leonard-blavatnik-injects-630m-to-prop-up-netflix-rival-dazn-as-losses-mount/

Project 1897 – The imperial presidency The Economist says What will Donald Trump do next? A decade after he became the Republican front-runner, it is still the urgent question. In a distracted era Mr Trump has an unmatched genius for grabbing attention. And for reimagining presidential power. His second inauguration took place in the Capitol’s Rotunda, the same spot where four years earlier his supporters had punched police officers in the face.

Watchdog swings behind growth plan Business & Money reports After his predecessor was ousted by the chancellor, former Amazon chief Doug Gurr acknowledges regulator’s responsibility to ‘play a leading role in the ambitions for growth and prosperity’

Trump sparks Gaza outrage The FT says Donald Trump has urged Egypt and Jordan to take in most of the population of Gaza, saying it was time to “clean out” the territory in comments that are likely to outrage Palestinians and Arabs across the region.

Donald Trump has called on oil producers’ group Opec to bring down global prices in order to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, the Financial Times reports.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has raised its short-term policy rate to “around 0.5%,” marking its highest level in 17 years. This decision follows December’s inflation surge, with core consumer prices rising 3% year-on-year, the fastest pace in 16 months.

Bank of England: Goldman Sachs expects deep interest rate cuts Markets are significantly underestimating the chance that the Bank of England will have to step up the pace of cutting interest rates, Goldman Sachs has argued. Traders anticipate just two interest rate cuts this year with one more cut priced in for 2026, which would leave the benchmark Bank Rate at 4.0 per cent. It currently stands at 4.75 per cent. Investors are concerned by signs of stubborn inflationary pressures in the UK economy, with many economists predicting that the headline rate will increase to over three per cent in…

UK economy: Consumers catch ‘January blues’ as confidence slumps Consumer confidence in the health of the UK economy slumped in January, pointing to further headwinds in the coming months. A net -34 of respondents to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) latest sentiment monitor said that the economy would get worse over the next three months, down from -27 in December. This put confidence in the health of the economy at its lowest level since the BRC started collecting data on the topic in March 2024. The survey comes after a succession of disappointing data releases, which indicate that the economy slowed…

Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes pose ‘major threat’ to UK labour market resilience The government’s tax hikes pose a “major threat” to the health of the labour market, a leading economist has warned, as markets prepare for the latest jobs market figures. The labour market has been a key source of strength for the UK economy, with continued high employment helping to sustain strong levels of wage growth over the past couple of years. Many forecasts for 2025 assume that the continued resilience of the labour market will ensure that economic growth accelerates compared to last year. But economists are worried…

The FT reports that President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has “put more than £300bn of potential federal infrastructure funding at risk”.

CITY AM says Further tax rises or spending cuts look increasingly likely after the latest borrowing figures, but there were a few silver linings for the Chancellor.

Trump widens ‘economic war’ to tax The FT says Donald Trump has threatened to double tax rates for foreign nationals and companies in the US to hit back at “discriminatory” levies on American multinationals, in a move that threatens to trigger a global confrontation over tax regimes. In a memo outlining his “America First” trade policy on Monday, the US president referred to an obscure 90-year-old provision of the US tax code — Section 891 — that empowers him to retaliate against foreign countries by imposing punitive taxes on their citizens and businesses in America.

Reeves wades in to motor finance scandal in bid to soften £30bn payout CITY AM says shares in some of Britain’s biggest motor finance lenders have surged today after the Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed plans to intervene in a mis-selling scandal which could cost the industry billions of pounds.

UK ranked second-best investment target by global CEOs The UK has been ranked as the second most attractive country to invest in by global CEOs, behind only the US, as British CEOs feel confident about growth in the country’s economy. This is the first time that the UK has been ranked second in the 28-year history of PwC’s CEO Survey. “Our CEO survey findings are a vote of confidence in the UK as a place for business and investment,” said Marco Amitrano, senior partner at PwC UK. “The UK’s relative stability at a time of instability should not be underestimated, nor should…

Growth push will test risk appetite CITY AM says the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) push to slash red tape and unleash growth in the City will test the UK’s appetite for risk, its chair has warned, accepting that two of its new proposals could open the door to more fraud and mortgage defaults. Donald Trump’s inauguration makes the front page with the headline: ‘Look who’s back’

‘Golden age of America begins now’ The FT reports Trump is returning to the White House with broader support than when he left in 2021. The paper says the 47th president has pledged to “deliver quickly on the populist and nationalist platform that swept him to victory in last year’s presidential race”. The paper highlights that Trump has repeated his vow to take back control of the Panama Canal and withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord. He has so far stopped short of announcing the new import tariffs pledged before the election. 

Trump and his top advisers are finalising about 100 executive actions that he will sign in his first days in office beginning on Monday

UK economy: Interest rate cut a ‘certainty’ in February after weak data A February interest rate cut is a “certainty” after new data suggests that inflationary pressures are weaker than previously thought, but the path beyond remains unclear. Economists expect the Bank of England to back a third rate cut next month after two important pieces of economic data were published this week. Figures out on Wednesday showed that the headline rate of inflation fell to 2.5 per cent in December, down from 2.6 per cent previously and below expectations. Rate-setters will likely have been paying particular attention to services…

‘Student Tax’ to hit graduates on minimum wage by April Thousands of graduates will find themselves stranded in their home town, unable to root out professional opportunities, when April’s hike in the minimum wage drags them into the threshold of student loan repayments, a top financial services firm has warned. The government announced an above inflation rise in the National Living Wage of 5.6 per cent as part of October’s Budget, prompting warnings of price rises and hiring freezes from business lobby groups. But according to Blick Rothenberg recent graduates will bear much of the brunt, with those earning as…

Millionaires leave Britain in record numbers since Labour took power Millionaires have left Britain in record numbers since the new Labour government took power amid a crackdown on non-dom residents and sweeping tax hikes. The Treasury is facing fresh calls to reverse plans to abolish the non-dom tax status in April and replace it with a residence-based regime that also ropes in non-doms’ overseas assets into UK inheritance tax (IHT). Tax advisers are also reporting that a growing number of UK-based entrepreneurs are preparing to leave following the tax rises announced in Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget. The UK lost a…

DONALD TRUMP’S critics have often accused him of buffoonery and isolationism. Yet even before taking office on January 20th he has shown how much those words fall short of what his second term is likely to bring.

Sir Keir Starmer, Britain’s prime minister, said he could strike a trade deal with Donald Trump and avoid punitive tariffs on the UK as he dismissed as “noises off” Elon Musk’s strident criticism of his leadership.