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Oil hits 10-month low

Disney shares surge 8%, adding $14bn to value

WSJ: Saudi Arabia eyes OPEC+ production increase

Just in: Inflation has prompted the Bank of Israel to raise interest rates.

Israel’s central bank raised its benchmark rate by half a point, the sixth rise in a row, to 3.25% from 2.75%.

Today’s rise came after inflation rose to 5.1% in October, close to a 14-year high.

US economic activity slowed, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

The Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index fell into negative territory in October, coming in at -0.05, down from 0.17 in September.

That indicates that US growth was below trend.

China and Qatar signs 27-year LNG deal

The chair of the John Lewis Partnership has said that consumers are starting to budget and are more conscious of spending, despite being eager to celebrate the first “normal” Christmas in three years.

Speaking at a panel debate at the CBI’s annual conference, Dame Sharon White said there were signs of shoppers changing their habits as a result of cost-of-living pressures.

She told the conference:

“This is the first Christmas for three years that people get to spend with family, friends and loved ones, and I think people will be really excited to have a proper Christmas.
“But you can see all sorts of things going on with consumer spending.

“We have got some customers who are doing their shopping early and have booked their Waitrose delivery slots in advance.

“On the other hand, you can see other customers starting to budget, and shopping is more phased.

“People are sticking more with own-brand, value ranges, and buying fewer branded products.

“Customers are also shopping a bit less online and are going more into stores in order to enjoy that shopping trip experience.”

The chief executive of Heathrow Airport is not expecting caps on passenger numbers next year – with airlines more worried about how demand will hold up.

John Holland-Kaye, who runs the UK’s busiest airport, says that the darkening economic outlook could

He told reporters at the Airlines 2022 conference today that:

“Airlines are concerned about the nature of demand.”

Heathrow was forced to limit passenger numbers to 100,000 per day this summer, after staff shortages led to long delays, flight cancellations and a lost luggage mountain.

Holland-Kaye is hopeful that such limits won’t be needed in 2023, saying:

“We’re working on the basis that we’ll have no caps next summer.”

Back on Disney….Rich Greenfield, an analyst at LightShed Partners, has said the reappointment of Bob Iger was “strange in light of the board’s recent renewal” of Bob Chapek’s contract.

Greenfield says Iger will also need to make tough decisions about whether to spin off the ESPN sports television network and buy out Comcast’s stake in the Hulu streaming service. More here.

The pound has dipped back below the $1.18 mark, as investors move into the safety of the US dollar.

Sterling hit a three-month high of $1.20 last week, but has been edging lower since as the City anticipates a long UK recession.

Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebury, reckons traders are under-estimating how quickly the Bank of England will raise interest rates.

He told clients:

“The labour report last week out of the UK supported our view that the UK recession will be short and shallow. Payrolls continue to increase at a healthy pace even while unemployment numbers are consistent with an economy at or perhaps above full employment, with no hint of job destruction as yet. Inflation soared more than expected in October, to 11.1%, its highest level since 1981. It would have been even higher if not for the government’s Energy Price Guarantee which capped household energy bills.

“The Fiscal Statement contained aggressive deficit cuts, as expected, but for the most part, they were back loaded and should have little effect in the short and medium term. We think market expectations that the Bank of England can stop hiking rates well short of 5% are fanciful and expect the sterling to outperform as market consensus moves closer to our view.”

City traders will be turning away from their monitors soon to focus on the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, where England are taking on Iran from 1pm UK time.

The London market is already subdued, with the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip shares up 0.1%, and the domestically-focused FTSE 250 index 0.4% higher.

Ocado are the top faller, shedding 7.5% as its recent rally unwinds. The online grocer’s shares surged from below £5 at the end of October to over £9 last week, after it signed a deal with South Korea’s Lotte Shopping. But they’re now back at 628p.

England’s stock of office space is falling at the fastest rate for 20 years, new data shows.

Office availability is shrinking as employers struggle to fill their desks as employees continue to work from home, with construction of new commercial buildings also slowing.

The FT has the story:

Close to 20mn sq ft of workspace was lost to use in the year to the end of March — just over 2% of the total market — according to an analysis of business rates data by law firm Boodle Hatfield.

That is the biggest annual drop since this data was first collected in 2001.

The contraction comes as employers consider how much space they need in the post-pandemic world and accelerates a trend that has seen overall floorspace decline by more than 6% since 2014.

The deputy chief of China’s central bank has added to the gloom, warning that the foundations of economic recovery are not yet secure.

Reuters reports that:

China’s major economic indicators recovered and stabilised recently but the foundation of the country’s economic recovery is not solid yet, deputy governor of the central bank Xuan Changneng said at the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum on Monday.

Brexit trade problems are being blamed for the closure of a major Grimsby seafood processor.

Around 200 jobs are at risk, with Icelandic Seafood International deciding to close the former Five Star Fish facility.

Group chief executive Bjarni Ármannsson explained last Friday that the UK operation is no longer a strategic fit for Iceland Seafood, with the pandemic also disrupting the business.

“Iceland Seafood UK invested in operating facilities in Grimsby and merged its operations from Bradford and Grimsby into this location.

The investment and decision of the merger was completed in March 2020, just before Covid-19 started, and the renovation and installation of the factory was very much affected by Covid and later Brexit along with difficulties in overall operations.

“Iceland Seafood has now decided that it plans to exit this market from a value-added perspective and has mandated MAR advisors to support the process.

The cost of living squeeze meant the average British household was £142 worse off in October year-on-year.

That’s mainly due to the steep rise in energy costs, supermarket group Asda reports.

Asda’s monthly Income Tracker survey, produced with the Centre for Economics and Business Research, shows that the average household had £203 left over after paying tax and essential bills last month, the lowest amount since August 2018.

The return of Bob Iger to the CEO’s chair is “excellent news” for Disney’s shareholders, says Naeem Aslam chief market analyst at Avatrade.

Bob Iger is back; this is all investors need to know regarding Disney stock. The board has decided it is time to bring him back immediately and let him use his vast experience to help the money in this difficult period.

For investors, this is excellent news as they know that Bob Igor not only commands the best skills but also has superior knowledge to shape the company under the current challenging times when everyone is thinking about spending and recession.

City watchdog takes aim at gamification of trading