Friday, 13 December 2024

The Mighty Headlines

 

  • Economics: ECB cuts interest rates to 3 per cent

  • Business: Currys said it faces £32 million higher tax bill

  • Markets: Adobe shares fall by more than 13 per cent

  • Foreign Affairs: Romania and Bulgaria become full members of EU passport-free zone

  • Security and intelligence: Russia close to agreement on keeping military bases in Syria

  • Domestic politics: UK and EU agree to strengthen relationship

 

The Mighty Stats

 

  • FTSE = 8,311.76 (up 0.12 per cent at Thursday close)

  • S&P500 = 6,051.25 (down 0.54 per cent at Thursday close)

  • Nasdaq = 19,902.84 (down 0.66 per cent at Thursday close)

  • CAC40 = 7,420.94 (down 0.033 per cent at Thursday close)

 

  • £1 = $1.27 / €1.21

 

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The Mighty Detail

 

Economics: The European Central Bank (ECB) has cut interest rates to three per cent. This is the third successive cut this year and is designed to strengthen faltering economic growth in the Eurozone. The ECB’s forecast for growth in 2025 has been cut from 1.3 per cent to 1.1 per cent.

 

Business: Currys has said that it faces a £32 million tax increase due to changes announced at the Budget. This includes £9 million from increases to the National Living Wage, £12 million from National Insurance changes, £2 million from business rates and £9 million passed on as increased costs from suppliers.

 

Markets: Shares in Adobe fell by more than 13 per cent during trading yesterday. This came as the computer software company revised its expected revenue in the first fiscal quarter downwards to between $5.63 billion and $5.68 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $5.73 billion. Revenue in the fourth quarter, however, increased by 11 per cent to $5.61 billion.

 

Foreign Affairs: The European Union has decided to allow Romania and Bulgaria to become full members of the border-free Schengen area. The two EU countries have been waiting to accede to the Schengen area – which waives passport controls – since 2011. They will join on the 1st January 2025 although some checks will remain for six months as a precautionary measure.

 

Security and intelligence: Russia is reported to be close to an agreement with the new authorities in Syria to keep its two military bases in the country. These include Russia’s naval port at Tartus – its only naval base on the Mediterranean – and its air base at Khmeimim.

 

Domestic politics: The UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, met the European Council President, António Costa, on Thursday. The two men agreed to “strengthen the relationship” between the UK and EU. They added that an UK-EU summit in early 2025 would provide an opportunity to make further progress “on key areas to deliver tangible benefits” for UK and EU citizens.

 

The Mighty Calendar

 

What’s happening today?

 

  • Italian PM Giorgia Meloni hosts Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Rome

  • World Cup 2026 European qualifying draw

  • UK construction data (October)

  • UK, Eurozone industrial production data (October)

  • UK manufacturing data (October)

  • Germany trade data (October)

  • France, Spain CPI inflation data (November)

 

Lookahead to the weekend

 

Saturday

  • Italian PM Giorgia Meloni hosts Argentinian President Milei, Rome

  • Georgian lawmakers elect a new President (the incumbent, Salome Zourabichvili, has said she will not stand down citing illegitimate parliamentary elections in November)

  • Geminid meteor shower

  • Paul McCartney performs at Co-op Live, Manchester

 

Sunday

  • UK officially joins the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership

  • World Darts Championship begins

 

The Mighty Finale

 

🌤️Weather today

 

Light cloud and dry in most of England. High of 7oC and low of 4oC. Sunny spells in Belfast. Light cloud in Edinburgh.

 

✏️Life coaching quote of the day

 

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” – Albert Schweitzer, philosopher

 

Mighty takeaway: Choose happiness every time. Life’s too short to do otherwise.

 

That’s it for today’s edition and for this week. We hope you have a good weekend and we’ll see you again on Monday.

 

Adios!

 

The Mighty Memo team

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Thursday, 12 December 2024