Bank of England deputy governor warns stock markets will fall; Trump threatens UK with ‘big tariff’ over digital services tax – business live

Sarah Breeden explains ‘I’m not saying it will happen today, tomorrow, in 12 months’ time’, but system needs to be resilientSarah Breeden’s warning that share prices do not reflect the many risks facing the global economy may have pushed the market down this morning, suggests Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.He explains:“The stock market reflects what investors think will happen in the future. While markets have been wobbly since the Middle East conflict unfolded, they didn’t pull back sharply in the early stages of the crisis, and more recently they’ve shown resilience. That suggests investors are confident the war will end quickly, and elevated oil and gas prices will retreat as supply is restored.“Oil prices currently trade at $105 per barrel which is higher than the sub-$70 price seen at the start of 2026, but below the $120+ level when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. One could argue current oil prices are high enough to cause pain for businesses and consumers as everything becomes more expensive. There are already signs it is causing problems for companies as they report cautious outlook statements.“Companies are considerably more pessimistic about the coming months“The German economy is being hit hard by the Iran crisis.” Continue reading...