EDF boss 'knew about Hinkley delay'
Fed fines Goldman Sachs $36m
Indian parliament backs key GST bill
UK poised for potential rate cut
Head of World Bank defends globalisation
Ofgem to cap cost of pre-payment meters
Image source, AFPIf you're wondering what on earth the GST is, Delhi correspondent Soutik Biswas has all the answers:
The GST subsumes India's messy plethora of indirect taxes, duties, surcharges and cesses into a single tax.
It is expected to:
BBC World reporter tweets:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
The FTSE 100 has closed down 11 points, or 0.17%, at 6,634.40 points despite a 4.2% surge in Standard Chartered shares following the bank's return to profit.
HSBC shares were 4.5% higher after the bank surprised investors with a $2.5bn share buyback announcement.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 was off almost 0.4%, not helped by a 13% slide in Aggreko shares.
It comes ahead of expectations that the Bank of England will cut UK interest rates on Thursday.
The pound was down 0.21% against the dollar, but up 0.23% against the euro.
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
Looking at one of the main stories of the day, Ofgem's proposals to shake up the energy market.
The plans put too much onus on the customer and "do not go far enough", says First Utility's managing director.
Ed Kamm told the Today programme's Mishal Husain the plans by the energy regulator were in danger of helping the wrong people.
Ed Kamm said there needed to be protection for customers that don't shop around.
Anthony Reuben
Head of statistics
Interest rates have not moved since March 2009 – that’s 88 consecutive “no-change” decisions.
None of the current members of the MPC has ever been on the committee when rates have been changed.
Only three of them have ever even voted for a change in rates.
In fact, the only one with any experience in this area is Mark Carney, who cut rates when he was at the Bank of Canada.
Wimbledon live rights snapped up
Image source, Getty ImagesDiscovery-owned sports channel Eurosport has expanded its deal with the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) to show all matches of the Wimbledon tennis tournament live in an additional 16 countries.
Eurosport will show all matches from the 2017 to 2019 tournaments on its television channels and Eurosport Player live and on-demand digital service in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Sweden.
Wall Street markets opened slightly lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.12 points at 18311.65.
The wider S&P 500 fell 0.27 points to 2156.76. However the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 5 points, to 5142.58.
Shares in media company Time Warner went up 2.5%, after the firm announced it was taking a 10% stake in streaming site Hulu. The site is seen as a key competitor to Netflix and Amazon.
Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan were both up, by 1.3% and 0.5% respectively, after encouraging jobs data from the US. Shares in insurer AIG shot up by almost 7%, after reporting better-than-expected profits. Brent crude rose more than 1.3% to $42.36 a barrel, while US crude was 1.4% higher at $40.08.
The World at One
BBC Radio 4
Dr Jim Yong Kim, the head of the World Bank, has said Brexit was one factor among many, including the drop in commodity prices, which was contributing to slow growth, and prospects were "not nearly as bright as they were a few months ago".
Head of the World Bank, Dr Jim Yong Kim says Brexit has led to slow growth
Kamal Ahmed
Economics editor
Image source, Getty ImagesThe lowest figure since February 2009; the biggest fall since the figures started to be collected in 1996.
For those hunting for poor economic data since the referendum result, today's Purchasing Managers' Index for the crucial services sector certainly provides significant pickings.
And it builds on pretty poor figures from the construction and manufacturing sectors.
It is now clear from the data that has been published that economic activity slowed markedly in the weeks following the referendum.
Image source, Getty ImagesSwitzerland's former finance minister has told the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung, external that the stress of bailing out the country's biggest bank, UBS, gave him a heart attack.
Hans-Rudolf Merz, who served from 2003 to 2010, suffered the attack at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, as UBS was hit by massive US sub-prime mortgage losses.
On the day of the attack, news came that Swiss authorities might have to provide some $60bn in guarantees.
"I hadn't expected this immense sum," Mr Merz said: "That simply knocked me over.''
BBC Business Editor Simon Jack tweets...
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe boss of EDF, Jean-Bernard Levy, knew the UK government wanted to delay the Hinkley Point project before the company's board voted to green-light the investment, Reuters reports.
The news agency has seen a letter in which Mr Levy wrote to top EDF executives that the British prime minister wanted "a bit more time, without calling into question the project, and without specifying the date when the contract could be signed".
He added that EDF had cancelled a contract signing ceremony planned for July 29.
EDF has so far declined to comment on the letter.
The World at One
BBC Radio 4
The head of the World Bank, Dr Jim Yong Kim, has defended globalisation, saying the answer to people's anger is not to close borders, or be more xenophobic.Dr Kim told the World at One that the only group to have done poorly from globalisation was the middle classes in high income countries, so was not surprising that these people "are not happy with globalisation".
World Bank head says the answer to anger over globalisation is not to close borders
The Wall Street Journal tweets...
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Radio 4 Moneybox presenter Paul Lewis tweets:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe FTSE 100 is down 0.25% at 6,627 points despite a 9% surge in Standard Chartered shares following the bank's return to profit.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 is off almost 0.5% at 16,988 points, not helped by a 12% slide in Aggreko shares.
Meanwhile, Colin Dewar, head of HL currency dealing, comments on sterling:
Quote MessageThe pound shrugged off more disappointed data this morning to trade back above €1.19 versus the euro and $1.33 against the US dollar. Performance within the UK’s dominant service sector was the latest economic indicator to fall short during July, suffering its sharpest fall in seven years and makes an interest rate cut from tomorrow’s Bank of England meeting all but certain.”
Business editor Simon Jack tweets:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
We asked earlier for your experiences with pre-pay energy meters and quite a few readers have responded.
Roger Kirkham in Bristol writes:
"I am trying to get my elderly father-in-law off a pre-payment meter, but he can’t move because of poor credit history. It is crazy that the people who can least afford high energy costs are the ones stuck with a pre-payment meter. Surely the energy costs associated with a pre-payment meter should automatically be the same as the lowest tariff that the energy supplier provides?"
Stuart Thomas writes:
"Anything to offer a fairer deal for pre-payment energy consumers is a bonus. The energy companies claim that pre-paid tariffs are higher because of the addition administration and equipment needed for this option. But they have their money upfront. If there genuinely is a higher cost administering prepaid, why can't the energy firms allow customers to choose any tariff they like and then add a separate charge for prepaid admin?"
However, Jack Matthews in Leicester takes a different view:
"Prepayment meters are a necessity. How are energy companies meant to recoup debts from people who do not pay their bills? If prepayment meters were banned what is to stop people from running up huge bills? A normal meter is basically an unlimited credit line in energy. Living in most other countries, if you cannot pay your bill you are simply cut off."
Image source, ReutersCouple of bits of bad news for Uber. Hundreds of its drivers in Kenya have been on strike to protest against fare cuts. The US-based ride-hailing company, which started operations in Kenya in January 2015, is cutting total fares by up to 35% to boost demand for the service amid growing competition from local firms.
Uber dropped the price per kilometre from 60 shillings (44p) to 35 shillings last week, and cut the waiting rate per minute from 4 to 3 shillings.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Investment Commission could order Uber to leave the market because it claimed to be an IT platform rather than a transportation service. It will make a final decision by 11 August.