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tv   Business Today  BBC News  September 11, 2024 4:30pm-4:46pm BST

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"we are turning the page on inflation.." the white house declares victory over soaring prices, but economists are not so sure. also coming up — a costly debate for trump. shares of his media firms sink as betting shifts towards a harris victory. forging a future for steel. the uk confirms a half—billion pound hand out to save steelmaking in wales but two and a half thousand workers are still expected to lose theirjobs. welcome to business today. "we are turning the page on inflation". that is the claim from the white house — after figures out in the last few hours showed the rate of price rises continuing to ease. the federal reserve wants to be sure inflation is back under control before it begins cutting the cost of borrowing from its two decade high — it's expected to do that
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later this month. let's show you the details. figures from the us labor department show prices rose at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in august. down from 2.9% injuly. if we look at core inflation though — which strips out volatile elements such as food and fuel — prices were rising at a more aggressive 3.2 percent. our north america business correspondent ritika gupta is in new york. a cut by the fed has been all but promised by them already at their meeting next week. i guess the only outstanding question is by how much. indeed, as you mentioned in your introduction overall this was a solid report on information monitoring.
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annually at 2.5%, that is the lowest in three years and that is why you will see the white house touting this as it went for the current administration and for the election campaign for vice president kamala harris, and makes it must certain the federal reserve will cut interest rates when it meets next week, but for the markets it is a different story and you see them falling off the back of this report because they will focus on the site of they will focus on the site of the rate cut and they are looking at that core inflation print. there was an upside surprise coming in at 3.2% year over year. surprise coming in at 3.2% year overyear. i surprise coming in at 3.2% year over year. i spoke to doctor shane smith, director of institute for economic forecasting at the university of florida. i think as of december last year, it focused — think as of december last year, it focused on cutting interest rates — it focused on cutting interest rates this year, but i am not sure — rates this year, but i am not sure the _ rates this year, but i am not sure the data fully supports that — sure the data fully supports that action and certainly does not support any aggressive rate
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cuts, _ not support any aggressive rate cuts, so _ not support any aggressive rate cuts, so i — not support any aggressive rate cuts, so i think the financial markets _ cuts, so i think the financial markets today at the opening are showing their disappointment, but they would love to — disappointment, but they would love to see a half— point break cut. 50 we are seeing stocks falling _ break cut. 50 we are seeing stocks falling off _ break cut. 50 we are seeing stocks falling off the - break cut. 50 we are seeing stocks falling off the back i break cut. 50 we are seeing| stocks falling off the back of the report because it is dampening the expectation is that we get a 50 basis point rate cut when the fed meets next week as opposed to a 25 basis point cut.— next week as opposed to a 25 basis point cut. thank you very much. now to the big event in the us last night— that tv election debate. kamala harris and donald trump went head to head — but for the business world — who came out ahead? some on wall street have given their verdict. shares of trump media — the company which operates the former president's truth social site and is majority owned by him, are slumping, dropping by around 15% after the market opened. terry haines advises investors on political events,
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we asked himn about the market's reaction. harris needed to pass a fundamental threshold credibility test, which was her fitness to lead the country. i think she passed that handily frankly, and that is what that debate was about, and elections are always comparisons, and this was a generational comparison. and a rhetorical comparison. and a rhetorical comparison. the generational comparison. the generational comparison with harris the much younger could candidate showed on television. and the rhetorical was a refreshed sound of music that sounded familiar versus the oldies channel. harris came out well on all of those. for markets, i would continue to caution against the harris trade as a short—term vote because you are likely to split government in washington, and don't think there is some kind of one—party wave building because right now
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thatis wave building because right now that is not the case. the british government has announced a 500 million pound deal to preserve steelmaking in wales but 2,500 jobs are still likely to be lost at the works in port talbot. the plant's indian owners, tata steel are also injecting 750 million pounds to create a more environmentally friendly electric arc furnace that will continue to produce steel but won't need as many workers as older blast furnaces. 0ur wales correspondent, hywel griffith has more on what this means for port talbot. £500 million from the government is a grant towards the building of a new electric arc furnace. it is almost exactly a year ago since this deal was muted between tata and eight then conservative government. it means the end of those big blast furnaces you see behind me, the old coal—fired technology which emits far more carbon into the
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air, but supports essentially thousands more jobs. air, but supports essentially thousands morejobs. the thousands more jobs. the closures thousands morejobs. the closures of those furnaces, the second closing later this month, will mean a total of 2800 jobs going for their workforce here in the uk, most in port talbot. whilst many of those workers will have foreseen that coming, it is according to the general secretary of the gmb, a very sobering day for the workers. we welcome the fact that labour has adopted a lot of the advance of the trade unions about reskilling and training. but let's be under no illusions, that has a huge impact for the port talbot community and for steel production in the uk, and thousands ofjobs are going to go. a community is going to be hollered out. and we are going to see reductions in our emissions in the uk, huge reduction in our carbon emissions but at what price? while labour criticises it a year ago,
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while labour criticises it a yearago, it while labour criticises it a year ago, it has been stressing it is a new deal today with better terms for the workers, better terms for the workers, better redundancy packages and the offer of payment for training, but the future here for workers in port talbot does look bleak, as many will finish their working within the month. what about the rest of us? dan marks is a research fellow in energy security at the defence think tank rusi. it's a lot of money to not save jobs. why is it so important that the uk has a domestic steel industry? just briefly on the first point about not saving jobs, tata was facing a big investment decision anyway and it was either going to have to invest in the blast furnaces or electric carbon furnaces or shutting down the site entirely, so although it is clearly a big blow for the
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local community and the employees affected, the jobs that survive should not be taken for granted, and they may have been lost as well. so there has been some saving. 0n there has been some saving. 0n the importance of the steel industry, there are three fundamental reasons. no country with the manufacturing sector as large as the uk oil with similar gdp has produced is that of steel as uk already, so france has a similar characteristics and produces about double the amount of steel, and we have been going down an untrodden path. we don't know what impact it would have on industry. secondly, although there is an overcapacity in steel globally, there are lots of different types of steel and in the uk sometimes are only one or two suppliers, for example construction beams you can get for british steel in scunthorpe, or sometimes in europe. if scunthorpe shuts down you have one supply. if
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you have something like that? the domestic market is prioritised and you might not have access to that. thirdly, steel is a foundation industry and it is important for catalysing other industries, plays a role in research and development, in general supply chains, and losing it as a threat notjust chains, and losing it as a threat not just to steal chains, and losing it as a threat notjust to steal but potentially to industries like the automotive. taste potentially to industries like the automotive.— potentially to industries like the automotive. we will have to leave it, the automotive. we will have to leave it. but _ the automotive. we will have to leave it, but thank _ the automotive. we will have to leave it, but thank you - the automotive. we will have to leave it, but thank you very - leave it, but thank you very much. the world's biggest fashion retailer, inditex, has reported a 10 percent rise in first—half profits. the spanish firm is best known for its zara chain — but also owns brands including massimo duti and bershka. times are tougherforfashion retailers in europe, partly due to wetter—than—expected weather in the early summer and intense competition. kate hardcastle, consumer expert at insight with passion explained why inditex is so successful. you have got an organisation
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where it is in fast fashion and it might not be glamorous to talk about operational excellence but that has been a huge saving grace as this organisation has used and adapted technology, not only to create that omni— channel presents between in—store and online, but also to ensure its stock is adjusted to consumers�* demands and needs, and whether the weather impacts it, or the price pointing or the trevor project in—store, they are able to adjust, move agilely and quickly with needs and wants. —— or the type of project in—store. the uk economy failed to grow again injuly — for the second straight month. economists were expecting gdp growth of 0.2 percent. the uk government has pledged to make economic growth a priority — but chancellor of the exchequer rachel reeves has warned that her first budget next month will involve �*difficult decisions�* on tax, spending and welfare.
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the uk property listings website rightmove has rebuffed a takeover approach by australia�*s rea — saying the 5.6 billion pound offer fundamentally undervalues the business and its future propsects. rea is majority owned by rupert murdoch�*s newscorp, which is looking for new revenue as the newspaper industry continues to decline. amazon web services says it will invest 10 billion dollars to build and operate new data centres in the uk over the next 5 years. the cloud computing division of the internet giant claims it will contibute 18 billion dollars to the uk economy by the end of 2028 and support ia,000 jobs. and its soup cans were made famous by andy warhol — but the campbell�*s soup company is dropping �*soup�* from its name after more than 100 years. campbell�*s says it�*s part of a shift in focus to other snack foods and jarred sauces. its chief executive mark clouse said "we will always love soup" but "today
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we�*re so much more than soup". lets take a look at the markets. investors are finding it a little bit hard to make sense of what that inflation data in the united states means about the united states means about the prospect for a recession and the cost of borrowing. it is mostly negative in the picture here in europe, the ftse 100... actually see ac ftse100... actually see ac suffering west losses. you can see a similar direction in the united states —— you can actually see the are suffering worst losses. stay with us here on bbc news.
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more now on our top story — the us presidential debate. the visit to kyiv, there is a new support package for ukraine
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including for humanitarian needs. antony blinken said the technician stood shoulder to shoulder in support of ukraine. ukrainian leaders are pressing for authorisation to use long—range missiles against targets inside russia. david lambie has told the bbc the delivery of iranian missiles to russia has change the debate about how and when ukraine can use long—range missiles against targets in russia. he was speaking 2a matic responded in the last little while. taste speaking 24 matic responded in the last little while.— the last little while. we are seeinu the last little while. we are seeing russia _ the last little while. we are seeing russia amplify - the last little while. we are seeing russia amplify its i the last little while. we are i seeing russia amplify its work with its friends and we have seen this horrendous transfer of ballistic missiles from iran to russia over the last few days. we have sanctioned further the russian shadow fleet, today my colleague has announced more ammunition, more armoured vehicles, more support

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