but, to the other point that sameer made, let's say it is 6% upside to the 5400 for the s&p. to me, that is not as attractive, but first of all, that is a base case of if the fed doesn't cut rates. if the fed does cut rates -- which i don't rule out for this year -- i think that gives you the extra mile for the s&p. the second point is, we like to pick our spots within the s&p. i think there is plenty of beta and plenty about performance potential you could find there. i would look to semiconductors as one of those areas. >> rich clear that, former fed vice chair told me yesterday on this program he still expects a cut, at least. maybe one or two. they have pushed off. maybe they don't need them right now, but, the fed wants to cut. >> one thing in there -- one, with sameer, i would agree that -- and you are not -- but if you are massively bullish on the equities, i would expect a small caps to perform in the uptake. i think the challenges them performing in the down take. i think we would agree on that. look, a lot of what i do for a living is talk to institutional investors

as you can see, our correspondent, sameer hashmi, standing by for us in riyadh. good to see you. us through what the latest is where you are. well, today is the first day of the world economic forum, the special meeting that's happening in riyadh. and it's focused a lot on what's happening in gaza. we had the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, who gave a speech earlier in the morning, and in his address he reached out and appealed to the united states and president biden to stop israel from carrying out the invasion in rafah. he said it was important the united states exerts that pressure on israel and prevents that. so that was one of the first things, and then there will be a lot of action tomorrow, a lot of diplomacy around gaza because us secretary of state antony blinken will be arriving here, he will be meeting a lot of leaders from the region, including the foreign ministers of the gulf region, he'll be meeting arab leaders, then in the evening there will be a meeting between the five countries from the eu along with the arab countries to find a resolution to this issue

thanks to sameer and wyre for that.ve defended the prime minister after the tory mp dan poulter defected to labour. dr poulter — who also works for the nhs — accused the tories of no longer valuing public services. the home office minister, chris philp, rejected the claim and said the government was spending more money than ever on the health service. 0ur political correspondent georgia roberts reports. defections to other parties are fairly rare in uk politics, but dan poulter says the conservatives are no longer the party he knew. i found it increasingly difficult to look my nhs colleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye and my constituents in the eye with good conscience, and i feel that the nhs deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how its run and governed. a damaging blowjust days away from local elections. the government insisted the conservatives�* record on the nhs is a good one. i don't accept what dan is saying at all. he talked about the nhs as a priority. well, of course, the nhs was one o

our middle east business correspondent sameer hashmi is in riyadh for us and he told me more about theaction. over the weekend, it did not go out much. that's because on friday we saw brent, one of the most touching a six month high, that is due to multiple factors. it had anticipated this attack so that was already factored in by the markets and there was disappointing inflation data coming in from the united states but what analysts are saying right now is a lot will depend on israel's action going ahead. if it decides to initiate a strong response towards iran, that could send up oil prices higher because iran is the third largest oil producer, standing at about 300 million barrels per day so it becomes an important supplier as far as the global markets go at any disruption on its infrastructure or disruption on its infrastructure or disruption on its infrastructure or disruption on the routes it has been using to send oil could really upset the market. so that's something that the market. so that's something that the markets are going to closely watch over the next few days and the

with more, here's our correspondent sameer hashmi, who's at the world economic forum summit in riyadha, because antony blinken has arrived, as you mentioned, he will be meeting regional leaders, including foreign ministers of saudi arabia and other countries, the qataris have been involved in these discussions right from the start of the war. and in addition to that he will also be meeting saudi arabia's crown prince at some point during today. and then later in the evening there will be a joint meeting between leaders, foreign ministers of arab states, along with foreign ministers as well as mr blinken, so it is a hectic day and the efforts will be to try to keep the negotiation going, try to find out how can we achieve a ceasefire in gaza and also the release of hostages, so today is going to be a lot of activity around that. ., , ., going to be a lot of activity around that. . , . ., going to be a lot of activity around that. . , ., ., ., that. that is an outline of the tri - , that. that is an outline of the trip. let's _ that. that is an outline of the trip, let's have _ that. th

to our middle east correspondent wyre davies — who's injerusalem, and our correspondent in riyadh, sameeri. i started by asking wyre about the sort of impact antony blinken�*s visit will have. he is clearly here to try to help these peace talks get going once again. not to undertake this big military offensive in rafah, principally because of the humanitarian consequences, more than a million a day have people trapped in rafah with very little protection or shelter. thus far, that american persuasion hasn't had much impact, certainly on the opinions of benjamin netanyahu. thank you very much for that. as you can see, our correspondent is standing by with us. just orchestra what the latest is where you are.— just orchestra what the latest is where you are. today is the first da of where you are. today is the first day of the _ where you are. today is the first day of the world _ where you are. today is the first day of the world economic - where you are. today is the first i day of the world economic forum, where you are. today is the first - day of the world economic forum, the special— d

let's speak to our middle east business correspondent sameer hashmi, who's in dubai.reaction are you hearing n the region? this was something that was anticipated for a while and even in the region they were expecting some sort of retaliation from israel. in that sense, if you look at the reaction of the country, so far we have only heard from a man which has come out and condemned the attack by israel, but we are beginning to hear from the uae and saudi arabia right now. usually these countries take a bit of time to react to these kind of developments. but since the war started in october, saudi arabia and the uae in particular have tried to take the middle path, they have not tried to take sides. they have condemned israel when it comes to the gaza war, but after the attack that was launched by iran, they called for de—escalation. i think the gulf countries are trying hard to strike a balance because they don't want to get drawn into this war. saudi arabia have been traditional rivals with iran for a long time, but last year we saw some sort of truce between the two

let's speak to sameer hashmi who's in riyadh.ay is the first day of the world economic— today is the first day of the world economic forum and it is focused on what _ economic forum and it is focused on what is _ economic forum and it is focused on what is happening in gaza. the president — what is happening in gaza. the president gave a speech earlier in the morning and in his address he reached _ the morning and in his address he reached out and appeal to the united states_ reached out and appeal to the united states and _ reached out and appeal to the united states and president biden to stop israel_ states and president biden to stop israel from carrying out the invasion_ israel from carrying out the invasion in rafah. he said it is very— invasion in rafah. he said it is very important the united states exerts _ very important the united states exerts that pressure on israel and prevents — exerts that pressure on israel and prevents that. then there will be a lot of— prevents that. then there will be a lot of action tomorrow

programme can with for keeping that nice and tight for us, we are out of time and want to thank rhea and sameerre. further north, though, we had much brighter weather in scotland with some lengthy spells of sunshine. so if you wanted the sunnier weather, scotland was the place to be. however, we did see some of those brighter skies push in into northern ireland and northern england through the afternoon. now, overnight, we've got a few patches of rain to come and go across southern areas of england, perhaps south wales as well. away from that, most of the uk having clearing skies, especially during the second part of the night, becomes largely dry, and there will be quite a widespread frost in rural areas. so we are looking at a cold and a frosty start to the day for many on friday. but overall, it's a much brighter day with more in the way of sunshine. the exception southern england, where there is the threat of some rain, especially in the southwest. and through the afternoon we'll see some showers break out. they'll become quite widespread, but especially across northern and eastern scotland