0:00:03 > 0:00:05This is Business Live from BBC News with Jamie
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Robertson and David Eades.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12Global stock markets plunge again - as over 1000 points
0:00:12 > 0:00:15are wiped off the Dow - for the second time this week.
0:00:15 > 0:00:25Live from London, that's our top story on Friday 9th February.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39The main US indices have dropped over 10% from their record
0:00:39 > 0:00:42at the end of January - it's the official definition
0:00:42 > 0:00:48of a stock market 'correction'.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Plus, clean up or pay up!
0:00:50 > 0:00:53The UK and eight other countries have until the end of the day
0:00:53 > 0:01:00to come up with a plan to tackle air pollution - or face EU fines.
0:01:00 > 0:01:07And the markets are all down again, as expected. This is how they stand
0:01:07 > 0:01:10as they open on Friday.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11And it's been a jittery week
0:01:11 > 0:01:13with continued market turbulence and worries
0:01:13 > 0:01:14about a raise in interest rates.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17here to make sense of the past few days is our economics
0:01:17 > 0:01:18editor, Kamal Ahmed.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Don't forget you can get in touch with us
0:01:20 > 0:01:21about anything in the programme.
0:01:21 > 0:01:31Just use #BBCBizLive.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Hello and welcome to Business Live.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37There seems to be no stopping the global stock market sell-off.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41It was another gut-wrenching day for investors on Wall Street.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45US share prices have plunged again - the Dow Jones Industrial Average has
0:01:45 > 0:01:47wiped out more than 1000 points for the second week.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Major Asian markets also suffered sharp losses.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56So let's look at the numbers.
0:01:56 > 0:02:02What have we got? The nick Owen is down for that just have a look at
0:02:02 > 0:02:20the percentages. -- Nikkei. Down 2.3%. The Dow is down 4%. Whether
0:02:20 > 0:02:25you can see any difference, really as anyone's. The Hang Seng was the
0:02:25 > 0:02:29worst of in the Asian markets will do it looks as though the European
0:02:29 > 0:02:36markets will all follow. You will get the knee jerk reaction as the
0:02:36 > 0:02:39markets have been open for 30 minutes. They will settle down and
0:02:39 > 0:02:43we will see which way the going.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46In a moment, we'll go live to our team in Singapore but first
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Joe Miller in New York looks at what sparked the sell
0:02:49 > 0:02:50off on Wall Street.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54After some of the most turbulent days Wall Street has seen for many
0:02:54 > 0:02:56months it looked like the dust had finally begun to settle,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58but then on Thursday volatility returned with a vengeance
0:02:58 > 0:03:01and the Dow Jones recorded its second worst one-day
0:03:01 > 0:03:04points drop in history, plunging over 1000 points -
0:03:04 > 0:03:06in percentage terms that's just over 4% -
0:03:06 > 0:03:09and falling into what's known as correction territory,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11losing more than 10% of its recent peak.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15All 30 shares on America's flagship index fell in unison,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19in part because investors saw US government debt prices
0:03:19 > 0:03:22fall to four-year lows, that's indicating a broader concern
0:03:22 > 0:03:25that interest rate rises in the coming months might
0:03:25 > 0:03:28hamper economic growth.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31And now the stock market is on track to record the worst week
0:03:31 > 0:03:33since the financial crisis, but it's fair to say institutional
0:03:33 > 0:03:37investors are not yet alarmed.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Many felt that US shares were already overpriced and some
0:03:39 > 0:03:47would sooner or later be let out of the bubble.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49The White House claims to be similarly sanguine.
0:03:49 > 0:03:56A spokesman for the President who has often boasted
0:03:56 > 0:03:59about the stock market's rise said he was focused on the country's
0:03:59 > 0:04:01long-term economic health and he emphasised that unemployment
0:04:01 > 0:04:02was at record lows.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04But it's the Government's own spending plans that would add
0:04:04 > 0:04:07billions to the deficit which risks adding to the jitters
0:04:07 > 0:04:11on Wall Street.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16We are going to be looking at what is happening here and what is
0:04:16 > 0:04:19happening in the US later on in the programme.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Our Asia business correspondent Karishma Vaswani is in Singapore.
0:04:22 > 0:04:22What kind of Karishma Vaswani is in Singapore.
0:04:22 > 0:04:23What kind of the Karishma Vaswani is in Singapore.
0:04:23 > 0:04:23What kind of the day Karishma Vaswani is in Singapore.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24What kind of the day have Karishma Vaswani is in Singapore.
0:04:24 > 0:04:24What kind of the day have you Karishma Vaswani is in Singapore.
0:04:24 > 0:04:24What kind of the day have you been Karishma Vaswani is in Singapore.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27What kind of the day have you been having?It has been extremely busy,
0:04:27 > 0:04:34but for all the wrong reasons. If you are an investor in Asian shares
0:04:34 > 0:04:39today, it has been a pretty measurable week. We have seen shares
0:04:39 > 0:04:48fall across the board, as you were talking about earlier. Mirroring the
0:04:48 > 0:04:54falls in south-east Asia as well. All of this prompted by the sell-off
0:04:54 > 0:04:58in the United States overnight. Many Asian investors and traders I have
0:04:58 > 0:05:03been speaking to today have said to me they are not sure where this
0:05:03 > 0:05:07volatility will go. Will end in a couple of sessions or is it a sign
0:05:07 > 0:05:11of more things to come in this general direction, the downward
0:05:11 > 0:05:18direction we have been seeing for the better part of this week?Do
0:05:18 > 0:05:23people feel it is a problem located very much in the United States or do
0:05:23 > 0:05:27they feel there are problems in Asia itself. For instant squid debt
0:05:27 > 0:05:35problems in China, or problems in Japan.I think predominantly the
0:05:35 > 0:05:40feeling is this started because of a sense in the United States that the
0:05:40 > 0:05:43economy there was actually doing better than expected and so we are
0:05:43 > 0:05:48going to start seeing interest rate rises at a faster pace than most
0:05:48 > 0:05:52people had anticipated. That is primarily the reason why so many
0:05:52 > 0:05:55Asian traders had been saying to me they are worried about the outflow
0:05:55 > 0:06:00of foreign cash. Asia was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the low
0:06:00 > 0:06:06interest rates because it saw a real inflow of money from overseas when
0:06:06 > 0:06:12interest rates were low in the United States. It helped to pump up
0:06:12 > 0:06:20valuations in stock markets all over the region. Emerging market
0:06:20 > 0:06:24valuations. With interest rates rising in the coming months faster
0:06:24 > 0:06:28than most people had anticipated, there is concern that many will
0:06:28 > 0:06:33disappear. That is the reason why so many are concerned. The issues you
0:06:33 > 0:06:37mentioned like the Chinese debt problem is or was at the top of
0:06:37 > 0:06:42peoples minds. Is not new or something people have not been
0:06:42 > 0:06:49thinking about.Thank you very much indeed.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Let's return to Europe now - where it's deadline day
0:06:52 > 0:06:54for countries which have failed to meet the EU's targets
0:06:54 > 0:06:59on cutting air pollution.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01They are being told - clean up - or pay up!
0:07:01 > 0:07:03Let's show you the details.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05The UK and eight other states are on a final warning.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Today they must say how they intend to comply with EU regulations
0:07:08 > 0:07:18on the quantity of nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants in the air.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Spit it out.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22London reached its annual air pollution limit
0:07:22 > 0:07:24in the first month of 2018.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28If that sounds bad - it's a slight improvement on last
0:07:28 > 0:07:34year when it reached the quota in just five days.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36The EU's Environment Commissioner says 400,000 people will die
0:07:36 > 0:07:39prematurely this year because of air pollution - and enough is enough.
0:07:39 > 0:07:40Any countries that fail to comply with regulations
0:07:40 > 0:07:43could face fines or sanctions by the European Court of Justice.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45The UK Government has already been sued three times
0:07:45 > 0:07:49in the British High Court by environmental lawyers ClientEarth
0:07:49 > 0:07:59- most recently late last year.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01With me is Andrea Lee, healthy air campaigner
0:08:01 > 0:08:04with environmental law charity, ClientEarth.
0:08:04 > 0:08:10Still beating the drum because, for all that this is D-Day, this is
0:08:10 > 0:08:15eight years worth of waiting for any penalties and sanctions to be
0:08:15 > 0:08:18imposed.It is astounding how long the UK Government is taking and
0:08:18 > 0:08:22dragging its feet when it knows it has a moral and legal obligation to
0:08:22 > 0:08:33protect people from illegal and harmful levels of air pollution.A
0:08:33 > 0:08:37number of countries across Europe have been shameful in neglecting to
0:08:37 > 0:08:42uphold their duties on this. Presumably this is an uphill battle
0:08:42 > 0:08:47for you. It would be helpful if sanctions were applied. If you keep
0:08:47 > 0:08:51breaking rules and nothing happens, you cannot feel that will encourage
0:08:51 > 0:08:58member states to change.The process started over four years ago. We are
0:08:58 > 0:09:06really... It is interesting these governments have been given a last
0:09:06 > 0:09:12chance to rectify these mistakes. This is not a legal argument but
0:09:12 > 0:09:15doesn't it indicate whether eight countries who have been unable to
0:09:15 > 0:09:21meet the targets. The EU has not imposed the fine is. Are the
0:09:21 > 0:09:27standards too much, too quickly? They are asking too much of us. The
0:09:27 > 0:09:30standards were agreed by member states, August 20 years ago. They
0:09:30 > 0:09:34have had plenty of time to get their acts together. What they have
0:09:34 > 0:09:41decided is to continue business as usual and not thought about how to
0:09:41 > 0:09:47protect people.How far have you got with this?We have seen the UK
0:09:47 > 0:09:53Government slowly dragging its feet. Our two previous successes in UK
0:09:53 > 0:09:58courts have caused it to create a quality plans. We are seeing them
0:09:58 > 0:10:03introduce clean air zones across the UK but they do need to do more. That
0:10:03 > 0:10:10is why we were in the court earlier. What happens after Brexit? We only
0:10:10 > 0:10:14have a year left when we're meant to be in the scope of this particular
0:10:14 > 0:10:18directive from the EU.We hope the UK Government does not use this as
0:10:18 > 0:10:23another excuse to not take action. What we would miss from even the
0:10:23 > 0:10:28European Union is the enforcement the commission gives. The UK
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Government has accepted they would need to create an enforcement body
0:10:31 > 0:10:35but it would need to make sure it can actually force the Government to
0:10:35 > 0:10:38act.Thank you very much.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43The US Senate approved a budget deal
0:10:43 > 0:10:45including a stopgap government funding bill early on Friday,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48but it was too late to prevent a federal shutdown that was already
0:10:48 > 0:10:50under way in an embarrassing setback
0:10:50 > 0:10:51for the Republican-controlled Congress.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53The shutdown, which technically started at midnight,
0:10:53 > 0:11:01was the second this year under Republican President Donald Trump.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04The owner of Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper has agreed to buy
0:11:04 > 0:11:07the company behind titles including the Daily Express, the Daily Star
0:11:07 > 0:11:08and magazines such as OK!
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Trinity Mirror is to pay $177m for the publishing assets
0:11:12 > 0:11:14of Northern & Shell, which is chaired by
0:11:14 > 0:11:19owner Richard Desmond.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24US chip maker Qualcomm has rejected a revised $121 billion
0:11:24 > 0:11:28takeover offer from its Singapore based rival Broadcom.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31It says the latest bid "materially undervalues" the company and wants
0:11:31 > 0:11:41more assurances of a payout if regulators were to block the deal
0:11:46 > 0:11:51Nice to be undervalued at $121 billion, wouldn't it? It seems
0:11:51 > 0:11:55anything is overvalued at the moment. We will have a look at the
0:11:55 > 0:11:59markets which have been doing their bit throughout the week.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Sue Noffke, UK Equities Fund Manager at Schroders is here.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07It has been a tumultuous week. Havee hit the buffers on the downward
0:12:07 > 0:12:15slope?We have entered correction territory. This is a correction.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20Some might say it was overdue. In the context of the rises we have
0:12:20 > 0:12:28seen, certainly, this 10% is normal for the markets. It just has not
0:12:28 > 0:12:32been normal for the past couple of years where we have seen very low
0:12:32 > 0:12:36levels of volatility and small levels of weekly or monthly moves.
0:12:36 > 0:12:44Is it normal within a week or a matter of days?Absolutely. In the
0:12:44 > 0:12:49order of 3% and 5% in a day or in a week. What we have seen is down 10%
0:12:49 > 0:12:54in the US within five days.You look at this fall over the last five days
0:12:54 > 0:12:58and you think, what does this tell us about the US economy? What will
0:12:58 > 0:13:04it tell us about the global economy? I'm not sure it tells us much about
0:13:04 > 0:13:08the global economy. It tells us about what inspectors have been
0:13:08 > 0:13:14pricing in in terms of good news on the economy, which we know about.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19But also their enthusiasm for more of that good news, more earnings
0:13:19 > 0:13:27growth, continued low interest rates, and really the good times are
0:13:27 > 0:13:34here and appetite has increased and at an all-time high. All of that was
0:13:34 > 0:13:40flashing dangerously.What about in terms of reaction, how authorities
0:13:40 > 0:13:44should react, the central banks? Should they just let the markets get
0:13:44 > 0:13:49on with it or should they think, there is a problem here, we should
0:13:49 > 0:13:53do something about it?That is an interesting question. I would be in
0:13:53 > 0:13:57the latter camp of letting the markets play out. What he has seen
0:13:57 > 0:14:01at various times in history is that central banks do come in. They come
0:14:01 > 0:14:07in to calm the markets and step in the measures to support the markets.
0:14:07 > 0:14:15We have a new head chairs, who takes over in March with his first
0:14:15 > 0:14:17meeting. That will be the real question because, before the market
0:14:17 > 0:14:20correction this week expectations have been that the US would continue
0:14:20 > 0:14:26to raise interest rates.Your message would be, hold on, hold
0:14:26 > 0:14:30tight.The fundamentals have not changed. What has happened is a bit
0:14:30 > 0:14:35of steam has come out from what was quite a heated situation at the
0:14:35 > 0:14:40beginning of the year.Thank you very much indeed. Thank you.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42Still to come - that was the week that was.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Stock market turbulence - a correction or something
0:14:44 > 0:14:45more serious?
0:14:45 > 0:14:48Our economics editor will be here to explain all.
0:14:48 > 0:14:58You're with Business Live from BBC News.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02In the last hour or so, the Express newspaper group,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05which includes the Daily and Sunday Express, has been sold
0:15:05 > 0:15:09to its rival Trinity Mirror for £126.7 million.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Earlier, Trinity Mirror's Chief Executive, Simon Fox told the BBC
0:15:12 > 0:15:17that this was a good deal for readers.
0:15:17 > 0:15:24It's a very good deal because by bringing our two organisations
0:15:24 > 0:15:27together we can be stronger, so by pooling, for example,
0:15:27 > 0:15:35our editorial teams together instead of
0:15:35 > 0:15:38duplicating and, for example, sending the same reporters to the
0:15:38 > 0:15:40same football matches, we can be much more efficient and cover more
0:15:40 > 0:15:42matches, more breadth of coverage.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45So, it's good for readers, it's good for advertisers, it's good for our
0:15:45 > 0:15:47shareholders, it's good for our pension funds.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51There will over time the job cuts because we are going to
0:15:51 > 0:15:55remove duplication, mainly in back office functions.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57We are bringing two very similar businesses together
0:15:57 > 0:16:00and when you do that inevitably there is a certain amount of
0:16:00 > 0:16:01duplication.
0:16:01 > 0:16:02So, there will be some changes.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Obviously we will be talking to those teams in due course.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08But broadly this is very, very good.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13This transaction doesn't affect our regional newspapers at all.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15We operate around 100 regional papers, Manchester Evening News
0:16:15 > 0:16:17through to the Plymouth Herald.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21And Trinity Mirror as a group makes over £120 million.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23We are absolutely committed to continuing our
0:16:23 > 0:16:26investment in our great regional titles, both in print and digitally.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28The Daily Mirror is not going to become right-wing.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30The Daily Express is not going to become left-wing.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33We've got 100 titles in the group.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36They all operate with their own editors and those editors have full
0:16:36 > 0:16:46editorial independence to take the decisions that are right
0:16:49 > 0:16:52for the readers, so we are quite used to operating
0:16:52 > 0:16:53a broad stable of titles.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57What is fascinating is you have left and right, the traditional left view
0:16:57 > 0:17:00of politics in the papers and far more right-wing coming together.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05Politically it doesn't seem to make any sense.It doesn't seem to make
0:17:05 > 0:17:09sense, can you have one owner with papers of two different political
0:17:09 > 0:17:13persuasions? It strikes me as an odd thing to do.You have to say to
0:17:13 > 0:17:17yourself, he is not being truthful, the proprietor is not being truthful
0:17:17 > 0:17:21if he's reporting one way on one thing and one way on another thing.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Maybe there is something more important than the politics and
0:17:25 > 0:17:28that's survival, and if newspapers are going to survive they must find
0:17:28 > 0:17:32a way to rationalise, one reporter instead of two to every football
0:17:32 > 0:17:37game.Rationalisation, that's right.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46You're watching business life. Our top story, global stock markets
0:17:46 > 0:17:50plunge again, more than 1000 points wiped off the Dan Jones for the
0:17:50 > 0:17:54second time this week. A quick look at how the markets are getting on.
0:17:54 > 0:18:00One would guess not so well. The Dax has made a small game, pretty small,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04to be fair we have seen a bit of a recovery since it opened, which was
0:18:04 > 0:18:09about 45 minutes ago, the Footsie down 0.5% and the CAC 40 down just a
0:18:09 > 0:18:17fraction. The pound against the dollar, 1.3973. Let me put that into
0:18:17 > 0:18:27context, two weeks ago I think it was at 1.43, so you've seen about
0:18:27 > 0:18:31four cents fat in the last two weeks, so the pound is on a downward
0:18:31 > 0:18:35stretch over the last two or three weeks. The Footsie is a bit, but it
0:18:35 > 0:18:39has been a heck of a week in terms of the business world. The Bank of
0:18:39 > 0:18:42England is signalling a rise of interest rates sooner than
0:18:42 > 0:18:43previously thought.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48Meanwhile, spooked investors, as you have seen, on stock markets in the
0:18:48 > 0:18:51US and Asia have caused them to plummet over the last 24 hours.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Our Economics Editor, Kamal Ahmed is here.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57It has been quite a week, there is this issue about you've got the
0:18:57 > 0:19:00markets and the economy, never the twain shall meet but they are not
0:19:00 > 0:19:04the same thing.There is a big signal in the markets about broad
0:19:04 > 0:19:09macroeconomic trends and the Broad economic trend that the markets are
0:19:09 > 0:19:13nervous about is the synchronisation of tightening monetary policy and
0:19:13 > 0:19:15the announcement by the Bank of England yesterday that they want to
0:19:15 > 0:19:19become more hawkish on interest rates and they have really joined
0:19:19 > 0:19:26the Fed, which has announced more interest rate rises in the future,
0:19:26 > 0:19:30and the markets are concerned that as the tide goes out on this vast
0:19:30 > 0:19:35monetary easing we have seen over the last decade since the financial
0:19:35 > 0:19:38crisis, the fundamentals of the market may be solid but there is
0:19:38 > 0:19:41always froth on the top and lots of investors are worried they are
0:19:41 > 0:19:45holding the froth, let's get out of the froth, creating something of the
0:19:45 > 0:19:49issue and then there is the automatic trading behaviour, so
0:19:49 > 0:19:53algorithmic electronic trading chases the dip and under all this
0:19:53 > 0:19:57you have actual people trading on volatility, which is why the
0:19:57 > 0:20:00American market particularly has been affected. Trading on volatility
0:20:00 > 0:20:04is drags down the market further because the trade is about low
0:20:04 > 0:20:07volatility, so when volatility goes up they are on the wrong side and
0:20:07 > 0:20:12back and drag down the market. Someone described this as the tail
0:20:12 > 0:20:16grabbing the dog and swinging it around the room. Solid fundamentals,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19frothy top, the frothy top is what we are seeing, particularly in
0:20:19 > 0:20:25America, if you look at the exchanges on the Europe, the Dax,
0:20:25 > 0:20:31the FTSE 100, the CAC 40, much more gentle.People have been asking me
0:20:31 > 0:20:35if I should be selling and getting out of this market?I bumped into
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Rupert Harrison, at the Bank of England doing the interest rate
0:20:38 > 0:20:42announcement and the inflation report and Rupert Harrison, who is
0:20:42 > 0:20:46at Black Rock, former adviser to the Finance Minister of the UK, said he
0:20:46 > 0:20:49thought it was lots of retail investors who went into the stocks
0:20:49 > 0:20:52yesterday desperate for returns, because savings returns were
0:20:52 > 0:20:55incredibly low, they see the stock market is going to a record high day
0:20:55 > 0:21:01after day after day, all of these retail investors go in and I think
0:21:01 > 0:21:06you get the retail response.They are not a huge proportion of the
0:21:06 > 0:21:10market.Lots of retail via funds have been withdrawn, we have same
0:21:10 > 0:21:13stomachs in net outflows in markets in America this week and that's
0:21:13 > 0:21:17unusual, so there is an outflow in equity markets as retail fund
0:21:17 > 0:21:20investors start pulling out as well. You mentioned earlier the readiness
0:21:20 > 0:21:24to increase the interest rate and at an accelerated pace, perhaps.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29Everyone is interested one way or the other, obviously. Any sense as
0:21:29 > 0:21:36to how fast acceleration that is. When can we expect this to kick in?
0:21:36 > 0:21:39This again is the new normal, we are talking about small interest-rate
0:21:39 > 0:21:47rises in the case of the Bank of England over the next two years,
0:21:47 > 0:21:52maybe three 0.25% increases over that year, that is unprecedented
0:21:52 > 0:21:55historically. The ECB still has negative interest rates. The big
0:21:55 > 0:22:01tension is global growth is touching 4% and monetary policy is set for
0:22:01 > 0:22:05recession. This has created a great tension because people are... Lots
0:22:05 > 0:22:09of investors are not sure where the real value is, corporate earnings
0:22:09 > 0:22:13are very good, 80% corporate earnings are above profit
0:22:13 > 0:22:16expectations, but there is froth there, because you have this easy
0:22:16 > 0:22:21monetary policy but act will large global growth.Very briefly, is
0:22:21 > 0:22:23there anything we have missed this week because we have been
0:22:23 > 0:22:29distracted? Is there any particular story?I've probably missed loads of
0:22:29 > 0:22:35stories and we won't have time.I think we will settle on 10% froth,
0:22:35 > 0:22:39as much as you should have.I'm sure I miss something every week.We all
0:22:39 > 0:22:47do. Kamal Ahmed, thank you.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50In a moment we'll take a look through the Business Pages but first
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0:23:25 > 0:23:27What other business stories has the media been
0:23:27 > 0:23:28taking an interest in?
0:23:28 > 0:23:30Sue Noffke is back to look through the papers.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Shall we focus on the Church of England investment funds? A much
0:23:33 > 0:23:38tougher, or at least publicly, on issues of diversity, gender, climate
0:23:38 > 0:23:42change. I think they had already mentioned. But they are setting the
0:23:42 > 0:23:47moral bar, aren't they?They are and they have written to the 350 largest
0:23:47 > 0:23:56companies in the UK ahead of the season four voting, the annual
0:23:56 > 0:23:59general meetings, usually from April. Companies have been given a
0:23:59 > 0:24:03heads up as to having to explain what they are going to do in regards
0:24:03 > 0:24:08to voting against various members of the board.This is the Church of
0:24:08 > 0:24:12England, it's the money they invest and they've decided basically not to
0:24:12 > 0:24:17invest...It's not as Draconian as that. It is a heads up, and orange
0:24:17 > 0:24:21or a yellow card to say this is a warning, so they will vote against
0:24:21 > 0:24:27the appointment of certain individuals.This is a job or be
0:24:27 > 0:24:30pushed situation for them. The eyeballs are on their investment
0:24:30 > 0:24:34funds and where they opened their money and have been for some time,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37much better for them to be seen to taking the initiative.Exactly, they
0:24:37 > 0:24:41engage and have a dialogue with companies and management on these
0:24:41 > 0:24:43issues and if they don't see sufficient progress, the next step
0:24:43 > 0:24:52is to have a vote against, public voice, and then the next stage is to
0:24:52 > 0:24:57collaborate, or disinvest.Have you found other funds doing this outside
0:24:57 > 0:25:05of the obviously moral?Yes, it is a theme that runs through a lot of
0:25:05 > 0:25:09people and comes under the name sustainability, or stewardship. So,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13as investors we are stewards of our clients' capital and we want to be
0:25:13 > 0:25:18seen to be doing the right thing by our clients by having a positive
0:25:18 > 0:25:23influence.Can we talk about hummus? One of the other, hummus will get
0:25:23 > 0:25:26people interested. The price of Hamas has gone up 12%.Healthy
0:25:26 > 0:25:26snacks
0:25:30 > 0:25:39-- the price of hummus has gone up 12%. There has been a drought in
0:25:39 > 0:25:44India, the hummus harvest is and what it would have been. Prices are
0:25:44 > 0:25:58up.It is not all bad. Pea and mint dips are on their way.Good.Thank
0:25:58 > 0:26:00you very much indeed.
0:26:00 > 0:26:01That's it from Business Live today.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05There will be more business news throughout the day