Wednesday 20 June 2018

Staff at Microsoft are demanding the company
ends its Border Patrol contract, reports the New York Times. An
open letter signed by more than Microsoft employees comes as Donald
Trump faces widespread criticism over the separation of children
from their families at the Mexican border. The letter said the
employees “refuse to be complicit”.

Debenhams may sell its assets to shore up its
finances after “brutal” trading conditions triggered a third profit
warning in six months, reports The Guardian. Chief executive Sergio
Bucher blamed falling numbers of shoppers and heavy discounting
elsewhere on the high street. “We don’t see these conditions
changing in the near future,” he said. Among its assets are a chain
of Danish shops.

The Ministry of Defence gave Capita the
highest possible risk rating shortly before handing the firm a new
contract to run military fire and rescue services. Capita scored
10/10 for risk, with 1 indicating the lowest probability of
distress and 10 the highest. The firefighting contract, estimated
to be worth £500m over 10 years, will see the controversial firm
take over 69 defence fire stations worldwide.

The Times notes that share values fell and
currencies “gyrated” yesterday after new tariff threats from Donald
Trump. Sparking new fears of an all-out trade war, the US President
announced new plans to impose 10% tariffs on imports from China
worth $200bn. The Dow Jones closed down almost 1.2% or 287 points
after markets in Asia and Europe fell sharply earlier.

A survey has found that people in rural areas
of the UK are far less likely to use their smartphones for banking.
The findings of the Financial Conduct Authority will intensify the
debate over bank branch closures, particularly in rural locations.
A recent study found that 2,868 branches will have closed between
2015 and the end of 2018.

“If Mr Trump goes ahead, the pain could fall disproportionately
on some of his strongest supporters. The American soya beans that
China is proposing to hit with tariffs are grown in Trump-voting
states. China buys $14bn of US beans a year.” Patrick Hosking
of The Times says that though Trump believes he has the better
hand, he doesn’t hold all the cards.

FTSE 100: down -0.36 to 7,603.85
Dow Jones: down -1.15 to 24,700.21
Dax: down -1.22 to 12,677.97
Cac 40: down -1.10 to 5,390.63
Nikkei: up +1.22 to 22,549.56
Hang Seng: up +1.48 to 29,903.38
US dollar: buys €0.8637 and £0.7592
Sterling: buys $1.3167 and €1.1372
Oil: $75.40 up +0.32