6 h. ago Markets on track for worst week since April, and bitcoin hits nine

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsShares are falling faster than wickets in Perth at the start of trading in London, as fears of an AI bubble rip through markets again.Following losses on Wall Street last night, the FTSE 100 share index has dropped by 104 points, or just over 1%, at the start of trading to 9423 points. That’s a one-month low.it’s been a truly remarkable 24 hours, with a sequence of moves that were almost impossible to predict .After the world’s largest company reported spectacular results, the stock was up around +5% by 3pm London time. It closed down -3.15%. The broader market followed a similar pattern: the S&P 500 initially climbed +1.93%, only to fade and close down -1.56% as doubts about AI valuations crept back in. That marked the biggest intra-day swing for the S&P since the six days of extreme market turmoil that followed the Liberation Day tariffs in early April. Adding to the negative backdrop for crypto were lingering quest...

Events

8 h. ago Markets on track for worst week since April as AI bubble fears mount; UK borrowing exceeds forecasts in October – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsShares are falling faster than wickets in Perth at the start of trading in London, as fears of an AI bubble rip through markets again.Following losses on Wall Street last night, the FTSE 100 share index has dropped by 104 points, or just over 1%, at the start of trading to 9423 points. That’s a one-month low.it’s been a truly remarkable 24 hours, with a sequence of moves that were almost impossible to predict .After the world’s largest company reported spectacular results, the stock was up around +5% by 3pm London time. It closed down -3.15%. The broader market followed a similar pattern: the S&P 500 initially climbed +1.93%, only to fade and close down -1.56% as doubts about AI valuations crept back in. That marked the biggest intra-day swing for the S&P since the six days of extreme market turmoil that followed the Liberation Day tariffs in early April. Adding to the negative backdrop for crypto were lingering quest...

Economics

50 h. ago Strictly Come Dancing's Vicky Pattison 'knew she was leaving' show in candid admission

Vicky Pattison has opened up about her exit from Strictly Come Dancing and said she knew she was leaving the BBC show this week - as fans dub it the 'worst exit ever'

Events

3 d. ago The Guardian view on crypto’s latest crash: it reveals who pays the price for a failing economy | Editorial

The bitcoin collapse lifts the lid on a society without opportunity, where risk is privatised and rightwingers sell illusions of freedom while ordinary punters bear lossesThe crypto crash has come again. And it is as brutal as ever. In barely six weeks, more than $1.2tn has evaporated from cryptocurrencies’ market capitalisation. The sell-off has sent bitcoin back to levels last seen in April. The world’s largest cryptocurrency briefly fell below $90,000 this week, shedding almost a third of its value since its October peak.The key to understanding crypto is that it has no “value” in any economic sense. It generates no income, commands no productive capacity and pays no dividends. Unlike state money, it is not backed by a tax base or a fiscal authority. What props up its price is not cashflow but expectation: the hope that someone else will validate today’s valuation tomorrow. When sentiment turns sour or people pull their money out, there is nothing to break cryptocurrencies’ fall....

Events

3 d. ago Bitcoin falls below milestone for the first time since April

Companies tied to crypto have been caught in the downturn

Politics

3 d. ago Crypto market sheds more than $1tn in six weeks amid fears of tech bubble

Bitcoin price at lowest level since April while FTSE 100 falls as Google boss warns there is ‘irrationality’ in AI boomBusiness live – latest updatesMore than $1tn (£760bn) has been wiped off the value of the cryptocurrency market in the past six weeks amid fears of a tech bubble and fading expectations for a US rate cut next month.Tracking more than 18,500 coins, the value of the crypto market has fallen by a quarter since a high in early October, according to the data company CoinGecko. Continue reading...

Economics

8 d. ago Business and green groups criticise 'backward step' for London as Mayor ploughs on with 'EV tax'

Campaigners say the disappointing decision from City Hall makes it the worst ever week to be an EV driver in London

Economics

2 w. ago Tech stocks suffer worst week since April after $800bn AI sell

Nasdaq falls 3% over the five-day period as investors worry about sky-high valuations

Politics

2 w. ago Tech stocks head for worst week since April after $1.2tn AI sell

Nasdaq has fallen 4.5% this week as investors worry about sky-high valuations

Politics

2 w. ago Tech stocks head for worst week since April after $1tn AI sell

Nasdaq has fallen nearly 4% this week as investors worry about sky-high valuations

Politics

2 w. ago Tech stocks head for worst week since April after $900bn AI sell

Nasdaq has fallen 4% this week as investors worry about sky-high valuations

Politics

3 w. ago Argentine bonds and currency surge after victory for Javier Milei’s party

Investors bet that electoral endorsement will keep president’s market-friendly reforms on track

Politics

4 w. ago I cannot stop playing this preposterous game about falling down a mountain

A week with Baby Steps has made me feel like I’m losing my grip. It this game stupid, or am I the stupid one for playing it?Instead of doing anything normal with my life for the past week, I have been on a horrible hiking holiday with the worst man in the world. In Baby Steps, you play as a useless imbecile called Nate who has done basically nothing with his 35 years on this planet except sit in his parents’ basement and watch anime re-runs. One day he is transported, in his adult onesie, to the foot of a surreal mountain decorated with phallic imagery, and you must get him to the top by controlling his feet individually, lifting them carefully with the controller’s triggers and placing them with the analogue stick.This is ludicrously difficult. Sometimes you’re marching up an easy slope, but you’re often edging over narrow planks, scrambling up dunes with tiny steps, or grasping rocky ledges with his toes. Over and over Nate trips and tumbles, whining piteously as he slides down a ...

Politics