Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Rio Tinto said on Wednesday that it remains on track to unlock around $5bn of capital by the end of 2026 after a strong operational performance helped third-quarter iron ore sales from its Pilbara operations beat market expectations. The mining giant shipped 85.7m tonnes of iron ore in the three months ended 30 September, up 2% year-on-year and ahead of analyst forecasts of 84.41m tonnes.
Investment manager Ashmore said on Wednesday that assets under management edged up by $500m to $54.5bn in the first quarter, with $1.1bn of net inflows more than offsetting $600m of negative investment performance. Inflows were described as broad‑based, split evenly between fixed income and equities, with every investment theme seeing net subscriptions except corporate debt, which was flat. The FTSE 250-listed group also highlighted a notable drop in gross redemptions, falling to their lowest quarterly level in more than 15 years.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
The business secretary has hit back at European demands for British tariffs on Chinese imports, saying the government will not change its trade rules because of pressure from Brussels. Jonathan Reynolds warned that the government would not bow to calls from other countries for the UK to hit Chinese vehicles with import taxes, despite political pressure to align with the EU in exchange for deeper future economic ties. – Guardian
A cryptocurrency exchange founded by the billionaire Reform UK donor Ben Delo is being sued for £20m over claims that the company mis-sold financial products in the UK. Lewis Barber, who is a software engineer, alleges that BitMEX offered crypto derivative products to investors in the UK, despite not being regulated or approved to do so by the Financial Conduct Authority. – Guardian
Britain will miss out on thousands of jobs and almost £11bn in tax if ministers block the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields, researchers have claimed. A study commissioned by Adura, the energy company behind the two projects, concluded that the Treasury would miss out on £10.9bn of revenue by 2049-50 if the Government did not approve drilling. – Telegraph
An AI company blamed for a 14-year-old's suicide has filed for bankruptcy. Character.AI, which allowed users to speak to AI avatars with names such as "school bully" or "bad boy best friend", warned its app could be shut down if no rescue bidder emerged. Founded by former Google engineers, Character.AI was one of the first breakout successes of the ChatGPT era. It soared to a valuation of $2.5bn, raising nearly $200m. Its app still has an estimated 20m users, who can create and talk to AI-powered characters. – Telegraph
Three people have been arrested as part of a joint investigation by the City regulator and the police into a suspected organised crime ring involved in insider trading and money laundering. More than 100 staff from the Financial Conduct Authority and the National Crime Agency were involved in raids of five residential premises in London and Manchester on Tuesday. – The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices closed lower on Tuesday as third-quarter earnings began to roll in.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.35% at 51,670.10, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.02% to 7,805.45 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.15% softer at 27,204.38.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com