European stock markets hit record high; UK house price growth at fastest annual rate since 2022 – business live | Business

Shell is reportedly planning to cut a fifth of its workers in two parts of its oil and gas exploration and development division, as part of further efforts to drive down costs across the business.

The cuts will affect hundreds of jobs, sources told Reuters. It reported:

The restructuring in the exploration and wells development and subsurface units will see hundreds of job cuts around the world, and will be felt in particular in its offices in Houston, The Hague and to a lesser degree in Britain.

Shell reported 103,000 employees overall in 2023, but that number is likely to have dropped after Wael Sawan took over that year with a plan to cut spending at the profitable company dramatically.

Sawan has already slashed jobs numbers at its relatively tiny low-carbon division, in an effort to focus on profitability rather than the transition away from fossil fuels.

The International Energy Agency has said that the world should not explore for any more new oil, gas or coal resources if it is to reach net zero emissions by 2050. But that is not the reason for Shell’s plans to cut exploration costs; rather, it is in search of higher profits.

The small movement from Europe’s Stoxx 600 has nevertheless pushed it to a new record high.

The index, which includes all of the big companies in the UK, France, Germany and Italy, among others, was up 0.2% to hit 525.63 points, breaching its previous intraday record of 525.59 points from 7 June.

It also marks the complete recovery from the turmoil on financial markets in early August, when trading suddenly turned chaotic on US recession fears – fears that so far appear to have been misplaced.

You can see the August drop in the top-right-hand side of this two-year chart:

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UK house prices rose at the fastest annual rate in 20 months in August – although they remain short of the record highs hit in the summer of 2022, according to the latest figures from Nationwide.

Annual growth rate picked up to 2.4%, from 2.1% in July, the UK’s largest building society said. However, on a monthly basis its figures showed a 0.2% dip in prices, which it said was a result of “seasonal factors”.

That meant the average price of a UK home was £265,375.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said that lower interest rates to come from the Bank of England would likely push house prices higher. He said:

While house price growth and activity remain subdued by historic standards, they nevertheless present a picture of resilience in the context of the higher interest rate environment and where house prices remain high relative to average earnings (which makes raising a deposit more challenging).

Providing the economy continues to recover steadily, as we expect, housing market activity is likely to strengthen gradually as affordability constraints ease through a combination of modestly lower interest rates and earnings outpacing house price growth.

Labour reportedly to ‘give default right to ask for compressed hours’

The Labour government is considering giving UK workers the right to ask for compressed hours among other flexible working options – a type of four-day working – according to the Daily Telegraph.

The four-day week campaign is a push to reduce the number of days people work in a standard week from five to four. However, the somewhat different compressed hours – working the hours of five days in the space of four days – may be an option employers would have to consider, the paper reported.

The Telegraph cited an unnamed Labour source who said:

The Conservatives pledged to make flexible working the default then failed to do so. We’ll build on their existing legislation to ensure flexibility is a genuine default, except where it is not reasonably feasible for employers to agree.

Flexible working options such as compressed hours and term-time working can support more people to stay in the workforce and boost productivity, whether keeping parents in their jobs or helping those juggling caring responsibilities for older relatives.

There is an important health warning in the story: “Exactly how the new approach will work in practice is legally unclear.”

A government even considering giving compressed hours would be a significant change from the Conservatives, who were vehemently opposed to the four-day week. However, the Conservative government did introduce a right for workers to request – not demand – flexible working from day one.

Flexible working can include hybrid working, mixing working from home and the workplace for some roles, part-time, and flexitime, when employees choose their start and end times.

The UK 4 Day Week Campaign is running a pilot programme looking at flexible working options.

The agenda

• 9:30am BST: UK Bank of England consumer credit (July; previous: £1.16bn; consensus: £1.3bn)

• 9:30am BST: UK Bank of England mortgage approvals (July; prev.: 59,980; cons.: 60,500)

• 10am BST: Eurozone inflation rate (August; prev.: 2.6%; cons.: 2.2%)

• 10am BST: Eurozone unemployment (July; prev.: 6.5%; cons.: 6.5%)

• 1pm BST: India GDP growth rate (second quarter; prev.: 7.8% year-on-year; cons.: 6.9%)

• 1:30pm BST: US core personal consumption expenditure price index (July; prev.: 0.2%; cons.: 0.2%)