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Biden-Xi talks send oil price higher
Oil prices were trading higher to end the week as markets reacted to the news that the leaders of China and the U.S. held formal talks.
The call was the first time since February that the two had spoken and comes after a recent surge in COVID-19 cases began to chip away at global economic growth, creating less demand for oil.
💡 The Delta Variant and its effect on the recovery As fatalities rise with the now dominant delta variant, people are becoming weary of going out. Hospitality and leisure related industries have been the hardest-hit. Recovery in these areas will come at a slower pace |
WTI Crude hit an intraday high of $69.97 on the news, which is the highest point it has traded at all week.
Regarding today’s call, the U.S. press office stated that, “President Biden underscored the United States’ enduring interest in peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and the world and the two leaders discussed the responsibility of both nations to ensure competition does not veer into conflict”.
Chinese officials made a similar statement following this.
FTSE 100 stalls as UK GDP growth slows
The FTSE 100 was marginally higher on Friday, on the news that the United Kingdom’s GDP growth was losing steam.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that Britain’s Gross Domestic Product rose by 0.1% in July, which is the weakest growth rate since January.
💡UK’s Pre-pandemic GDP According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The UK has not been able to recover to pre-pandemic levels. The UK economy is still 2.1% below its pre-pandemic peak, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS). |
This comes as markets had expected the UK economy to have grown by over 0.6%, however a larger than expected decline in domestic construction, contributed to the disappointing figures.
Despite the declines, British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak remained confident that the economy would continue to grow in upcoming months.
London’s FTSE 100 closed 0.071% higher.
Shares in Apple were down in today’s session in the aftermath of a ruling which means the company will no longer be able to prohibit non-apple store purchases.
Before today’s ruling, Apple restricted developers from directing users to third party payment options outside of the App store, meaning that developers had to pay the company commissions on all purchases made.
💡Apple’s previous payment disputes Last August, Fortnite was famously pulled from the iOS App Store after Epic surreptitiously enabled a direct payment option for V-Bucks, circumventing Apple’s In-App Purchase system and the 30% cut. This kicked off a major protest against Apple’s ‘monopolistic’ App Store rules, which went to trial earlier this year. |
After giving the ruling, the Judge stated that, “When coupled with Apple’s incipient antitrust violations, these anti-steering provisions are anticompetitive and a nationwide remedy to eliminate those provisions is warranted”.
$APPL was down 2.74% as of writing.
Quote of the day – “When I became a winner, I said, ‘I figured it out, but if I’m wrong, I’m getting the hell out, because I want to save my money and go on to the next trade.”
– Martin Schwartz