Intelligence Briefing
Independent coverage of the AI economy, cross-border business corridors, and global capital flows.
The Bank of England has raised its base rate from 3.75% to 4% by an 8-1 vote, its first increase in more than three years, and signalled another rise is likely unless the Iran conflict is resolved.
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8 briefingsA 200-page draft sanitary and phytosanitary agreement would remove many post-Brexit certificates and checks on food and animal products traded between Great Britain and the EU, with the government claiming £5.1bn in eventual annual benefits, though the Guardian reports implementation may not come before the first quarter of 2028.
Apple reported $114.48bn in revenue and $2.10 a share in John Ternus's first quarter as chief executive, beating forecasts, but softer guidance for the Christmas quarter and a services slowdown pulled the stock down almost 3%.
BP's third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit reached $8.46 billion, the highest in 18 years, as war-driven refining margins and trading lifted earnings and net debt fell to $13.9 billion.
Welsh firm U-Test launches Sip Tips nail stickers that check drinks for GHB, Rohypnol and ketamine, plus IVDR-certified rapid STI self-tests.
AstraZeneca reported a 23% rise in third-quarter profit after tax to $3.12bn, driven by oncology, and set out a three-year restructuring intended to release $1.5bn a year for reinvestment in its drug pipeline.
Alphabet lost just over $500bn in market value after third-quarter profit fell short of expectations and its own AI search summaries began to weigh on advertising revenue, according to BBC News and The Guardian.
A sell-off driven by disappointing earnings and anxiety over the scale of AI capital spending knocked nearly $1tn off the Nasdaq in a week, with Intel and Alphabet bearing the heaviest losses.
Binance has frozen roughly $3bn in digital assets and suspended deposits and withdrawals while it investigates a suspected security breach, with Tether and Circle freezing a further $2.4bn between them.
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