Taking Stock on Monday 9th October 2023
Taking Stock: Is a look at today's top business news & investment views plus we cover the winners, losers, the most read company news & the most followed. Today this includes:
Who would be better for the economy? The Conservatives or Labour?
UK's Starmer says growth would be Labour's 'defining mission'
British Labour leader Keir Starmer said on Sunday his party's "single defining mission" if elected to govern would be to spur economic growth, expressing confidence he could partner with business to achieve that "very quickly".
At the beginning of his opposition party's annual conference in the northern city of Liverpool, probably the last before the next national election, Starmer said his reshaping of Labour was "bang on schedule" and the party was ready to take power.
TOP BUSINESS STORIES
Oil prices rise following Hamas attack on Israel
Oil prices have jumped on concerns that the situation in Israel and Gaza could disrupt output from the Middle East.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed by $2.25 a barrel to $86.83, while US prices also rose.
Israel and Palestinian territories are not oil producers but the Middle Eastern region accounts for almost a third of global supply.
Hamas's assault on Israel was the biggest escalation between the two sides for decades.
UK pension funds rush to ditch unlisted assets as regulators question valuations
UK pension funds are rushing to sell unlisted assets - often at a discount - because they are overexposed to the opaque $12 trillion global private market as regulators question the true value of investments spanning property to private equity, industry sources say.
Global watchdogs are raising the alarm about the value of so-called private market assets, including big infrastructure projects, the paper worth of which has yet to be adjusted downwards while listed markets, such as bonds, have suffered an historic rout due to higher borrowing costs.