Oil price jumps over 4% and gold slides as the US and Iran trade attacks –business live

19m ago 12.39 CEST Oil prices have climbed today, but Brent crude remains below $80 a barrel. Brent, the global benchmark, rose 4.5% in early London trading and is now up 2.9% at $78.23 a barrel, a gain of $2.2. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said: double quotation mark Recent attacks highlight how uncertain Gulf exports remain and that a serious re-escalation could re-intensify the short run upside risk to oil prices. The FTSE 100 index has turned negative, trading 25 points lower at 10,472, a 0.2% drop. Other European markets are just about in positive territory, while rising tensions in the Gulf are weighing on financial markets, ahead of the earnings season. Spot gold slid 1.3% to $4,066 an ounce. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at the bank Swissquote, said this morning: double quotation mark Of course, elevated stock market volatility is a boon for banks’ trading desks, and we will see that reflected in a few days when the major US banks begin reporting second-quarter earnings. They are expected to deliver strong results thanks to higher market volatility, the SpaceX IPO and the higher-for-longer interest-rate environment. Consumer health remains a concern, especially as geopolitical tensions have re-escalated over the past week, but trading revenues and net interest income are expected to more than offset weakness on the consumer side. Besides the banks, ASML and TSMC will also report earnings this week and will likely post strong results, supported by AI-related spending and robust semiconductor demand. The real question is how the market will react. Remember, last week Samsung lost almost 10% after reporting 1’900% profit growth for the previous quarter and has continued to fall since then. Therefore, investors’ reaction to technology earnings may prove more important than the figures themselves. These stocks are still priced for perfection, yet several inconvenient truths are beginning to blur the picture. Share 1h ago 11.42 CEST ‘A new consumer’: how weight-loss drugs are shaking up clothes shopping I’m now at a point where I’m going to buy even more clothes,” says Hayley Grice, 50, from Shropshire, who has dropped seven sizes after starting on the GLP-1 weight loss jab Mounjaro two years ago. “I’m very happy with my physique right now.” Grice, the financial director of a business she set up with her husband, tried gastric bypass surgery in 2009, but put most of the weight back on, and had been between UK dress sizes 26 and 28 (US sizes 22 and 24) all her adult life. “When you are so morbidly obese, you dress in what you can, what will fit,” she says. “You can’t really choose the latest fashion or whatever your style is.” Now a UK size 12, she shops in standard stores rather than from an online plus-size retailer. “I would have shied away from colour, I would have shied away from anything that drew attention to me,” Grice adds. “And now I don’t care, if I like it I’ll wear it.” ‘A new consumer’: how weight-loss drugs are shaking up clothes shopping Read more The widespread take-up of weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro is not only shaking up food habits, but spending across the board – and on wardrobes in particular. In the US, where one in five adults (21%) have tried GLP-1 drugs, spending on grocery, alcohol and apparel has shifted noticeably. Britain appears to be on a similar trajectory, where 5% of adults, or nearly 3 million people, are now on the drugs while 9% have taken one at some point, says new research from the consultancy PwC. It expects this number to rise to 13% by the end of next year – about 7 million people. “A single class of medication is already influencing how millions of people in Britain eat, drink, exercise and shop,” says PwC. “GLP-1s are doing far more than reducing appetite. They are creating a new consumer.” Share 1h ago 11.38 CEST First the £10 pint, now the £6.50 flat white: coffee industry faces inflationary pressures Drinkers across the UK were shocked when a pint in some London bars hit £10, and now a cup of coffee is facing a similar inflationary rate. Some baristas are now charging £6.50 for a flat white. Higher energy bills, inflated by the war in the Middle East, as well as government policies which have increased tax and wages, are filtering through into coffee prices, experts said. The price is also being raised by volatile weather in coffee growing regions, with a “super El Niño”, a weather phenomenon which causes extreme rainfall and drought, forecast for the end of the year. There was heavy rain in Brazil throughout June already, which will dampen harvests and cause prices to rise. In the week ending 28 June, rainfall was nearly 2,000% higher than the historical norm. Waterlogged fields precluded machinery from entering, and the rain severely worsened bean quality, delaying harvests to 52%. View image in fullscreen Flat White Coffee in the Depot bakery, Sheffield. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer In Vietnam, the largest producer of robusta beans, farmers are fighting early drought, and fertiliser and fuel prices in the country have jumped by 30% year-on-year, and labour costs by 33%. The Italian coffee company Lavazza warned that the sector faced “exceptional volatility”, with arabica bean prices increasing by 230% since 2021 and robusta up 325% over the same period. First the £10 pint, now the £6.50 flat white: coffee industry faces inflationary pressures Read more Share 1h ago 11.35 CEST Britons give classic round tomato the red card as coloured and vine varieties score For a long time the classic round, red tomato has dominated British salads and sandwiches, but its supremacy is coming under threat as sales of rainbow colours and the upmarket rival “cherry on the vine” take off. “Non-red tomatoes” sales are up 21% this year, a growth rate that far exceeds the overall market, according to Paul Faulkner, of Evesham Vale Growers. View image in fullscreen A variety of tomatoes. Photograph: Yola Watrucka/Alamy This category covers yellow, orange, green, purple, brown and even striped varieties, which are becoming a more common sight in British supermarkets. “We’ve got consumers used to the fact that tomatoes don’t have to be red,” said Faulkner. The grower, which supplies Sainsbury’s and Aldi, is in lockstep with the trends reshaping the tomato industry, having diverted 20% of its growing area to an orange, cherry, on-the-vine variety. In the past growers had worked with seed breeders on colourful varieties but, while they had looked the part, they “didn’t taste great”, said Faulkner. “Now we’ve got new varieties that not only look great but taste fantastic.” Britons spend just over a £1bn a year on tomatoes, according to the grocery data analyst Worldpanel by Numerator. In the year to 14 June, sales are up 3% on the previous 52 weeks. Within that figure, non-red tomatoes are the fastest growing part of the market. Britons give classic round tomato the red card as coloured and vine varieties score Read more Share 1h ago 11.32 CEST Jayne-Anne Gadhia named as preferred candidate for FRC chair Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the former Virgin Money boss, has been named as the government’s preferred candidate for chair of the Financial Reporting Council, succeeding Sir Jan du Plessis, who steps down on 30 September. A chartered accountant by training, she ran Virgin Money from 2007 to 208, where she led the acquisition of Northern Rock and the subsequent listing of the combined business. More recently she has been a founder and innovator in the fintech sector. She serves as chair of Moneyfarm, Ovo Energy and Shakespeare’s Globe, is lead non-executive director at HMRC’s executive committee, senior independent director at the Tate, director at PRA Group and Innovo Group and an adviser to SumUp. View image in fullscreen Jayne Anne Gadhia, then-CEO of Virgin Money in 2017. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian She is also a longstanding champion of diversity in financial services, having served as the UK government’s women in finance champion for five years. Her appointment comes at a significant moment for the FRC as the organisation has undergone substantial transformation under outgoing chair, to improve audit quality, strengthen corporate governance and reporting standards, reform its supervision and enforcement processes and establish itself as a more focused and transparent regulator. The business secretary, Peter Kyle, said: double quotation mark Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia has a proven track record in driving growth and championing high standards in the organisations she leads, along with exceptional experience in financial services. Share 2h ago 11.12 CEST Struggling pub landlords given a lifeline by England’s World Cup heroes The beleaguered pub sector is getting a boost from England’s World Cup run, with some landlords reporting roaring sales as anticipation builds for a bumper night on Wednesday for the semi-final clash with Argentina. Lisa Mayall, the manager of the British Oak in Kingswinford near Dudley in the West Midlands, was jubilant after England’s 2-1 win against Norway on Saturday night and brisk takings at the pub’s till. She expects hundreds more customers for the team’s next game at 8pm BST. View image in fullscreen England fans watching the England v Norway, World Cup match at The Blue Eagle pub owned by Southend United FC. Photograph: Graham Whitby Boot/SUFC/Shutterstock “I think our sales will treble on Wednesday night especially as we’ve got Argentina – there’s so much rivalry and it could be payback for the Hand of God,” she said referring to Maradona’s infamous handball goal against England in the 1986 World Cup. Struggling pub landlords given a lifeline by England’s World Cup heroes Read more Share 2h ago 11.07 CEST European shares have turned positive, pushing cautiously higher. This in sharp contrast to the sell-off in Asia, where South Korea’s Kospi plunged 9.85%. Germany’s Dax rose 0.15% and Italy’s FTSE