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Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

Monday newspaper round-up: Pubs, petrol prices, passive funds

(Sharecast News) - Fifty pubs a month closed for good across England and Wales in the first half of this year, with experts warning that tax rises in 2025 could make it even harder for some businesses to keep their doors open. Analysis by the real estate intelligence company Altus found that 305 pubs were forced to shut their doors permanently in the first six months of the year, meaning the number of pubs in England and Wales fell to 39,096 at the end of June. - Guardian The price of petrol and diesel in the UK is falling at the fastest pace this year, with households paying about £4 less to fill up a family car than they did a month ago. Analysis from the RAC found that the average price of a litre of unleaded petrol in the UK was now just above 136.15p, down 7p from the 142.86p recorded last month. Diesel now costs almost 141p a litre, compared with just under 148p a month ago. - Guardian

As many as 4m homes could be built on the green belt under Angela Rayner's planning revolution, analysis shows. The Housing Secretary's radical definition of so-called grey belt land could unlock sites for nearly 800,000 new homes across London and the South East alone, according to property data company LandTech. Hotspots in London's commuter belt include the Tory constituencies of East Surrey and Orpington, which have potential grey belt sites for up to 115,000 and 89,000 homes respectively. - Telegraph

Manchester is growing as a competitive threat to Heathrow on routes to China after the number of seats being flown from the airport to the People's Republic this winter rose by nearly fourfold. The increase comes as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have withdrawn services from Heathrow to China. - The Times

Britain's open-ended fund management industry is growing increasingly passive and at a faster rate than the global average, figures suggest. Just under 30 per cent of open-ended funds domiciled in the UK follow the performance of the stock market rather than trying to beat it, according to estimates from Morningstar Direct, the web-based research platform. That compares with 19 per cent five years ago. Open-ended passive funds are said to make up 24 per cent of the global total, excluding China and India. - The Times

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Friday newspaper round-up: Paramount Global/Skydance Media, farms, River Island
(Sharecast News) - The Federal Communications Commission approved the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media on Thursday, clearing the way for an $8.4bn sale of some of the most prominent names in entertainment, including the CBS broadcast television network, Paramount Pictures and the Nickelodeon cable channel. The FCC agreed to transfer broadcast licenses for 28 owned-and-operated CBS television stations to the new owners after Paramount paid $16m to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes interview with former vice-president Kamala Harris that aired in October. - Guardian
Thursday newspaper round-up: UK car manufacturing, River Island, Tesla
(Sharecast News) - British car and van manufacturing slumped in the first half of the year to its lowest since 1953 outside the Covid pandemic, as Donald Trump's US tariffs caused global industry chaos. UK vehicle manufacturing declined by 12% to 417,200 units in the first six months of the year, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group, show. - Guardian
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Tariffs, UK banks, Eurostar...
(Sharecast News) - Donald Trump said the US had agreed the terms of a "massive" trade deal with Japan that will impose 15 per cent tariffs on goods imported into America from the world's fourth-largest economy. The 15 per cent levy is lower than the 25 per cent he had threatened in a letter earlier this month, but higher than the 10 per cent rate that had been in force while the countries negotiated. Financial Times
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Sizewell C, State pensions, Gaza
(Sharecast News) - Ed Miliband has given final approval for the construction of Sizewell C nuclear power station at a cost of at least £38bn. The Energy Secretary took the final investment decision on the controversial power station on Tuesday. The site will take at least a decade to build. The Suffolk nuclear plant will have a capacity of about 3.2 gigawatts, enough to supply the needs of about six million homes for at least 60 years. - Daily Telegraph

Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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