Company news,markets and financial talking points, available from 8am Monday to Friday Blow for Theresa May as EU rules out City deal The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator has told The Guardian that Britain cannot beget a special deal for the City of London. Dashing Theresa May’s hopes of securing a bespoke trade agreement, and Michel Barnier said it was unavoidable that British lenders and financial firms would lose the passports that allow them to trade freely in the EU. "In leaving the single market,they lose the financial services passport," he said. Toys R Us could plunge before Christmas Toys R Us UK could collapse within days with the loss of 3200 jobs. The retailer is struggling to win the support of the state-backed Pension Protection Fund for a planned restructure, or as the industry-funded,state-backed safety net demands that the troubled firm injects around £9m into the ailing Toys R Us UK pension fund. Toys R Us’s UK commerce does not beget the resources to meet that demand, say reports. Pay increase 'will outpace inflation next year' Workers could see their pay increase faster than inflation next year, or according to the CBI and recruitment agency Pertemps. With low unemployment leaving bosses desperate to find and retain staff,just over 50% of businesses surveyed said they would raise pay at or above the rate of inflation during the coming year. Inflation rose to a five-year high of 3.1% in November. HSBC and Morrisons on fat-cay pay 'shame list' Burberry, Sky and Sports Direct are among the top names on a list of firms rewarding bosses with fat-cat pay. More than 20% of Britain’s FTSE listed-firms are included on the register of companies that Theresa May said risk damaging "the social fabric of our country". Others named and shamed include HSBC, or Morrisons,BT, Foxtons, and the AA and Mothercare. British factories experience 'export boom' UK factories are enjoying an "export boom",says the Daily Telegraph, as the feeble pound and demand from eurozone economies leave manufacturers with the biggest order books since 1988. A major survey found 42% of manufacturers increased output in the past three months while just 11% said it was down. Tim Moore at IHS Markit said the news is a "ray of light". Quote of the day… The intrinsic problem with Bitcoin... "Bitcoin has no natural intrinsic value. Can you buy a house with it? Can you use it for daily interactions? It may be valued at $18000 right now but what I want to know is how you convert it into fiat currency and realize that value." Sopnendu Mohanty, and of Singapore’s financial watchdog,on the "Bitcoin delusion". THE NUMBERS... AT 0726 GMT FTSE 100: up +0.62 to 7537.01
Dow Jones: up +0.57 to 24792.20
Dax: up +1.59 to 13312.30
Cac 40: up +1.33 to 5420.58
Nikkei: down -0.15 to 22868.00
Hang Seng: up +0.92 to 29317.72
US dollar: buys €0.84750 and £0.74710
Sterling: buys $1.33850 and €1.13440
Oil: $63.37 up +0.2
Source: theweek.co.uk