Financial Markets React to Global Economic Pressures

Shares in companies linked to artificial intelligence (AI) have plunged further after disappointing results from the South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, which sent the country’s stock market tumbling for a second day in a row. Seoul's Kospi index, which is dominated by semiconductor manufacturers, slid by as much as 12.6% at one point on Wednesday, following on from a near 11% slump the previous day, reaching its lowest level since early April. The market is poised for a record two-day fall, and a remarkable drop of more than 40% from a peak reached just over a month ago. Japan’s Nikkei declined 1.5%. Datacentre projects in Britain will be forced to put down significant upfront fees to secure an energy connection under proposals to ease an electricity grid logjam. Ofgem, the sector watchdog, said there were 315 datacentres currently queueing to connect up, representing 73GW of demand. This is almost 30GW above the entire country’s peak energy demand of 45GW. Under the energy regulator for Great Britain's proposals to thin out speculative schemes, projects will be required to lodge significant upfront fees or financial security via letters of credit, bonds or cash deposits. This will be demanded when a project receives a connection offer and returned when the datacentre is switched on.

BMW is planning to cut as many as 8,000 jobs in Germany, according to reports, in the latest sign of Europe’s largest carmakers reducing costs under pressure from Chinese rivals. The Munich-headquartered company has started a voluntary redundancy programme agreed with employee representatives, a BMW spokesperson said on Wednesday. The company and its works council had agreed a severance programme targeting the administration and development divisions, the spokesperson said. Production operations are excluded. BMW's total workforce is about 160,000.

The latest figures on the working population by local authority show the proportion of workless households increased in more than half of local areas in Great Britain between 2024 and 2025, up from 48% between 2022 and 2023. The rise in workless households, and especially of young people not in employment, education or training (Neets) has attracted the attention of the new prime minister who included measures to help people back into work during his first days at number 10. Based on the household adult population survey covering people aged 16 to 64 to the end of 2025, the Office for National Statistics found that Inverclyde, Rhondda Cynon Taf and South Tyneside were among the areas with increased workless households.

Oil prices have increased by over 6% today to $89.68 a barrel following comments from US President Donald Trump regarding potential military action against Iran. In response, Wall Street has opened lower on Thursday, with the blue chip S&P 500 index falling and the tech-heavy Nasdaq down as well. US chip stocks are experiencing volatility but not as steeply as the previous day.

Source: The Guardian