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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Graeme Wearden (until 1pm) and Nick Fletcher

EU hits Google with anti-trust charges over Android - as it happened

Commission says Google is denying consumers a wider choice of mobile apps and services
Commission says Google is denying consumers a wider choice of mobile apps and services. Photograph: EC

European markets edge higher

An opening rise on Wall Street and a revival in the oil price took some of the worry out of European markets, which shook off their early uncertainty. But the gains were hardly substantial and with oil producers unable to agree a cap on output, Greece back on the agenda, and the latest European Central Bank meeting on Thursday, investors remained cautious. The final scores showed:

  • The FTSE 100 finished 4.91 points or 0.08% higher at 6410.26 after spending most of the day in negative territory
  • Germany’s Dax added 0.69% to 10,421.29
  • France’s Cac closed up 0.56% at 4591.92
  • Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 1.14% to 18,658.36
  • Spain’s Ibex ended up 1.96% at 9147.2
  • In Greece, the Athens market added 0.63% to 582.51

On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently 50 points or 0.3% higher.

Meanwhile Brent crude is up 1.5% at $44.7 a barrel.

On that note, we’ll close for the day. Thanks for all your comments, and we’ll be back tomorrow.

Over to Greece and there are some signs of optimism ahead of this week’s eurogroup meeting and amid talk of a second get-together next week:

Although:

Updated

And here’s that recent jump in the oil price:

OIl during the day
OIl during the day Photograph: Reuters

Oil is now in positive territory after its earlier falls, in the wake of the smaller than expected rise in US crude stocks.

There is also unsubstantiated talk of another meeting of producers within weeks to discuss an output freeze again, despite the failure of the weekend’s meeting to reach any agreement.

Brent is now up 0.18% at $44.11 a barrel.

David Morrison, market strategist at Spreadco, said:

Oil bounced off its lows following the latest inventory data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This showed a smaller-than-expected build in stockpiles, and a reduction from the previous week.

Crude was lower in early trade today on the news that a strike by Kuwaiti oil workers had come to an end. The strike began on Sunday, coinciding with the breakdown of talks between OPEC and non-OPEC producers to freeze output. There was additional downside pressure on prices due to data from the American Petroleum Institute which showed that US inventories rose by 3.1 million barrels on expectations of a 2.4 million barrel increase.

There’s a real tug-of-war going on now between bulls and bears with the line in the sand being $40 for front-month WTI. So far the bulls are winning as a pile of negative news has failed to derail a rally which took hold in mid-February. This has been driven by hopes of an output freeze, dollar weakness and a suggestion that the supplies may come back into line with demand sooner than previously anticipated. But efforts to push WTI much beyond $42.50 have failed so far and it could be that the upside momentum is fading. If so, then a retest of $36 looks possible, particularly if more signs appear of a slowdown in global growth.

US weekly crude stocks climb by less than expected

US crude oil stocks rose by 2.1m barrels last week to 538.61m, lower than the 2.4m increase expected by analysts.

But gasoline stocks fell by 110,000 barrels compared to a forecast 1.2m decline.

Gasoline demand over the past four weeks was up 3.9% from a year ago.

Stockpiles of distillate, which includes diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.6m barrels compared to expectations of a 304,000 increase.

Updated

US home sale rebound

After weak US housing starts data on Tuesday came signs that the market may not be that bad after all.

Existing home sales jumped 5.1% in March to a better than expected 5.33m units. Analysts had expected an increase of 3.5%, and is a vast improvement on the 7.3% drop seen in February (itself revised down from the original 7.1% decline).

The rise from March last year was 1.5%. Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors which released the figures, said:

Closings came back in force last month as a greater number of buyers – mostly in the Northeast and Midwest – overcame depressed inventory levels and steady price growth to close on a home. Buyer demand remains sturdy in most areas this spring and the mid-priced market is doing quite well. However, sales are softer both at the very low and very high ends of the market because of supply limitations and affordability pressures.

Existing home sales
Existing home sales Photograph: National Association of Realtors

Wall Street edges higher in early trading

It’s proving to be a bit of a mixed day on the markets.

In the US the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up just 14 points in early trading, with Nasdaq and the S&P 500 also marginally higher.

German and French markets are also a few points better off but in the UK, the FTSE 100 has slipped 19 points or 0.3%.

Meanwhile oil has come back from its worst levels, but Brent crude is still down 1.7i% at $43.28 a barrel as the Kuwait strike ended and attention turned back to the lack of agreement among oil producersat the weekend to cap output.

Later come the latest US weekly crude inventories data.

Updated

Back with the speech by MPC member Ian McCafferty, and a former member is not impressed:

Thursday’s meeting of the European Central Bank may not be as exciting as the March gathering, when interest rates were cut further and its bond buying programme was expanded. That is the view of Mads Koefoed of Saxo Bank, who says:

[The] meeting of the governing council looks to be a sleepy affair with not much new coming to the surface. We may get some additional details on the corporate sector purchase programme (part of the €80bn monthly purchases), but otherwise the stage is set for Draghi to reiterate that the ECB stands ready to combat low inflation while expressing confidence in the measures announced last month.

The ECB meeting always has the potential to be a market-mover, but this particular one looks destined to be a non-event. Will Draghi surprise? Again?

On Brexit he said:

Very recently there have been some signs that increased uncertainty linked to the outcome of the EU referendum to be held on 23 June may weigh on investment in coming months, such that we may see a slight softening in GDP growth through the summer, but our central projection for demand growth remains one of ‘steady as she goes’.

Bank of England policymaker Ian McCafferty has said he will vote to raise rates again at some point, and there was no guarantee future rises would be gradual and limited. But he did not know when rates might rise due to the current uncertain economic outlook. In a speech at the Bank, he said:

On the basis of our current central outlook for the UK economy, I still anticipate having to return to a vote to tighten monetary policy at some stage, although I cannot offer a firm date as to when that might occur – the uncertainty surrounding the evolution of the economy over the coming months is particularly acute at the moment.

As a result, the long-standing guidance from the Monetary Policy Committee that we expect to raise interest rates in a gradual and limited fashion is not a promise – the actual path of monetary policy will, of course, depend on the performance of the economy.

McCafferty voted to raise rates last August, and finally came round to the consensus view that they should be left unchanged in February.

He warned that wage growth was being pushed down by low headline inflation, but could quickly begin rising once prices started going up again.

Ian McCafferty
Ian McCafferty Photograph: Rex Features

Updated

Greece should not need extra measures to complete the bailout review with its lenders, according to European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, although he admitted that the EU and IMF may have differing assessments about the state of the country’s economy. Greece’s Kathimerini reports:

“We, as the Commission, are of the opinion that our figures are right and there is no need for contingency measures,” Juncker said in an interview with euro2day.gr financial website made public Wednesday.

“My impression is that the IMF does not believe in our figures,” he added.

The Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) is expected to announce on Thursday that the 2015 primary surplus was between 1.1 and 1.2 billion euros, or 0.6 to 0.7 percent of GDP. According to sources, the European Commission’s statistical arm, Eurostat, has already rubber-stamped the data.

IMF calculations, on the other hand, are based on the Fund’s forecast that Greece produced a 0.5 percent of GDP deficit last year.

“We have to wait for the figures to be published by Eurostat on Thursday,” Juncker said.

Asked about the implications of the differences between the EU and the IMF, Juncker said the two would have to “bridge the gap.”

“If others are of the opinion that contingency measures are a way out of a situation and if these measures are proposed then we are ready to assess them,” he said, adding that this would have to occur “in close cooperation with the Greek government.”

In the same interview, the head of the Commission also criticized fresh speculation of a Greek exit from the eurozone.

“I don’t think for one second that it would be wise and intelligent to restart this debate. Grexit did not happen and will not happen,” Juncker said.

Ahead of the European Central Bank’s meeting on Thursday, something to cheer up president Mario Draghi.

The ECB, Draghi in particular, has been criticised by a number of German bigwigs, notably finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble although he was later defended by the Bundesbank. Now another politician has come to his defence, reports Reuters:

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel leapt to the defense of the European Central Bank on Wednesday, saying it was time to stop bashing the bank’s president, Mario Draghi, and instead up to governments to agree on measures to boost growth.

Members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives have complained loudly in recent weeks that the low-interest rate policies of the ECB are creating a “gaping hole” in savers’ finances as returns have dropped.

Some conservatives have called for the next ECB president to come from Germany.

Gabriel
Gabriel Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters

“This game of ECB bad guy - this must come to an end,” Gabriel told a news conference in Berlin, the main highlight of which became his defense of the ECB rather than the advertised focus on growth forecasts.

Gabriel is leader of Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the junior coalition partner of Merkel’s conservatives.

“If you engage in the debate, you quickly realise that the problem is not the ECB and Mr Draghi but rather the lack of willingness to give up a focus purely on austerity,” he said.

Updated

Lunchtime summary

A quick recap.

The European Union has opened a new front against Google, accusing the software giant of harming competition in the mobile sector. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has said Google is harming innovation by forcing mobile operators to include its applications in return for access to its Play Store, and offering financial inducements.

Google has denied the charge, insisting that Android is free and open source.

Economists fear that Britain’s jobs recovery is bottoming out, after the unemployment total jumped by 21,000. The claimant count also rose, while the jobless rate remains at 5.1%.

Uncertainty over the EU Referendum outcome in June may be partly to blame, as firms cut back on investment.

Financial markets have dipped, following recent solid gains. China led the way, with shares sliding on fears of a clampdown on credit.

The oil price has fallen, after refinery workers in Kuwait ended a strike. Brent crude is down 1.5% at $43.38 per barrel, on fears that the oil glut will worsen.

Japan’s Mitsubishi has admitted manipulating test data to overstate the fuel efficiency of 625,000 cars.

Updated

The EC’s move has been welcomed by Fairsearch, a group of search services which brought the initial complaint against Google.

Reuters has the details:

FairSearch, the lead complainant, said Google had launched Android as an open source project, but was now hindering the development of versions that might lead to new operating systems able to compete with Android.

This is the issue of ‘forking’, where a piece of software splits off into different versions.

It’s one of the reasons that open source software has been so successful over the last couple of decades, with developers creating new code which is then released back to the community.

Today’s complaint, though, claims that Google forces phone makers to enter into an “Anti-Fragmentation Agreement” that commits it not to sell devices running on Android forks. That prevents rival versions of Android springing up, critics argue.

Google hits back

Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Google has swiftly responded to the European Commission’s charges, insisting that Android is a “free and open-source operating system.”

It also denies forcing mobile phone makers to give its applications unfair treatment, as the EC claims today.

Kent Walker, Google’s general counsel, says:

“Our partner agreements are entirely voluntary,”

“We look forward to working with the European Commission to demonstrate the careful way we’ve designed the Android model in a way that’s good for competition and for consumers.”

Reuters: Google under fire again

Here’s Reuters’ news story about the EC’s latest clash with Google, which broke an hour ago.

EU charges Google with abusing market dominance of Android

Google found itself under fire again on Wednesday from EU antitrust regulators who say it abused the dominant position of its Android mobile operating system, a move which could hit a key money-spinner for the company.

The charges by the European Commission open up a second battle with the world’s most popular Internet search engine, putting it at risk of hefty fines and radical changes to its business practices.

Google is already facing EU charges of promoting its own shopping service in Internet searches at the expense of rival products, a case which has dragged on since late 2010 and marked by three failed attempts to resolve the issues.

The stakes are higher in the Android case for Google which made about $11 billion from ad sales on Android phones with Google apps such as Maps, Search and Gmail last year.

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

“A competitive mobile Internet sector is increasingly important for consumers and businesses in Europe.

“Based on our investigation thus far, we believe that Google’s behavior denies consumers a wider choice of mobile apps and services and stands in the way of innovation by other players.”

It said about 80 percent of smart mobile devices in Europe and in the world run on Android, the mobile operating system developed by Google.

Google has breached EU antitrust rules, the Commision alleges, by requiring manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Google’s Chrome browser and preventing manufacturers from selling mobile devices running on competing operating systems based on the Android open source code.

It is also charged with giving financial incentives to manufacturers and network operators to pre-install exclusively Google search on devices.

You cannot use Google’s Play Store to buy another app store, Vestager points out.

So it becomes quite tricky to find another shop to do your shopping.

Google’s success partly comes from making applications that are popular with many consumers, she continues, but it isn’t allowed to abuse that position.

Commissioner Vestager repeats that Google has hurt competition by forcing mobile phone makers to install its search applications and Chrome browser, in return for access to its Play Store.

If you want innovation to happen, here should be an incentive to innovate, she says.

One of the best motivations is to be able to present your innovations, your services to potential customers. That is what is at stake.

Maybe it has become too difficult, or impossibe, for other search machines and other app stores to present themselves to the consumer

Margrethe Vestager

Q: Why is the Commission not concerned about Apple’s iPhone?

Apple doesn’t licence its operating system to other phone makers, Margrethe Vestager replies.

Q: What remedy must Google provide? Could it just be a change of contract, or will Google need to make technical changes?

The remedy is simple - to stop prices that are damaging innovation and competition, Vestager says.

Updated

Yesterday, Canada closed an ant-trust investigation against Google, so why does Europe have a different view. asks Politico’s Nicholas Hirst.

Q: Is it targeting Google as part of its push to create a digital single market?

Margrethe Vestager insists that the EU doesn’t have a grudge against any particular company. We are responding to complaints.

Updated

Q: How much damage has Google caused to the European economy?

It’s hard to say, Vestager replies, but the impact goes beyond simply the search area.

It may be wide-ranging - stifling competition and hurting innovation in the wider tech space.

We all want an innovative economy, she adds, but what’s the point if companies don’t have a level playing field?

Updated

Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is briefing reporters in Brussels now.

She says Google has played “unjustified restrictions” on mobile manufacturers, meaning some have chosen not to use applications from rival software makers.

Europe's case against Google

The European Commission claims that Google is breaking EU law by forcing mobile phone makers who use Android to give preferential treatment to Google applications.

In today’s Statement of Objections, the Commission alleges that Google is:

  • requiring manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Google’s Chrome browser and requiring them to set Google Search as default search service on their devices, as a condition to license certain Google proprietary apps;
  • preventing manufacturers from selling smart mobile devices running on competing operating systems based on the Android open source code;
  • giving financial incentives to manufacturers and mobile network operators on condition that they exclusively pre-install Google Search on their devices.

EU hits Google with anti-trust charges over Android

Newsflash: The European Commission has formally charged Google with breaking competition rules over its Android mobile operating system.

Competition chief Margrethe Vestager has tweeted the news (from an iPhone)

Summary: Our jobs report story

Here’s our economics correspondent, Phillip Inman, on today’s jobs report:

The number of people out of work in Britain increased for the first time in seven months in February.

In a signal that the referendum vote in June is having an impact on the economy, the latest labour market report showed that the unemployment total rose by 21,000 in the three months to February to 1.7 million.

This was the first increase since last August but left the headline unemployment rate unchanged at 5.1%.

The claimant count, which measures people receiving out of work benefits, jumped by 6,700 in March. This is also the first increase since August 2015.

In a further blow to the government’s efforts to keep the economy growing strongly, wage growth including bonuses fell from 2.1% in January to 1.8% . The measure of wages excluding bonuses remained at 2.2%.....

More here:

PwC: Brexit uncertainty partly to blame

John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, says the rise in unemployment shows that uncertainty over Britain’s EU referendum are hurting the economy:

“The UK economy has been a great job creating machine for most of the past three years, but the latest data suggest that this has levelled off over the past three months....

These latest data are consistent with other evidence that UK growth slowed somewhat during the first quarter of 2016, reflecting a more fragile global economy and uncertainty related to the EU Referendum outcome in June.

Time will tell whether this proves to be a temporary blip or a more pronounced slowdown, although our main scenario is still that the UK will achieve GDP growth of around 2% this year with the unemployment rate remaining around 5%.”

Professor Geraint Johnes of Lancaster University Management School and The Work Foundation also believes Britain’s labour market is slowing.

He says:

“Unemployment is 21000 up on the quarter, but employment is also 20000 up, with a fall in labour market inactivity.

Amongst employees in employment, there has been a fall in full-time numbers of 34000 and a rise in part-time of 11000 - suggesting something of a slowdown.

The big news, though, is the fall in wage growth - which worsened in February.

For total pay on the single month measure, this is down from 2.6% to 1.1%. The big slowdown here is in finance. Pay in construction is still steaming ahead, at 8.6% over the course of the year.

This chart shows how average earnings growth has come off the boil recently:

UK wage growth

Today’s report also shows the stark regional imbalances across Britain’s jobs market:

Mariano Mamertino, economist at job site Indeed, fears that the UK’s referendum on European Union membership has pushed the unemployment total up:

Mamertino says:

“Modest though it is, the increase in unemployment is a deeply worrying sign that the UK economy’s ability to create new jobs is running out of steam.

“Unemployment remains at a historically low level, but the lengthening dole queue is a warning of trouble ahead.

“The combination of strengthening economic headwinds, and the political uncertainty triggered by the Brexit referendum, is having a dramatic cooling effect on employers’ appetite to hire.

“At the end of March, just a month on from the confirmation of the Brexit referendum, the number of live job postings by UK employers on our site had fallen across all 13 major sectors.

“This is in sharp contrast to February, when job postings increased across the board.

Stephen Crabb.
Stephen Crabb. Photograph: Chris radburn/PA

Stephen Crabb, the new Work and Pensions Secretary, has commented on today’s jobs report (but not mentioned the jump in unemployment).

“We remain in a position of strength, with a record employment rate, wages continuing to grow steadily and three-quarters of a million vacancies available in the labour market.

“Work is essential in transforming the lives of the most disadvantaged people in society and is at the heart of our welfare reforms.

“We are committed to ensuring that everyone across the country benefits from our strong economy and the opportunities this brings.”

ONS: Jobs recovery may be easing off

The rise in unemployment in the last quarter may show that Britain’s jobs recovery is bottoming out.

Nick Palmer, statistician at the Office for National Statistics, says:

“It’s too soon to be certain but, with unemployment up for the first time since mid-2015, and employment seeing its slowest rise since that period, it’s possible that recent improvements in the labour market may be easing off.”

The employment rate has strengthened pretty steadily for the last four years, but has been hovering around 74% since the last quarter of 2015:

UK employment rate

Unemployment up: What the experts say

The UK labour market appears to be ‘softening’, warns Duncan Weldon, the head of research at Resolution Group.

Marc Ostwald, analyst at ADM Investor Services, says today’s data is “very poor”

The number of people in work across Britain has also gone up.

The employment total rose by 20,000 in the last quarter, to 31.41m, and is 360,000 higher than a year ago.

UK jobs report

UK unemployment total rises

The number of people out of work in Britain has risen for the first time in seven months.

The latest labour market report, just released, shows that the unemployment total rose by 21,000 in the December-February quarter to 1.70 million. It’s the first rise since last May-July.

That leaves the headline unemployment rate unchanged at 5.1%.

The claimant count, which measures people receiving unemployment benefit, has jumped by 6,700 in March. This is also the first increase since August 2015.

In another blow.... average wages including bonuses rose by just 1.8% during the quarter, down from 2.1% a month earlier. That may be due to a dropoff in City bonuses.

Excluding bonuses, wage growth were unchanged at 2.2%.

Reaction to follow.....

Updated

Mitsubishi admits falsifying emission tests

Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi has just admitted that some employees have falsified data on emission tests to improve its vehicles’ fuel economy.

In an obvious echo of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, Mitsubishi says that the the false tests involves 625,000 cars, including some supplied to Nissan.

Nissan discovered the issue and the two companies are discussing compensation, according to Bloomberg.

The pound has dipped a little this morning, down 0.15% against the US dollar at $1.4370.

This chart from Bloomberg’s David Ingles, showing how sterling has already weakened against most major currencies this year, as the EU referendum casts a shadow of uncertainty.

There’s no escape from Brexit fears.

Overnight, eight former US Treasury secretaries have warned that Britain would become a ‘less relevant and less significant economy’ if it leaves the European Union.

European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is expected to announce new antitrust charges against Google at 10.30am BST (11.30am in Belgium).

Brussels correspondents will be busy!

Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital, explains why ARM’s shares are bucking the downturn:

Arm is now shipping more than half of its chips to non-mobile markets, meaning the company’s fortunes cannot simply be linked directly to the likes of Apple anymore.

That’s just as well for Arm, as it looks like shipments of Apple’s iPhones nosedived in the first quarter. Slowing smartphone sales, particularly in China, don’t seem to be as much as a problem as many would have thought.

Arm seems well placed to ride out any relative decline in growth for Apple and other smartphone makers as it’s good at innovating – vital within a fast-changing market.”

The car industry’s test-rigging scandal may be deepening.

Mitsubishi, the Japanese automaker, has found evidence of problems with its fuel economy test results.

A spokesman says:

“One of our models was found to have failed part of a fuel economy test.”

Further details are expected shortly....

Shares in Mitsubishi have tanked by 17%:

Europe’s main stock markets are all down this morning:

Shares in ARM, the UK semiconductor maker, have jumped 2.6% after beating City expectations.

ARM reported a 14% jump in profits this morning, as it continued to outperform despite concerns that demand for Apple’s iPhone is falling.

Skyscrapers in the City of London

The London stock market has opened lower, with the FTSE 100 losing 26 points to 6377.

Mining firms leading the fallers, with Anglo American shedding 2% and Glencore down 1.5%. They would suffer if China’s central bank did crack down on credit, as Ma Jun hinted overnight.

Mike van Dulken of Accendo Markets calls it a “mild retreat” from yesterday’s first foray above 6400 points:

Note renewed concern about China, with stocks sharply lower on suggestions the People’s Bank of China has less stimulus appetite thanks to an improving outlook all the while worries grow about the country’s mounting bad debts.

Chinese market slides after central banker's warning

The mood in China’s stock markets has turned rather sour today.

The main Shanghai share index has fallen by 3% in a worrying late selloff, with every sector losing ground.

Shanghai stock market today

The selloff may have been triggered by one of China’s top central bank economists, Ma Jun.

He told the People’s Bank of China’s official newspaper that monetary policymakers will rein in excessive borrowing by companies and individuals.

Or as he put it:

“Aside from continuing to support steady economic growth, future monetary policy will focus on guarding against macroeconomic risks, especially avoiding rapid growth in companies’ leverage, and will also consider the impact of increased loans on the cost of living and real estate prices.”

Reuters has more details: China may be more cautious with future policy easing - Financial News

Chinese credit has exploded in recent years, helping avoid the economy slowing sharply. Any tightening could have a significant impact on growth

Oil tumbles as Kuwait strike ends

The oil price is in retreat this morning after Kuwaiti workers ended a three day strike.

Brent crude has slumped by 2.5% already, down over $1 to $42.95 per barrel, as traders anticipate more oil flowing from Kuwait again.

Workers had walked out on Sunday, protesting against austerity cutbacks that will hit their wages and benefits. It’s not clear what concessions they have been handed, though, in return for ending their display of labour power.

Kuwaiti oil workers sat at the union’s headquarters in Al-Ahmadi yesterday.
Kuwaiti oil workers sat at the union’s headquarters in Al-Ahmadi yesterday. Photograph: Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images

Associated Press has the details:

The state-run Kuwait News Agency reported that the unions ended the strike by praising the country’s ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, and saying their action showed their “ability to affect the production process.”

The unions “entrusted his highness, the emir, (with) the protection of rights of the employees in the oil sector,” the unions said, according to KUNA. It said workers wouldn’t be disciplined for taking part in the strike.

Adel al-Fadhel, a spokesman for the Kuwait Oil Company Workers’ Union, confirmed workers would go back to work Wednesday. He said Sheikh Sabah spoke to the head of one of the unions Tuesday by telephone to assure his support for the workers.

“We’re glad to announce that the strike has succeeded in preserving the rights of the workers in the oil sector,” al-Fadhel told The Associated Press. “His highness, the emir, intervened and guaranteed to preserve the rights of the workers according to the law.”

Around half of Kuwait’s usual oil production had been taken offline by the strike, which helped drive oil prices higher on Monday and Tuesday.

Now, though, traders can return to worrying about supply gluts, and Opec’s seeming inability to do anything about it.....

The agenda: UK jobs report; EU vs Google

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, business and the eurozone.

Coming up today.....

At 9.30am, the latest UK unemployment figures are released. Economists expect the UK jobless claimant count to fall by another 10,000 people, while the unemployment rate remains at 5.1%.

But today’s report may also show that wage growth remains lacklustre. Average earnings growth (ex-bonuses) is tipped to slow to 2.1%, from 2.2% a month ago.

There may be drama in Brussels this morning, if the European Commission hits Google with anti-competitive charges concerning its Android mobile phone operating system.

Margrethe Vestager, European competition commissioner, is expected to make the announcement today:

Closer to home, the bosses of the Port Talbot steel plant in South Wales may announce a buyout plan for the site.

This could ask employees to invest up to £10,000 each, to help take the plant off Tata UK’s hands.

After hitting four-month highs yesterday, European markets are expected to dip at the start of trading:

And we’re getting corporate results from (among others), UK chipmaker ARM, pub chain Punch Taverns and builders group Travis Perkins.

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