Oil price jumps and markets slide after Trump warning to Iran

Oil prices have soared after Donald Trump vowed in a televised speech to hit Iran “extremely hard” over the coming weeks, knocking hopes of a near-term end to the conflict in the Middle East.Brent crude prices jumped by as much as 8% on Thursday to $109.74 a barrel, reversing Wednesday’s drop when hopes of a de-escalation in the Iran war pushed the international benchmark below the $100-a-barrel mark at one point.The cost of oil produced in the US also jumped, with a barrel of West Texas Intermediate – crude that is drilled and processed in the US – rising by 11% to $111.60 a barrel, over the $110 mark for the first time since 9 March

Stellantis recalls 44,000 UK vehicles over fault that could cause fires

The European carmaker Stellantis has issued a recall for 44,000 UK vehicles after discovering a fault that could result in its cars catching fire.The fault has been found in certain models across its Peugeot, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Vauxhall, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Fiat brands, produced between 2023 and 2026. Key vehicles affected by the recall include the Citroën C3, Peugeot 208 and Vauxhall Mokka.The manufacturer said the issue related to a lack of clearance between the gas filter pipe and a component of the belt starter generator, which could cause water to leak into the engine bay during wet driving conditions. That created a “potential risk of fire” in the engine, in the worst-case scenario

‘From high flyer to dead parrot’: former billion-dollar eco-shoe brand Allbirds sold for $39m

Allbirds, the San Francisco sustainable trainer brand once valued at more than $4bn, is being sold for just $39m (£29.6m) after global demand for its wool-based footwear failed to materialise.American Exchange Group, the owner of a string of brands including the fashion label Ed Hardy and the accessories maker Born, is snapping up the struggling company once touted as the future of footwear.Allbirds listed on the US stock market in 2021, but its shares have since tumbled by more than 99%, leaving it valued at just over $20m.In its early years, the brand enjoyed rapid success, and in the first two years since its official launch in March 2016, Allbirds sold more than 1m pairs of its original merino wool trainers

Secondhand clothes sales forecast to hit $289bn as AI helps shoppers find deals

Secondhand clothing sales are forecast to surge 12% this year to $289bn (£217bn) and continue to step up, as AI and social media influencers help shoppers find the items they want.The rise of sites such as Vinted, Depop, Vestige and ThredUp is expected to power an average 9% annual growth over the next five years to reach $393bn, twice the pace of the overall clothing market.The prediction came in ThredUp’s annual resale report, which uses research from market analysts GlobalData. In 2021 the market was worth just $141bn, less than half this year’s expected total.Brands such as Dr Martens, Zara and Mulberry have begun selling their own secondhand items or repairing and reviving used items as demand booms

Polymarket and other prediction platforms driving oil market, traders say

Online betting platforms are directly driving the global oil market as they increasingly rely on anonymous prediction markets to determine multimillion-dollar trades, energy traders have warned.Market experts have said that datafeeds from prediction platforms such as Polymarket are being used to create the algorithms that influence trading in the global Brent crude futures market.The “widespread” use of Polymarket in oil futures trading has emerged amid concerns that anonymous account holders may be using insider knowledge to place bets.Energy traders have raised concerns that the platform could also be used to influence pricing in the global oil market.One energy trader said Polymarket had become the best predictor of the oil market’s direction since the US-Israel war with Iran triggered a global oil crisis, making it an essential part of the algorithms used to determine trades

Would more North Sea drilling mean lower energy prices for UK consumers?

Oil prices hit $100 a barrel soon after the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran, and though prices have wobbled since, ongoing supply issues from the partial closure of the strait of Hormuz mean they could leap higher, to $150 a barrel or more, by some estimates.The impacts could be severe – not just increases in the price of petrol, and oil for home heating, but also in the cost of gas, with knock-on inflationary pressures on food, consumer goods and industrial components.Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative party, this week laid out a plan to “get Britain drilling”, which would involve opening new oil and gasfields in the North Sea, to maximise production, alongside measures to cut energy bills. Here we look at this plan and whether it would work.No