Next reaps rewards as global fashion trends ‘converge’ via social media

Next has said international tastes in fashion are “converging” as tech platforms expose consumers to international trends, boosting the retailer’s overseas sales and helping it close in on £1bn in annual profits for the first time.The fashion and homeware retailer forecast its annual profits at £15m more than previously expected, at £995m – up from the £918m recorded in 2023 – after overseas sales rose by 23% in the six months to July, offsetting a near 1% decline in sales of Next-branded clothing in the UK.The company said that the “global reach” of tech platforms including Netflix, YouTube and TikTok were “exposing people to international fashion trends in a way they never have been before”, and improving international delivery networks were also encouraging “consumers to try clothes from other countries, and retailers to adapt their ranges that cater for overseas tastes”.“It appears that international tastes in clothing are converging more rapidly. This convergence is not uniform and is more pronounced in some territories than others,” the retailer said, adding that there remains a “marked difference between different cultures and climates”

The great divide: are office workers more productive than those at home?

Four years ago when the world of work was upended by the Covid pandemic, confident predictions were made that a permanent shift in remote working would follow the removal of lockdown restrictions.Much has clearly changed since. Some of the earliest preachers of the brave new teleworking world – including the US tech companies Google and Microsoft – are among the most vocal to repent.This week Amazon joined their ranks, handing down an edict to corporate employees demanding they return to the office five days a week, effective from 2 January. The chief executive, Andy Jassy, argues there are “significant” advantages to face-to-face working

Global AI fund needed to help developing nations tap tech benefits, UN says

Governments and private companies should contribute to a global artificial intelligence fund that will allow developing nations to benefit from advances in the technology, according to a UN report.The fund would help provide models, computing power and AI-related training programmes, according to recommendations from the UN secretary general’s high-level AI advisory body.Dame Wendy Hall, professor of computer science at the University of Southampton and a member of the UN’s advisory body on AI, said the western world must not make the same mistakes with the technology that it made with the climate crisis. Referring to developing countries outside the northern hemisphere, Hall said states unable to invest in AI should be given help.“If we don’t address an issue like a global AI fund now, we risk going down the same route as we did with climate change where developed countries are able to address the problem and race ahead while the global south is left behind and doesn’t have the capacity to address it,” she said

Australia’s unemployment rate unchanged at 4.2%, dampening hope of RBA interest rate cut

Australia’s economy added more jobs than expected in August as the unemployment rate remained steady, making a Reserve Bank interest rate cut less likely in the short term.The jobless rate in August was 4.2%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday. Economists had it expected it to remain in line with the 4.2% in July

Federal Reserve cuts US interest rates for the first time in four years

The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in four years, stepping back from its aggressive bid to cool the world’s largest economy and reduce inflation.America’s central bank, which lifted rates to a two-decade high after price growth surged to its highest level in a generation, announced a cut of 50 basis points.Policymakers at the Fed also expect to cut rates by an additional 50 basis points this year, according to projections released alongside the news. After rising on the news, Wall Street ended the day down slightly, with the S&P 500 dropping 0.29%

Fed chair Jerome Powell says US interest rate cut has nothing to do with election – as it happened

Fed chair Jerome Powell is delivering remarks right now about the half-point rate cut. Powell suggests, essentially, that the Fed is working toward a so-called “soft-landing” – bringing inflation down without hurting the jobs market.“This decision reflects our growing confidence that within appropriate recalibration of our policy stance, strength in the labor market can be maintained in a context of moderate growth and inflation moving sustainably down to 2,%” Powell said.Powell said that the labor market has “cooled from its formerly overheated state” and inflation has “eased substantially” – a marked difference in tone from press conferences over the last year, where Powell mostly spoke on concerns about price increases.Here’s a quick summary of what happened today:The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a sizeable half-point, the first cut since rates hit zero in 2020