FTSE 100 and EU markets mixed as bitcoin jumps on Amazon speculation – as it happened

Rolling live coverage of business, economics and financial markets as European stock markets decline after Chinese selloff

• Bitcoin nears $40,000 after Amazon job ad triggers speculation
• Aon and Willis Towers Watson abandon insurance mega-merger
• Ryanair ups forecasts after summer bookings surge
• China's private tutoring sector under pressure as crackdown promised

3.19pm BST

Global stock markets started the day under a cloud after a series of Chinese regulatory clampdowns, but they appear to have found some cheer in the opening minutes of trading on Wall Street: the S&P 500 has turned positive, as has the FTSE 100.

Here are some of the main business stories from today:

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2.48pm BST

London's public transport operator has called for further financial help from the government after it said that still has a 500m budget shortfall.

The government has agreed to fund Transport for London (TfL) up until 11 December, but the body's revised budget shows that spending cuts have not been enough to make up for the drop in revenues caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The previous budget had shown a 900m shortfall.

2.35pm BST

US stocks have wilted, as expected, coming off record highs and following declines in China and Europe.

Here are the opening snaps:

2.04pm BST

Two of the world's biggest insurance brokers have abandoned plans to merge after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) objected on competition grounds.

Aon and Willis Towers Watson will continue as independent companies after the DoJ sued to block the deal, arguing that it would bring together two of the Big Three' global insurance brokers" and create a Big Two".

Despite regulatory momentum around the world, including the recent approval of our combination by the European Commission, we reached an impasse with the US Department of Justice.

The DoJ position overlooks that our complementary businesses operate across broad, competitive areas of the economy. We are confident that the combination would have accelerated our shared ability to innovate on behalf of clients, but the inability to secure an expedited resolution of the litigation brought us to this point.

1.35pm BST

Nissan has announced plans to create 400 jobs at its car plant in Sunderland, weeks after promising to invest 1bn in the site.

Related: Nissan to create 400 jobs at Sunderland car factory

1.11pm BST

A quick stock markets check-in: the FTSE 100 has improved somewhat, and it's now only down by seven points, or 0.1%, at 7,019.

US stock market futures suggest that shares on Wall Street will also dip after the opening bell in an hour and a bit. S&P 500and Dow Jones industrial average futures are down by 0.2% apiece at the time of writing.

1.07pm BST

One of the Bank of England's monetary policymakers has argued that stimulus should remain in place because we are not out of the woods", in his final speech in the position.

I think it will remain appropriate to keep the current monetary stimulus in place for several quarters at least, and probably longer. And when tightening does become appropriate, I suspect not much of it will be needed, given the low level of the neutral rate.

Even though the e xpected peak in inflation now looks to be higher than previously expected, I have not changed my view that this inflation peak is likely to be temporary. It is driven by supply bottlenecks and base effects, both of which are set to wane next year.

Second, we are not out of the woods yet in terms of the virus and the impact on the economy. Yes, the economy has been growing rapidly, but on the most recent data it remains an average recession away from full employment.

12.16pm BST

British businesses' water bills could rise after the regulator gave providers the go-ahead in order to cover some of the costs of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UK's water regulator is to allow utility companies to increase prices temporarily starting next year to offset higher bad debt costs because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Related: UK water firms can raise prices temporarily to offset Covid costs

11.43am BST

The price of bitcoin surged by 10% on Monday as traders seized on an Amazon job advertisement that showed the company is looking at digital currencies.

One bitcoin was worth nearly $40,000 on Monday, up from $34,000 at midnight on Sunday. That was the highest price since mid-June - albeit far short of the levels near $65,000 seen as recently as April. It traded at $38,420 at the time of writing.

When a simple job ad appears to spark resurgence in the value of bitcoin, it shows how the crypto world is salivating for every nugget of news about the future use case for digital currencies.

Given the might of Amazon Web Services, it isn't surprising that the tech giant wants to be at the cutting edge of new payments technology and establishing a new digital currency is likely to be on the agenda. But the expectation that payment may also be accepted from the current crypto kids on the block has also led to a spike in their value.

10.57am BST

Considering the unprecedented freeze in economic activity during pandemic lockdowns, the UK economy's recovery was always going to generate some spectacular numbers. The signs are that it will outpace anything seen since the wartime economy of 1941.

The British economy is growing at its fastest pace in 80 years and could recover its pre-pandemic size by the end of this year, according to a leading economic forecaster, reports the Guardian's Zoe Wood.

Buoyed by the vaccine rollout and a bounce back in consumer spending, the EY Item Club said it now expected GDP to grow by 7.6% - which would be the fastest annual growth in national income since 1941. The UK economy shrank by 9.8% in 2020, the worst performance in the G7.

The optimism comes despite the chaos caused by widespread staff shortages as workers self-isolate en masse after being pinged by NHS test and trace. The pingdemic" is affecting the running of shops, restaurants, factories and even railway services as bosses struggle to find staff to cover shifts.

Related: UK economy growing at fastest rate in 80 years, says forecaster

10.21am BST

The FTSE 250 bin collection company Biffa has been found guilty of illegally exporting 1,000 tonnes of household waste to Asia.

We are pleased with the court's decision. We want all producers and waste companies to be responsible and make sure they only export material that can be legally and safely sent abroad for recycling.

Illegal waste exports blight the lives and environment of those overseas. The Environment Agency will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those found to break the rules.

No public interest has been served by the Environment Agency in bringing this prosecution. The UK does not have the infrastructure to recycle all of the wastepaper that householders send for recycling, meaning export is essential to avoid having to landfill or incinerate this valuable resource. The case established that the paper we were sending for export was over 99% pure. This is no different from the waste paper that is recycled in the UK. It would have been used as raw material to make cardboard packaging.

The recycling industry has tried to engage with the Environment Agency on developing standards for export that reflect the realities of recycling that it can be measured against, but the agency has not cooperated. Biffa no longer exports wastepaper outside the OECD but the industry overall has no choice but to do so. We urgently request that a set of coherent policies are put in place that either put exports on a stable footing or stimulate the necessary investment in the UK so that it is no longer needed.

10.03am BST

An interesting new front may be opening in the relationship between the UK and China: the government is considering backtracking on allowing Chinese companies to operate British nuclear power stations.

China's state-owned nuclear energy company could be blocked from all future power projects in the UK, with ministers understood to be investigating ways to prevent its involvement.

The move would exclude China General Nuclear (CGN) from the consortium planning to build the 20bn Sizewell C nuclear plant on the Suffolk coast, as well as one in Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex.

Related: China's nuclear power firm could be blocked from UK projects

9.43am BST

German business confidence has dropped further than economists have expected. The Ifo business climate survey might have raised the spirits of European markets on what is proving to be quite a limp start to the week, but it hasn't turned out that way.

The long-running survey, followed by economists as a gauge of activity in Europe's largest economy, showed that confidence declined. The reading came in at 100.8 for July, down from 101.8 in June and 1.3 points below economists' average forecasts.

The goods news is that these data indicate that economic momentum was sustained at the start of the third quarter, after what was almost surely a significant rebound in the second quarter. The bad news is that business leaders now see growth fading towards the end of the third quarter. This could be because executives now fret new restrictions in the face of the Delta-surge, though it could also simply be reflecting the realty that nothing goes up in a straight line. Growth can remain solid, even if the pace declines.

9.14am BST

Looking at what is dragging back the FTSE 100, there is a fairly clear pattern: banks and financials are the biggest fallers.

8.55am BST

More aviation news: Heathrow Airport's tally of losses during the pandemic has now hit 2.9bn.

The UK is emerging from the worst effects of the health pandemic, but is falling behind its EU rivals in international trade by being slow to remove restrictions. Replacing PCR tests with lateral flow tests and opening up to EU and US vaccinated travellers at the end of July will start to get Britain's economic recovery off the ground.

8.33am BST

Ryanair bumps up passenger forecast after summer surge

8.25am BST

China appears to have set the tone for stock markets in Europe: every major index is in the red on Monday morning.

The FTSE 100 has lost 0.4%, Germany's Dax has lost 0.5%, while France's Cac 40 is down by 0.3%.

8.15am BST

Good morning, and welcome to our live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets.

Chinese stock markets hit their lowest level since December on Monday as investors took fright over tightening regulation. The tech sector has been under pressure in recent weeks, and now the Communist party government has turned its attention to the vast private education sector and property sectors.

Tencent drops 6% below HK$500, the lowest since Sept 2020.#Tencent #Stockmarket $TCHEY pic.twitter.com/f6a3dbodvL

We believe China's economy, and specifically its financial system, will face significant risks in coming months due to the unprecedented tightening measures applied to the property sector.