Greece closes in on third bailout deal - live updates
- Greece has 10 days to agree a deal ahead of next debt deadline
- Merkel ally concerned bailout money will blunt creditor leverage
- Legendary investor Warren Buffett close to biggest-ever deal
- British farming unions hold emergency summit on falling milk prices
3.06pm BST
The day began with hopes of a Greek debt breakthrough but, as the history of these debt talks shows, there's a long way to go between the germ of a deal and the signing on the dotted line.
What is certain, for sure, is that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, is on its way to consummating its record takeover, a $37bn bid for an aerospace parts supplier. The sage of Omaha has been busy justifiying the high multiple he is paying for that not so well known company, Precision Castparts.
2.05pm BST
Warren Buffett has revealed details on CNBC of his company's $37bn takeover of Precision Castparts, which is not exactly a household name. And he's admitted that he's paying a "very high multiple" for the aerospace industry supplier.
Buffett told CNBC's Squawk Box he made a bid for Precision during the Allen & Co. Sun Valley conference last month.
This is right up there at the top of expensive deals. This a very high multiple for us to pay," said Buffett.
One of Warren Buffett's biggest deals, for a company you may never have heard of http://t.co/7sbZ0e3Kee
1.30pm BST
Turning away from Greece to another story that has dominated financial news over the past year: the plunge in oil prices.
As a result of the fall in oil prices, the Russian economy is predicted to decline by 3.5% this year, with oil export revenue down by $95bn, after suffering a fall of $174bn in 2013.
Gazprom is set to produce less gas this year than at any time since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Russia's immediate problem is not sanctions imposed by the west or the continuing conflict in Ukraine. The issue is economic.
1.05pm BST
Not the first outing for this comment and probably not the last...
12.55pm BST
It is hardly a statistic to merit breaking out the Burgundy, but official forecasts are predicting that the French economy will grow slightly faster over the summer.
12.35pm BST
Greece's banks are the country's Achilles heel, or so says columnist Hugo Dixon, who always has interesting things to say about the Greek debt crisis.
In his latest column he sets out his throughts on how to fix Greece's banks, which have been hammered by the return of capital flight and the renewed recession.
A direct recapitalisation would be preferable because it would cut the link between the government and the country's lenders. Athens would no longer be able to meddle with their management. Nor would the state, which is already virtually bust, be loaded up with up to 25 billion euros in extra loans. A further advantage is that, if the euro zone directly owned the banks, depositor confidence would be immediately boosted and capital controls could be swiftly lifted.
One reason this option has not been favoured is because the ESM guidelines require a bail-in before it can inject equity. What's more, Germany has never been keen on the idea of banks being directly recapitalised. However, if the euro zone wished, it could change these guidelines.
12.04pm BST
Impose strict limits on money that can be withdrawn from banks and... surprise, surprise... people buy fewer expensive items.
That economic lesson was made clear on Monday by data showing that Greeks were driving fewer new cars and motorbikes off the forecourts in July, a month of strict capital controls.
11.42am BST
Warren Buffett, the legendary American investor known as the Sage of Omaha, is set to clinch one of his biggest deals ever, a more than $30bn takeover of Precision Castparts. Buffett's investment group Berkshire Hathaway already owns a 3 per cent stake in the company, which is a supplier to General Electric, Boeing and Airbus.
11.30am BST
Hot off the wires, Greece's economy could shrink by 2.3% in 2015, after a year of chaotic bailout talks.
Here are the snaps, courtesy of Reuters
11.22am BST
Greece's centre-right party New Democracy will not join forces with other opposition groups to form a pro-European centre party in the event of snap elections this autumn, its leader has said.
New Democracy leader Evangelos Meimarakis told Kathimerini there was no scope for coalition in the event of snap elections. Athens has been buzzing with speculation about early elections since prime minister Alexis Tispras lost the support of almost 40 of his MPs in a vote on the Greek bailout deal last month.
I would say the main distinction is between common sense and irrationality, between who is responsible and irresponsible, who is European or not.
10.55am BST
Better to be careful than hasty. That is the gist of the view on Greece from the German government.
At a regular government press conference, spokesman Steffen Seibert said a swift Greek bailout deal was desirable, but added that it was more important to be reach a thorough agreement.
The more money is handed out in one stroke, the less leverage one has to stop payments if the reform process in Greece does not pan out as planned and as promised.
10.43am BST
Greek bond yields fall on bailout deal hopes
Bond traders are feeling pretty optimistic about the prospects of a deal on Greece's third international bailout.
Efforts are being made to conclude the negotiations, the horizon is by Monday night or early Tuesday.
Until the MoU is on the table and signed, we are still cautious.
There is a good climate in the talks and in the mood of the institutions showing that this timeframe will be met.
10.08am BST
The farming unions are protesting about discounts at most of the major supermarket groups that they claim result in them producing milk at a loss. Protests have included farmers buying up all the milk at some stores. Cows have also been paraded through the aisles of Asda, one of the chief culprits in the eyes of the farmers. Here is a video of the cow protest.
9.25am BST
So the cautiously positive opening on the London markets hasn't lasted, with shares now in negative territory. The FTSE 100 is off more than 50 points at 6665 as mining stocks, both in the top index and below the top tier of companies, lose ground on a broker's downgrade. Broker Investec downgraded several stocks in the sector and lowered its commodity price forecast due to China weakness. Aside from the problems at Dixons Carphone, down 1.2% on the data breach issues, insurance group Esure dropped 9.3% after its interim results missed analysts' forecasts.
FTSE 350 miners off the back of that China data... -1.85% pic.twitter.com/SxEHEe8ejF
8.53am BST
Financial markets are opening cautiously higher, with the FTSE up 0.5%. One stock falling though is Dixons Carphone, whose shares are the third largest faller, down 0.8%, after the personal data breach of 2.4m of the group's customers.
Not everybody sees a Greek deal as inevitable, though.
Senior German conservative sees open questions on Greek bailout http://t.co/dVDnAhrCwH pic.twitter.com/7gBCJnHIeE
8.12am BST
Welcome to our rolling coverage of the business and economics world. Once again, Greece is in the spotlight after overnight talks took a definitely positive step forwards.
Greece is inching towards a deal with its international creditors, according to reports out of Athens this morning. Sources are confidently predicting that a deal on the a86bn bailout plan will be now be reached after significant concessions have been made by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras which seem to have won over even the hawkish Finns.
From midnight the two sides started the final stretch - combing through the final text, sentence by sentence, word by word.
Even previously sceptical EU diplomats now say that a full agreement could be reached by the August 20 deadline ~@FinancialTimes #Greece
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