‘Good chance’ UK may have fallen into technical recession; S&P 500 hits fresh all-time high – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as US stocks hit record high in early trading

• Top hedge funds make record $67bn in profits for 2023
• More than 47,000 UK businesses on brink of collapse', warn insolvency experts
• UK economic growth to rebound in late 2024, leading forecaster says

The value of farmland in England and Wales grew twice as fast as blue-chip shares on the London stock market last year, new research shows.

Knight Frank's Farmland Index, released this morning, shows that the value of bare land in England and Wales rose by 7% in 2023, trading over 9,000/acre on average for the first time.

The absence of forced sellers has certainly created a unique market dynamic. A persistent low supply makes it challenging to envision farmland trading at levels below those we've witnessed. The robust demand and intense competition among affluent buyers frequently pushes values to 10,000 per acre, and large blocks can even exceed 15,000 per acre."