Introduction

On this week’s Money and Markets podcast Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson discuss why Wall Street’s having a torrid time amidst speculation that the Fed’s rate hike cycle isn’t as close to the top as investors had hoped, and the FTSE 100 gives up its tenuous grip on the psychological 8,000 marks as slow demand from China pulls down miners like Rio Tinto.

With that in mind, Dan’s been talking to Stuart Gray from Alliance Trust about what might happen if inflation falls but interest rates stay high.

There have been chunky profits from most of the UK’s big high street banks including NatWest but Lloyds sees profit growth stalling as a cold wind blows through the housing market, with Rightmove figures showing the smallest jump in February prices since the financial crash.

Plus, the activist investor selling millions of Unilever shares, the short seller attack on Etsy, and Darktrace commissions a review of its finances after allegations of accounting fraud.