FT News Briefing

UK leaders court US investors

Aug 5, 2024

09:31

Snipd AI

Rachel Reeves, the UK chancellor, discusses her mission to promote Britain as a stable investment hub during her trip to New York and Toronto. She highlights concerns among asset managers about $1.5 trillion sitting on the sidelines. The conversation dives into the plummet in commodity prices, driven by reduced demand from China. Reeves also touches on how U.S. leadership could reshape global commodity trade, emphasizing new technologies like Electrolith's lithium extraction that promise to reduce dependence on China.

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Chancellor Rachel Reeves aims to reestablish the UK's attractiveness for foreign investment despite recent political turmoil and investor caution.

Commodity prices are declining due to reduced demand from China and an exodus of bullish traders, complicating market stability.

Deep dives

UK Chancellor's Mission to Attract Investment

The UK Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is on a three-day mission in the U.S. and Canada to promote Britain as a stable business environment, aiming to reset relationships with trading partners following a period of political turmoil. However, her visit comes at a challenging time, as recent violent attacks by extremists in the UK may overshadow her efforts to attract foreign investment. Asset managers are increasingly frustrated with a significant amount of cash—$6.1 trillion—sitting idle in U.S. money market funds, reflecting a cautious investor sentiment. This reluctance to engage in the markets complicates Reeves' objectives, as asset managers desire a more bullish outlook to support economic growth.

Intro

6min

Significant Downturn in Commodities Prices Driven by Global Demand and Market Dynamics

2min

Impact of U.S. Leadership on Global Commodity Trade and Emerging Technologies

3min

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves begins a three-day visit to New York and Toronto on Monday in an attempt to sell Britain as “a stable place to do business,” asset managers fret as high-yield savings and caution over market volatility have left up to $1.5tn out of the market, commodity bulls’ dash for the exit sends prices tumbling.

Mentioned in this podcast:

UK chancellor to court investors in visit to New York

EU capitals set to back tariffs on Chinese electric cars, trade chief says

Commodity bulls’ dash for the exit sends prices tumbling

The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Jess Smith, Denise Guerra, Breen Turner, Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Monica Lopez. Our intern is Prakriti Panwar. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.