Apple shares open 4.4% higher as its value heads towards $1tn – as it happened

UK and eurozone manufacturing sectors show sluggish progress, while Apple shares jump 4% after stellar results 2.59pm BST A host of manufacturing surveys for July showed a disappointing outcome for the UK, while eurozone growth was also sluggish.Over in the US factory growth slipped in July, while a jobs report was better than expected although it came with a warning on the outlook. 2.50pm BST US factory growth dipped slightly in July, according to the latest manufacturing survey, partly due to falling exports and supply problems.The IHS Markit US manufacturing PMI came in at 55.3 last month, down from 55.4 and lower than the initial estimate of 55.5. Markit said:US manufacturing firms signalled a strong improvement in operating conditions in July, despite the headline PMI falling to a five-month low. Weaker rises in output and employment were seen in July, while export sales fell for the second month in a row. Meanwhile, companies reported the greatest deterioration in vendor performance since the series began and a faster rate of input cost inflation. That said, business confidence remained strongly positive, and was supported by hopes of further increases in overall new orders. The US manufacturing sector continued to expand in July, but shows increasing signs of struggling against headwinds of supply shortages, rising prices and deteriorating exports. The latest survey showed output rising at a rate roughly equivalent to an annualised 1% pace of expansion, which is the weakest since late last year. While a weakening of new export orders for a second successive month suggested foreign demand has waned compared to earlier in the year, the slowdown can be also in part attributed to increased difficulties in sourcing sufficient quantities of inputs. Suppliers’ delivery delays were more widespread than at any time in the survey’s history. With producers often scrambling to buy enough raw materials, suppliers enjoyed greater pricing power. Not surprisingly, with tariffs also kicking in, cost pressures spiked higher again. Continue reading…
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