BT Share News (BT.A)

(ShareCast News) - Hedge funds and other speculators have cranked up bets against the pound to their highest-ever level as sterling rises close to a three-week high. Short positions on the pound worth $7.8bn (£5.9bn) were racked up last week - the largest ever, according to US data used by the Sunday Times, while analysts now expect sterling to finish the year at a new 31-year low of $1.27, bringing a potential payday for the funds betting big on a renewed decline.Britain remains on course for a slump following the referendum to leave the European Union, the Mail on Sunday said, with important Purchasing Managers' Index economic indicators set to show a continued decline in business sentiment this month for the construction and manufacturing industries published this week and followed by services the week after. The gloomy picture for the economy runs counter to the increase of new posts being seen in the jobs market - but it follows the sharp falls in sentiment recorded by the survey in July.The Sunday Telegraph, however, was confident a string of economic data released in the coming week would show the UK economy bouncing back after the Brexit vote as optimism returns after the initial shock of the result. Surveys of manufacturing and construction output for August are expected to show a partial recovery in activity following July's massive drop, reducing the chance that the UK will fall into recession at the turn of the year.Britain will retain access to the single market for financial sector and the car industry while curbing migration under plans being considered by Theresa May, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Philip Hammond will this week put forward plans for Britain to retain access to the single market on a "sector-by-sector" basis during a meeting at Chequers.But as Prime Minister Theresa May begins drawing up the UK's Brexit blueprint this week, her cabinet is divided over best way to withdraw­ from the European Union. Chancellor Philip Hammond plans are at odds with those with a bevy of other ministers who want to pull out of the EU single market, according to senior Sunday Times sources in the party, who reported that Brexit ministers David Davis and Liam Fox Fox, as well as May's closest adviser, Nick Timothy, all believe separation from the single market will be necessary in order to fulfil May's pledge to impose border controls.The Government must overhaul its minimum wage policy following the Brexit vote or risk damaging the economy, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has urged. The powerful lobby group wants the government to abandon its "politically driven" approach to setting the national living wage, the Sunday Telegraph reported, as the policy could become "unaffordable" as the decision to leave the EU ushers in a period of uncertainty.One of Britain's largest recruitment firms said the employment market has boomed since the EU referendum with an extra 30,000 new jobs on its books since the Brexit vote, the Mail on Sunday reported. In the eight weeks following June 23, there were 400,000 new jobs posted on Reed's website - 30,000 higher than the same period in 2015 and an increase of 8%.Business leaders at the Institute of Directors (IoD) are drawing up plans to stave off Theresa May's proposal to enforce boardrooms to include representatives of shopfloor workers and consumers. The Sunday Times reported that the IoD, which is keen to kill off the threat of legislation, has drawn up what it calls "compromise" proposals where companies would be encouraged to appoint a director to represent employees' interests, but they would be chosen by the company, not elected by staff.The share prices of British banks have little chance of recovering from their post-Brexit slump any time soon, according to analysts cited by the Sunday Telegraph, who fear an economic slowdown will hit earnings. The Bank of England's decision to chop its interest base rate to a new record low of 0.25pc will also hurt the margins that lenders earn on loans, added to slowing business volumes and higher credit losses to compound the challenge.In the coming week GlaxoSmithKline will attempt to allay fears about the collapse in demand for its biggest-selling medicine, asthma inhaler Advair, by unveiling new data on its portfolio of treatments for respiratory disease. As Advair sales are battered by cheap generic versions making their way on to the market in Europe, the Sunday Times said the pharma giant will report the latest news on a new class of inhaled lung drugs known as "closed triple therapies", which use three separate mechanisms to open the airways of patients with severe breathing problems and are seen as a golden opportunity because they will be protected by patents for up to a decade.Cable company Virgin Media is considering stepping up its challenge to BT with a major investment to expand its network, on top of an ongoing multibillion-pound roll-out. Chief executive Tom Mockridge, who is determined to offer millions more homes cable as demand for faster internet access continues to increase, has appealed to the board of parent Liberty Global for further funding for Project Lightning, a £3bn scheme to connect an extra 4 million homes and businesses to the cable network by 2020, according to City sources cited in the Sunday Telegraph.City traders are betting that share prices of Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Ocado are set to tumble on the hunch that Asda will launch a price war in an attempt to halt its sales decline. Concerns that grocers would see their profit margins battered have led to the trio becoming three of the top four most aggressively "shorted" stocks on the UK stock market, the Sunday Times suggested, even though Asda's owner Walmart said recently that they would not make such a move.Sports Direct investors are poised to invoke new Financial Conduct Authority rules for the first time next week in an attempt to unseat the firm's chairman Keith Hellawell as part of an unprecedented revolt, the Mail on Sunday said. The rules, designed to 'shame' unpopular non-executive directors, would mean shareholders could sidestep founder and deputy chairman Mike Ashley's majority 55% voting stake in the business to have their views heard.A string of London listings planned for the oil sector has stalled amid concerns that the tentative recovery in global oil prices may take a year longer than first hoped, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Although many small to mid-cap oil companies are understood to be lining up to list on the London Stock Exchange, plans have been shelved after recent weeks saw analysts slash their oil price forecasts.Amazon is accelerating its drive into the television market by recruiting a head of programme commissioning in London, signalling its willingness to invest millions in more British productions following the launch of its flagship motoring show The Grand Tour later this year, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Roy Price, head of Amazon Studios, said he was in the early stages of hiring a senior television executive to lead spending on non-US exclusive programmes for Instant Video, the streaming service that is a key part of the company's Prime subscription offer.Major investors and investor groups are browsing the aisles of French Connection as the fashion retail, with private equity firm Rutland Partners pondering a potential £40m bid, the Sunday Times whispered. This follows a letter from American activist fund Gatemore Capital Management to French Connection's founder and executive chairman, Stephen Marks, urging him to make changes.OneSavings Bank has become the first lender to pay mortgage brokers to encourage clients not to leave, rather than only paying for new customers in a sign that the market for home loans is increasingly competitive. The specialist lender, which particularly focuses on buy-to-let loans, wants to encourage customer loyalty via brokers, the Sunday Telegraph said, as the brokerage market becomes ever more valuable.The UK's fully-fledged housing crisis, where less than three quarters of the annual 200,000 government target of new homes were built last year, is not the only one in Europe. The Sunday Telegraph pointed to Germany, Sweden and Ireland, which all share blisteringly-fast growing economies, but much like the UK, suffer from a lack of investment, draconian planning laws and a sky-rocketing population that are sending prices skyrocketing out of control.A reshuffle of the FTSE 100 and 250 indices this week could see London housebuilder Berkeley group drop out of the blue chip benchmark and be replaced by gold miner Polymetal. In the first post-Brexit rejig, which could also see chipmaker ARM removed as its shareholders approve its Japanese takeover, chemicals giant Croda could also be promotedPredictions that all our fridges, ovens and light bulbs will soon be digitally connected via the Internet of Things are failing to transfer from blue sky to hard evidence in white goods as British households have failed to embrace the concept. According to new research from Deloitte in the Sunday Telegraph, sales are flatlining, with figures showing that the popularity of connected home gadgets has barely changed in the last year, despite manufacturers and retailers trying to boost sales: just 3% of homes own a 'smart' thermostat, up from 2% a year ago, while only 2% have installed a smartphone-controlled lighting system - the same as last year.A new lobby group that will push for close co-operation with the EU during the Brexit process will rise this week from the ashes of the anti-Brexit Britain Stronger in Europe campaign. The Sunday Times reported that Open Britain will not push for a second vote but will promote "the positive and patriotic case" for working closely with the EU on issues such as free trade, security, workers' rights and the environment, while also recognising the need to curb migration.Japanese industrial giant Hitachi has urged Theresa May to cement her commitment to its planned nuclear power plants amid fears over her energy strategy. Hitachi's UK-based Horizon Nuclear Power subsidiary, which wants to build nuclear plants at Wylfa, on Anglesey, and Oldbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, to showcase Japanese reactor technology, said a supportive statement from May would be "highly valuable".Holiday park operator Parkdean Resorts will soon say Hi-de-Hi! to new owners after its private equity backers kicked off a £1bn sale, the Sunday Times revealed. Buyout firms Electra and Alchemy Partners have appointed an investment bank to run a sale as they look to take advantage of a "staycation" boom following the vote to leave the EU.