Perceived haven assets were in focus during morning trading in London, as investors appeared on edge after a tumultuous trading week.

Ireland’s government has voiced its “frustration” over a deadlock in Brexit talks, warning it will now take longer for negotiators to agree any final deal after talks hit an impasse at the weekend.

The opening of trade in Deutsche Börse’s stock market, the primary trading venue for German equities, was delayed on Monday by “technical problems”.

Kensington Palace announced on Monday that the Duchess of Sussex, formerly known as Meghan Markle, is expecting a baby due in the Spring of 2019.

Superdry profit warning

There are very few companies that would print the reason for their profit warning on loads of T-shirts. But for Superdry — purveyor of tight T-shirts emblazoned with that word — the writing has been on the wall, and the pectorals, all summer: it is going to make £10m less profit because the weather’s been . . . super dry.

The pound weakened on Monday after Brexit talks reached a stand-off in Brussels ahead of a summit on Wednesday.

North and South Korea have agreed to hold a groundbreaking ceremony in late November or early December to connect their railways and roads across the border, defying US policy against Seoul’s rapid economic integration with the rogue communist state.

Kazatomprom, the world’s largest producer of uranium, has announced plans to list in London, following a rebound in prices for the nuclear fuel. 

Payday lenders are being encouraged to begin proactively compensating former customers after a surge in complaints activity caused the collapse of the sector’s most well-known company, and threatened the survival of many of its peers.

Shares in faux-Japanese clothing brand Superdry slumped 22 per cent on Monday after the group warned on profits, blaming poor weather and foreign exchange costs.

ConvaTec, the medical equipment maker that was squeezed out of the FTSE 100 last year, cut its growth forecast for the year and announced the retirement of its chief executive with immediate effect, sending its shares plummeting as much as 28 per cent.

Cepsa, the Spanish oil and gas company, has become the latest group to pull its initial public offering because of choppy conditions in global equity markets.

Asia-Pacific equities markets fell on Monday as concerns over rising interest rates and global trade jitters lingered.

SoftBank shares slumped on Monday amid rising investor worries over the technology conglomerate’s links to Saudi Arabia and the outlook for the listing of its mobile unit. 

Brexit talks reached a dramatic stand-off in Brussels on Sunday night, after Theresa May warned that a draft treaty to take Britain out of the EU was a “non-starter” and risked tearing her government apart. 

Sears, the department store chain that once dominated the US retail landscape, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday as it finally succumbed to a crushing debt burden and failure over several years to adapt to upheaval in the industry. 

Asia stocks resumed declines on Monday as concerns over US rates lingered, while the pound fell following a Brexit stalemate and oil prices jumped after Saudi Arabia responded strongly to criticism over the disappearance of a journalist. 

The US economy faces a looming deceleration as tighter monetary policy starts to weigh on activity and ratchets up pressure on financial markets, according to the world’s biggest hedge fund.

Oil futures jumped almost 2 per cent to nearly $82 a barrel as the market reopened on Sunday, following a threat from Saudi Arabia that it would use its economic firepower if targeted by US sanctions over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive Jamie Dimon has become the latest executive to pull out of Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative.

After a volatile few days in global markets driven by a back-up in bond yields and concerns about global growth, there’s a lot on next week’s agenda that could make investors jittery.

Rating agency Moody’s on Friday pushed Portugal’s sovereign credit rating back into investment-grade territory for the first time since 2011, citing a decline in the country’s debt burden.

US stocks bounced back on Friday, providing some respite after Wall Street’s worst weekly performance in nearly seven months.

Imperial Brands and British American Tobacco were the FTSE 100’s sharpest fallers on renewed concerns about a US regulatory crackdown.