Fed rates debate, ‘supergiant’ gas field found, and SME lending

The daily briefing “FirstFT” from the Financial Times.

China’s government has decided to abandon attempts to boost the stock market through large-scale share purchases, and will instead intensify efforts to find and punish those suspected of “destabilising the market”, according to senior officials.

The country’s leaders feel they mishandled the stock market rescue efforts by allowing too much information to become public, according to senior regulatory officials speaking at a meeting late on Thursday — an account of which has been seen by the Financial Times. (FT)

In the news:

Turmoil divides Fed

The turmoil in China has intensified the debate within a divided Federal Reserve over whether the inflation outlook will be strong enough to justify higher interest rates as soon as next month, as policy makers around the world struggle to get to grips with the clouded outlook for the People’s Republic. Events in China have badly shaken faith in the country’s economic management among officials attending the Fed meetings in Jackson Hole. (FT)

Massive gas field found

Italian energy group Eni has discovered what it says is a “supergiant” gasfield off the coast of Egypt, the largest ever found in the Mediterranean Sea and which could provide a much-needed boost for the country’s economy. (FT)

Mahathir calls for ‘people power’

Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s influential ex-prime minister, has called for a “people’s power” movement to intensify the efforts of a marathon 34-hour weekend protest to oust his scandal-hit successor. The 90-year old former premier spoke as thousands of demonstrators returned to the streets of Kuala Lumpur to call for the resignation of Najib Razak, who denies allegations of corruption linked to a troubled state investment fund. (FT)

French PM vows reform

Manuel Valls has pledged to deepen the government’s economic reforms, promising to “revise thoroughly” the country’s labour laws to give more flexibility to employers and wage earners. Mr Valls described France’s existing work code as “so complex that it has become inefficient”. (FT)

More uncertainty over glitch

Investors in popular US mutual funds and exchange-traded products are facing a second week of uncertainty, as Bank of New York Mellon continues to work on the computer glitch that left it unable to properly produce valuations. The custodian bank and its software vendor, SunGard, worked through the weekend to try to resolve problems that delayed the calculation of net asset values and forced some mutual funds to reprocess customer trades that were done at false prices. (FT)

It’s a big day for:

Eurozone inflation data, which is expected to show prices rose 0.1 per cent in August, substantially lower than the European Central Bank’s 2 per cent target ceiling. (Reuters)

Food for thought:

Dinner parties reveal gender divide

This form of showing off is as vital as ever and women remain feeble at it, says the FT’s Lucy Kellaway. (FT)

Oliver Sacks, neurologist and writer, 1933-2015

The world’s best-known neurologist has died in New York aged 82. Through popular books published over more than 40 years, he illustrated the workings of the human mind using vivid case studies. (NYT)

Author reveals spy links

Frederick Forsyth, author of The Day of the Jackal, has revealed heworked as an MI6 agent for more than 20 years. The former BBC and Reuters journalist said he was initially approached in the late 1960s and asked to report “what’s going on” in the Biafran War in Nigeria. (BBC)

New kind of Italian job

Foreigners in Italy are apparently among the country’s most entrepreneurial, according to a new study which found that the three most common surnames of Italian company founders so far this year were Hu, Chen and Singh. Rossi, Italy’s most common surname, ranked fourth. (Quartz)

Tallest mountain renamed

President Obama announced on Sunday that Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali, using his executive power to restore an Alaska Native name with deep cultural significance to the tallest mountain in North America. (NYT)

Video of the day:

SME lending after the financial crisis

The British Business Bank was established in the wake of the financial crisis to help small and medium-sized companies. The FT’s Sarah Gordon talks to chief executive Keith Morgan about the UK’s recovery and the current lending environment. (FT)

This article is published in collaboration with The Financial Times. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: FirstFT is the Financial Times’ editors curated free daily email of the top global stories from the FT and the best of the rest of the web.

Image: People walk on a street at Tokyo’s business district. REUTERS/Yuya Shino.