Business

London's mid-cap stock index reached its strongest level since April 2022, rising 0.1 per cent, or 13.98 points, to 21,202.89. It comes after better-than-expected GDP figures this week showed the UK economy grew by 0.4 per cent in May. That has also lifted the pound to its highest level in a year - $1.2988 against the dollar. A stronger pound tends to dampen the FTSE 100's global constituent, weakening the sterling value of its overseas earnings but it still managed to rise 29.57 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 8252.91.

US investment giant BlackRock's proprietary research business has backed UK stocks to outperform, with foreign investors pulled in by 'relative political stability'. The BlackRock Investment Institute this week moved to an 'overweight' position on London-listed stocks on the basis that a new government with a sizeable majority will encourage investors to recognise 'attractive valuations'.

The 'critical risk' to Britain resulting from the desperate finances of Thames Water may appear to have little to do with the fate of the Royal Mail. The Labour administration, which is selling itself as a bastion of stability, needs to fulfil its manifesto promise to 'robustly scrutinise' the £3.6bn offer for Royal Mail owner, International Distribution Services, without delay.

Business is often criticised for being short-termist. Compared with the constant churn of ministers in the past decade under the Tories and the coalition, however, many FTSE 100 boardrooms look like models of stability. The average tenure of a FTSE 100 boss is five and a half years, according to research by investment experts at AJ Bell. That is significantly longer than the shelf-life of most of the politicians with whom business leaders have had to deal over the past few years. The ever-changing dramatis personae makes relationships with business harder.

We know who will be running the show for the next five years or so, and we can make some guesses about what they will try to do. But we also know that our day-to-day lives will be shaped as much by global economic events as by Government policies. So what are the big forces that will dominate the world economy for the rest of this decade - and that this new Government will have to tackle? Here are my top five, the first and the last broadly positive and the three in the middle to varying degrees negative.