Tuesday newspaper round-up: US debate, WTO, Draghi, BT, Merlin

The Mexican peso has strengthened against the dollar by the most in seven months as foreign exchange markets reasoned Hillary Clinton edged out Donald Trump in the first of three debates between the two 2016 presidential nominees. The peso’s gains against the US dollar picked up during the debate and have continued since its conclusion, with the Mexican currency now 2 per cent stronger against the greenback in lunchtime trade in Asia. - Financial Times

Falling back on World Trade Organisation rules will not be a simple way of leaving the European Union, WTO officials warned yesterday, as traders sold both shares and the pound amid fresh jitters over “hard Brexit”. Fears are growing that politicians will push the button on a quick exit from the European Union that will take Britain out of the single market, as Eurosceptic government ministers appear to be in the ascendancy. - The Times

Mario Draghi has become the latest European official to push for the EU to take a tough line in negotiations with the UK over Brexit, saying Britain should be refused access to the single market unless it sticks to rules on free movement of labour. “Regardless of the type of relationship that emerges between the European Union and the United Kingdom, it is of utmost importance that the integrity of the single market is respected,” Mr Draghi said, speaking at the European Parliament on Monday. “Any outcome should ensure that all participants are subject to the same rules.” - Financial Times

Monarch Airline’s majority shareholder is preparing to offer the short-haul carrier another multi-million pound lifeline just days before its license is due to expire. Monarch flights risk being grounded unless the airline renews its license with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) within four days, reigniting concerns that the carrier will need an emergency bail-out from its stakeholders or fall prey to rival airlines which see Monarch as a takeover target. - Daily Telegraph

BT was dealt a fresh blow yesterday when the telecoms regulator said that it it was guilty of overcharging Sky. The preliminary ruling opens the possibility that BT may have to pay its rival millions of pounds in compensation. - The Times

The vote to leave the EU has increased demand for consultants and boosted their pay as jittery business chiefs bring in outside help to navigate uncertain times, according to a snapshot of the jobs market. The average advertised salary for consultancy jobs was 8.9% higher than a year ago at £47,760 in August, according to jobs search engine Adzuna. The increase defied the trend of the overall jobs market, where the average advertised salary was down 1.6% from August 2015. - Guardian

German car giant BMW is on a collision course with its UK workers over plans to stop 5,000 employees from making fresh contributions to its two gold-plated final salary pension schemes. In a blow to employees, it has emerged that BMW wants all its UK staff to start paying into a less generous defined contribution (DC) pension plan, which it launched in 2014 and already has about 2,000 members. - Daily Telegraph

The management of Alton Towers was to blame for the crash on the Smiler rollercoaster that left five passengers with life-changing injuries for presiding over a flawed system, a court was told. The park’s owner Merlin Entertainments, which has more than 100 attractions worldwide, including Warwick Castle and the Legoland chain, faces a fine today of up to £10 million or more, if Judge Michael Chambers, QC, assesses that it is in the public interest. - The Times

A post-Brexit Britain could become “highly attractive” to foreign investors put off by conditions inside the European Union, according to the head of Europe’s largest newspaper publisher. In an intervention at odds with the portrayal of Brexit by many other members of Europe’s corporate elite, Mathias Döpfner of Germany’s Axel Springer media group said that he was counting on the “pragmatism, on the free market orientation of the British people”. - Guardian

Londoners fed up with bicycle couriers hurtling down streets, look away now: there are about to be even more of them as J Sainsbury tests a one-hour grocery delivery service in the capital.The supermarket group said yesterday that more than 130 years after it first offered home delivery via bicycle, it was going to do so again. - The Times

Saudi Arabia has injected $5.3bn of liquidity into the banking system to stave off a financial crunch as the oil slump drags on and capital continues to leak out the country. Three-month interbank offered rates in Riyadh - the stress gauge watched by traders - have reached the highest since the Lehman crisis, ratcheting up 145 basis points over the last year. - Telegraph

The first ever shipment of shale gas from the US is set to arrive in Britain less than 24 hours after the Labour party vowed to ban fracking, the method by which the controversial energy source is extracted. Ineos, the petrochemical company founded and chaired by a billionaire, Jim Ratcliffe, will take delivery of a tanker full of ethane at its Grangemouth plant in Scotland on Tuesday, marking the first fruit of a $2bn investment. - Guardian