Norway's £1.08trillion sovereign wealth fund posted its steepest-ever first-half loss as big bets on technology backfired.

The Oslo-based fund shed £144billion of its value in the six months to June - its biggest on record in currency terms.

It lost 17% on stocks, which make up the largest share of its investments, and 9.3% on fixed-income assets such as bonds.

The fund's bets on technology - its most valuable holdings are Apple, Microsoft and Google-owner Alphabet - performed poorly, with a return of -27.6% over the period.

The fund lost £3.25billion on its investment in Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Whatsapp.

The Telegraph says investments in consumer businesses such as car companies and luxury goods makers also fared poorly amid soaring inflation, returning -24.9%.

Chief executive Nicolai Tangen said: "The market has been characterised by rising interest rates, high inflation, and war in Europe."

He has previously warned that the fund - set up in the 1990s to invest Norway's substantial oil and gas revenues abroad - is facing the greatest challenges in 30 years due to the fallout of the war in Ukraine.

It announced in February that it would drop Russian assets from its portfolio following the invasion of Ukraine, but has struggled to exit its positions due to Kremlin sanctions.

Despite the steep losses, the fund's total return was still 1.1% higher than the benchmark it measures performance against.

Performance was helped by energy holdings, which returned 13.2% over the period.

The fund holds stakes in more than 9,300 companies globally, owning 1.3% of all listed stocks.

Its value equates roughly to the size of the Mexican economy, the world's 16th largest.

FTSE 100

The UK's top share index, the FTSE 100, was down 15 points at 7,500 shortly after opening this morning, following yesterday's 20-point loss.

Brent crude futures were 0.69% higher at $92.69 a barrel.

New figures show that India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, shipped in 3.2% less oil in July at 4.63million barrels per day (bpd) as refineries planned maintenance.

The country's crude imports from Russia last month at 877,400 bpd fell for the first time since March. Refiners have been snapping up discounted Russian oil after Western countries and companies shunned purchases from Moscow.

India's oil imports from Saudi Arabia rose by 25.6% to 824,700 bpd in July - the highest in three months.

Companies reporting today

  • Half-year results: Balfour Beatty, Persimmon

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