Closing summary
European and US stocks are trading lower as investors await US inflation figures tomorrow, with the exception of the UK’s FTSE 100 index, which has edged 0.2% higher to 7,47, a gain of 15 points.
The UK fund manager Abrdn is the biggest loser, down 5.8%, after it swung to a loss in the first half of the year, after being hit by market turmoil.
Chief executive Stephen Bird, who scrapped the Standard Life Aberdeen brand for a new name last year, said the pretax loss of £320m in the six months to June “largely reflected the challenging global economic environment and market turbulence.” The fund manager had reported profits of £113m a year earlier.
Crude oil prices are up by about $1 a barrel after Russia said oil exports to Europe via the southern leg of the Druzhba pipeline had been suspended since early August.
Our main story today:
Pressure is mounting on the UK government to announce a fresh support package for struggling households as energy bills are now forecast to top £4,200 from January.
The consultancy Cornwall Insight said on Tuesday that it expected the energy price cap to reach £4,266 a year for the first three months of next year.
Liz Truss has doubled down on her refusal to offer significant help to people with soaring energy bills this winter, despite a forecast that these could exceed £4,200 annually from January, and rise further during 2023.
Truss, the runaway favourite to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister next month, has already said she does not want to give “handouts” to people struggling with bills, preferring to prioritise tax cuts.
While she has not definitively ruled out other direct help, questioned on Tuesday the foreign secretary would only confirm plans to reverse the recent increase in national insurance, and to temporarily suspend green levies on energy bills.
Here is a round-up of today’s other stories:
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care, JK
Updated
Back to our main story: the forecast rise in UK energy bills to above £4,200 a year.
Nigel Pocklington, chief executive of the energy supplier Good Energy, said:
This is an emergency on the scale of the 2008 financial crisis or Coronavirus. In May, the government announced measures to shield poorer households from the expected rise, but a gap in that support of £600 will open up in October and widen to over £1,000 in January.
The two candidates for Prime Minister are squabbling over fringe measures that don’t begin to tackle the issue. VAT cuts will save 5% and a moratorium on social and policy costs a similar amount.
Tax and National Insurance cuts won’t bridge the gap for poorer households. To avoid the economic and social harm that will come with these rising bills, and to help people plan how they are going to get through the winter, we need to be clear on our plan by the time the new cap is announced.
If we don’t see significant action to help people and businesses before the winter then the cost-of-living crisis will be compounded further. And whoever is in number 10 in December will be wishing something had been done sooner.
Updated
