Closing summary
Some calm has returned to the markets at the end of a tumultuous week, despite the political uncertainty in the UK, where the Conservative party has to pick a new leader who will become the country’s fifth prime minister in six years. Liz Truss quit as PM yesterday after just six weeks in office following her mini-budget debacle.
The pound has pared losses versus the dollar, and is now down 0.6% against both the dollar and the euro, at $1.1168 and €1.1404.
The FTSE 100 index has turned positive and is trading 17 points higher at 6,962, a gain of 0.25%. Germany’s Dax is nearly 1% lower, while the French and Italian markets have fallen 1.5% and 0.6% respectively.
They pared some losses after Wall Street turned positive.
Crude oil prices are pushing higher, with both Brent crude and US light crude up more than 1%, at $93.52 a barrel and $85.48 a barrel respectively.
UK government bond prices have fallen, pushing their yields (or interest rates) higher again, although they remain well below the 5% hit after the mini-budget. The 30-year yield has risen to 4.01% while the 20-year is yielding 4.2%.
Our main news today:
Jeremy Hunt, the UK chancellor, said he would do “whatever necessary” to bring down national debt as the latest official figures showed government borrowing jumped in September and debt interest payments hit a record high.
Retail sales in Great Britain fell more steeply than expected in September as soaring prices prompted consumers to rein in spending and many stores lost trading on the day of the Queen’s funeral.
The Office for National Statistics said retail sales dropped by 1.4% in September, against a forecast of a 0.5% fall by City economists, and marks the first month that volumes have fallen below pre-pandemic levels.
The number of homes sold in the UK in September fell by nearly 40% as transaction levels returned to normal following the big spike caused by the Covid stamp duty holiday, with experts suggesting the real “house sales horror story” is still to come.
The chaos affecting international air travel in the summer has been firmly stowed away, according to UK aviation firms, with a smooth getaway expected in the busiest weekend before Christmas.
The City watchdog could fine Barclays up to £50m for failing to disclose a deal struck with Qatar at the height of the financial crisis, reviving a controversial episode that failed to gain traction in UK courts.
The provisional fine – which Barclays is in the process of appealing against – relates to the £322m the bank paid to Qatar in 2008, allegedly in exchange for the gas-rich Gulf state investing £4bn, helping save the lender from a UK government bailout.
Other stories:
Updated
Wall Street opened slightly lower, but the Nasdaq didn’t fall as much as feared after disappointing results from Snap. It has slipped 0.4%, while the Dow Jones is now up 0.6% and the S&P 500 has gained 0.5%.
