Closing summary
Our main stories today:
Sainsbury’s has said sales growth slowed in recent weeks as food inflation eased and consumers shopped “more cautiously” amid poor weather and the cost of living crisis.
Sales at established stores rose 3% in the three months to 22 June compared with a rise of 4.8% in the previous quarter, excluding fuel and the impact of the closure of the group’s Irish Argos stores.
Simon Roberts, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said consumers’ caution was
not surprising given everything households have been through in the cost of living crisis. Until we see sequential interest rate cuts, hopefully as soon as possible, that caution from consumers is going to continue on those more discretionary items.
People want more certainty that the cost of owning a home is going to come down.
Inflation across the eurozone slowed to 2.5% in June despite lingering pressure on households from price increases in the service sector, leaving the European Central Bank on track to keep interest rates on hold this month.
Annual inflation in consumer prices across the 20-country bloc eased from 2.6% in May, according to a flash estimate from the EU statistical agency Eurostat, matching financial market expectations.
Our other stories:
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Bye! – JK
Q: What is the biggest risk facing the economy today?
Both Powell and Lagarde point to cyber attacks.
Lagarde also mentions the “backlash against the fight against climate change”.
