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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Graeme Wearden

UK mortgage approvals jump unexpectedly; eurozone returns to growth as inflation falls – as it happened

​​Rishi Sunak United Kingdom Oil FCA Britain GDP Sky
Bishopsgate in the City of London.
Bishopsgate in the City of London. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

Closing post

Time to wrap up… here are today’s main stories:

The building products supplier Marshalls is cutting another 250 jobs and has issued a profits warning in the latest sign of the growing slump in the UK housebuilding market.

The group, based in Elland, West Yorkshire, will also close a factory in Scotland and reduce shifts and production elsewhere in an attempt to save £9m a year.

The latest job cuts comes after it said 150 roles would be axed at the end of last year, with the firm also aiming to restructure its commercial team. Marshalls said like-for-like sales slumped by 13% in the six months to 30 June, while it expects to report a 27% slump in interim underlying pre-tax profits, to about £33m.

FTSE 100 ends at two-month high

Britain’s blue-chip share index has closed at its highest level in two months.

The FTSE 100 index has closed a modest 5 points higher at 7699 points, its highest close since 23rd May.

This cements July as the best month for the Footsie since April, with the index up 2.2% this month.

It’s been a decent session across Europe, after inflation dropped across the eurozone and the economy returned to growth, with Germany’s DAX hitting a record high.

Michael Hewson of CMC Markets explains:

European markets have seen another positive session as we come to the end of a solid month of gains, with another new record high for the DAX today, while the CAC 40 has also seen a strong rebound after a sharp two day sell off just under a week ago.

The momentum appears to have been driven by strong gains in Chinese equity markets against a backdrop of strong indications from Chinese policymakers that they are looking at moves to boost the economy in the coming weeks.

Both the FTSE100 and FTSE250 have fared reasonably well, with the FTSE100 closing at a 2-month high, with house builders seeing a bit of a rebound this month as interest rate rise expectations eased back from the peaks of a few weeks ago.

The latest gauge of the US economy, the ISM’s Chicago PMI, has risen by less than exepcted this month.

The index of activity in the Chicago region has risen to 42.8 in July, up from 41.5 in June, but lower than expected:

Britain’s competition watchdog has ruled today that JD Sports and Leicester City Football Club Limited broke competition law by colluding to restrict competition in the sales of Leicester City-branded clothing, including replica kit, in the UK.

Leicester City FC has been fined £880,000 by the UK’s competition watchdog after admitting restricting online sales of its football kit with JD Sports, as was announced early this month:

The companies had a deal in which JD agreed not to sell Leicester kit for the 2018-19 season and then said it would apply a delivery charge to all orders of Leicester City-branded clothing for the following two seasons in order not to undercut the club’s own online store. During that period JD was offering free online delivery for all orders of more than £70.

JD was not fined by the CMA as it reported the illegal conduct and admitted its participation.

The UK’s FTSE 250 index of medium-sized companies is poised for its best monthly gain in six months.

The FTSE 250 is up 4.25% during July, a gain of 782 points to 19,198 (with a little over two hours trading to go).

Here’s our news story on the eurozone economy:

In the City, the FTSE 100 is on track fot its best month since April.

The blue-chip share index has gained 2.4%, or 182 points, during July, helped by signs that inflation is falling across the global economy.

The US stock market ison track for its fifth consecutive month of gains amid optimism over corporate earnings and a resilient economy, Marketwatch reports.

Updated

Beer producers Heineken has cut its annual profit forecast after drinkers have proved reluctant to swallow higher prices.

Heinelen reported this morning that beer volume for the first half of 2023 fell by 5.6% versus last year, and accelerated through 2023.

It admitted that price rises were partly to blame, saying:

The cumulative effect of pricing actions taken and a challenging economic backdrop led to a 7.6% organic decline in the second quarter.

The drop in sales was led by “a disappointing performance in Vietnam”, and “socio-economic volatility in Nigeria”, Heineken said.

It also cited problems in Russia, where the company is trying to sell its operations following the Ukraine war.

Heineken says:

We remain fully committed to leaving Russia, however the timing of our exit is not in our control.

In the commodity markets, copper has hit its highest price in a month.

Benchmark copper hit $8,670 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, up 0.1%, which is its highest level since June 22.

Copper is benefiting from hopes of further stimulus from China, which would bolster demand for raw materials, and on track for its best monthly performance since January.

A new campaign encouraging UK borrowers who are struggling with their mortgage payments to contact their lender has been launched.

The Reach Out campaign will be seen and heard on the radio, in print and online, with television advertising due to be launched in September, says UK Finance, the trade association representing the banking and finance industry.

The campaign’s key message is to encourage people to reach out to their lender early on if they are worried about making their payments.

Lenders have teams of experts ready to help anyone struggling with their mortgage payments.

There are a range of options available for help, which will be tailored to each person’s circumstances.

Like the US economy, the Eurozone has so far weathered the recent challenges “better than expected”, says Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank, who explains:

Digesting the Putin shock of high energy and food prices, the Eurozone economy has regained a little momentum in the last few months.

After a marginal decline in GDP in Q4 2022 – when sky-high energy prices and concerns about gas shortages had depressed consumer confidence and hit the purchasing power of consumers – followed by stagnation in Q1 2023, the Eurozone economy expanded by 0.3% qoq in Q2, ahead of our call for a gain of just 0.1%.

Unfortunately, the good news will probably not extend into the second half of this year, Schmieding adds:

First of all, the 0.3% qoq gain in Eurozone Q2 GDP overstates the underlying trend due to volatile intellectual property transactions between the Irish subsidiaries of global tech behemoths and their US headquarters. After subtracting 0.1% from the qoq rate of Eurozone growth in early 2023, when Irish GDP fell by 2.8% qoq, the reversal of this effect (Irish GDP +3.3% qoq in Q2) now added 0.1ppt to Q2 growth.

More importantly, the weakness in US and Chinese industry, the inventory correction in global manufacturing and the drop in residential construction, caused partly by higher ECB rates, will likely offset the gradual increase in consumer demand in real terms, which we expect for the remainder of 2023 on the back of a rise in real disposable incomes.

Updated

Thursday’s Bank of England interest rate decision will help determine the path of the UK property market.

Currently, the BoE is expected to raise interest rate by a quarter of one percentage point, from 5% to 5.25%, which would be a 15-year high.

A larger hike, of half a percentage point to 5.5%, is priced as a 30% chance today in the money markets, copared to 70% for the smaller increase.

The increase in UK mortgage approvals in July will “no doubt” be driven by a demand for tracker products, predicts Nick Mendes, mortgages technical manager at John Charcoal.

Mendes explains:

We have seen an uptick in the number of customers looking at trackers.

Now we are starting to see a shift in dynamic, where inflation is starting to ease, people are trying to hedge against where interest rates will go. Borrowers can see the implications of being tied into a fixed rate deal when rates could fall in the next six to twelve months.

City regulator urges NatWest to 'choose stability' amid Farage row

The City regulator is not keen on further turmoil at the top of NatWest, as it grapples with an ongoing scandal over Nigel Farage’s bank accounts.

Speaking to journalists during a press conference this morning, the watchdog’s director for consumers and competition, Sheldon Mills, said that while leadership decisions should be left to the bank’s board members and shareholders, he was urging both investors and directors to “choose stability”.

He said having chairman Sir Howard Davies in place will help support that.

The bank was left reeling after the shock resignation of chief executive Alison Rose last Wednesday, following late-night interventions by Downing Street, following her admission that she had discussed Farage’s account closure with a BBC journalist.

The head of its private bank Coutts was pushed out two days later. And while Farage has called for more heads to roll, and suggested Davies should be next, the Financial Conduct Authority is calling for calm.

Mills added that FCA had worked closely with NatWest throughout the scandal that unfolded in recent weeks, to ensure that it was stable, and had asked the bank to conduct an independent review, which is now underway.

When asked whether the FCA was concerned about the potential breach of client confidentiality, Mills said the FCA would look “closely” at the matter once the findings of NatWest’s independent review were available.

That review is expected to completed by the end of October.

Last Friday, Davies said he intends to stay in his post to restore “stability” and ensure and “orderly transition”; before the Farage row, he had been planning to leave by July 2024.

Today’s Money and Credit report from the Bank of England also shows that households deposited more cash into bank accounts last month as savings rates increased.

People put an additional £3.4bn into banks and building societies, having withdrawn a net £3.1bn in May.

It reflected an increase in people locking away cash into accounts where they can benefit from interest on their savings, as well as current accounts without interest.

The Bank says:

This was mainly driven by net inflows of £6.6bn into interest-bearing time deposits, up from £5.1bn in May.

Similarly, households’ deposits into non-interest bearing sight accounts rose to £2.1bn in June after seven months of net withdrawals.

Updated

The pick-up in UK mortgage approvals in June won’t stop house prices falling during 2023, predicts Benjamin Trevis, economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

Trevis says:

“The number of mortgage approvals for home purchases increased to 54,700 in June, up from 51,100 in May. Although today’s figures show some resilience in housing market activity, with approvals up to their highest level in eight months, demand remains notably below 2022’s average of 62,700.

We expect market activity to lag behind last year’s results as high mortgage rates continue to reduce affordability for households, leading to lower demand for home purchases. Resultingly, after two strong years of growth, Cebr expects a 1.8% contraction in average house prices in 2023.” -

Eurozone growth in the last quarter was slightly stronger than expected, reports Marc de Muizon, senior European analyst at Deutsche Bank Research:

“Q2-23 Euro area GDP has surprised slightly to the upside at 0.3% qoq while July flash inflation came in broadly in line with expectations at 5.3% yoy, with core at 5.5% yoy.

The apparent strength of the headline quarterly growth was driven by a few country idiosyncrasies and masks an underlying momentum that is likely much closer to stagnation, as revealed by domestic demand evolution across country releases.

On the inflation side, headline yoy% continued falling as expected while core remained stable at 5.5% yoy from its previous print. Goods prices continued to show a decelerating momentum. Services prices remained resilient, but arguably not as strong as may have been initially expected for the 2023 tourism season.

The ECB is now in full data-dependant mode and today’s data releases are unlikely to alter the messaging from last Thursday’s press conference.”

Updated

UK regulator to take action if banks fail to pass rate rises on to savers

Newsflash: UK banks with the lowest savings rates will face “robust action” within months if they cannot justify their pricing decisions, the City watchdog warned.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has laid out a 14-point plan amid claims banks are profiteering, my colleague Kalyeena Makortoff reports.

It will ramp up pressure on lenders who have kept easy-access savings rates low, while the cost of mortgages and other loans has soared.

The FCA said it would also begin monitoring how quickly banks pass on savings rates to customers following Bank of England interest rate decisions, and publish an “analysis” of firms easy-access savings rates where it will name those that continue to lag behind.

The action plan will also force lenders to encourage customers to search for higher rates.

More here:

UK mortgage approvals rise: What the experts say

Here’s some reaction to this morning’s news that UK mortgage approvals rose to 54,700 in June, up from 51,100 in May.

Simon Gammon, managing partner at Knight Frank Finance, said:

“June’s figures showed strong remortgaging activity and we’d expect another rise in July. Whereas in June, borrowers were scrambling to fix on fears that mortgage rates could rise further, July’s activity will be driven by a surge in demand for tracker products. Many more borrowers are now opting for trackers, betting that rates will keep easing and they will have the opportunity to fix at more attractive rates in a few months.

“Though June’s figures showed a rise in activity for house purchasing, that should soon plateau as borrowers face mortgage rates that are far higher than they are used to. The effective interest rate on new mortgages increased to 4.63% in June, the Bank’s figures show. That’s up from just 1.77% in June 2020.”

Property agent Emma Fildes of Brick Weaver points out that mortgate approvals are still below their average last year.

Daniel Mahoney, UK economist at Handelsbanken, says the UK housing market appears more resilient than expected:

Net mortgage approvals, a key future indicator for the housing market, saw an increase from 51,100 in May to 54,7000 in June. This reading was considerably better than expected, exceeding market expectations by 5,700, and suggests that the housing market is proving to be slightly more resilient than previously anticipated.

Despite the better than expected reading, mortgage approvals remain below the average during the late 2010s. The effective interest rate paid on newly drawn mortgages continues to increase by a further 7 basis points to 4.63% in June, and the rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages increased by 10 basis points and now sits at 2.92%.

There is still underlying weakness in the Eurozone economy, despite the region returning to positive growth in April-June, warns ING economist Bert Colijn.

Colijn also points out that today’s European growth figures were boosted by strong growth in Ireland (where activity by major global companies can distort GDP).

He says:

After [eurozone] GDP declined in the fourth quarter and stagnated in the first, it increased by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter.

This was better than expected but also boosted by very strong Irish activity, which is known to be volatile on the back of multinational accounting activity. Without Ireland, growth would have been halved.

Looking through the most volatile components, we argue that the economy has remained broadly stagnant. Still, for the ECB this will not be the main argument to pause in September.

Eurozone inflation falls to 5.3%

In another boost for the eurozone, inflation in the currency bloc has fallen.

Consumer price inflation dropped to 5.3% in July 2023, down from 5.5% in June, a new flash estimate from statistics body Eurostat shows.

Food, alcohol and tobacco inflation dropped to 10.8% in July, down from 11.6% in June.

Goods inflation eased to 5% from 5.5%, while energy prices fell by 6.1%, following a 5.6% decline in June.

But services inflation rose to 5.6%, from 5.4% in June.

And core inflation, which strips out energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, was unchanged at 5.5%.

The European Central Bank, which raised interest rates again last week, is trying to get inflation down to 2%.

Eurozone returns to growth

Newsflash: The eurozone economy has returned to growth, as Europe narrowly dodges a recession.

GDP across the euro area rose by 0.3% in the April-June quarter, having stagnated earlier in the year.

Ireland posted the fastest growth, with GDP up by 3.3%, followed by Lithuania (+2.8%).

Declines were recorded in Sweden (-1.5%), in Latvia (-0.6%), in Austria (-0.4%) and in Italy (-0.3%).

Eurozone GDP Q2 2023

The eurozone shrank by 0.1% in October-December.

Data last month indicated that the eurozone was in recession (two quarterly contractions in a row). But Q1 GDP growth has been revised up to 0%, up from -0.1%, so the recession didn’t actually happen (subject to further revisions…).

Updated

The jump in mortgage approvals in June shows that the housing market is more resilient than expected, says Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent.

Leaf says:

’Write the housing market off at your peril. Showing considerable resilience again, mortgage approvals are still on the up despite the inevitable time lag in these figures, reflecting activity a few months ago when the market was still recovering from post-mini-Budget blues.

‘What we are finding on the ground is that since the succession of interest rate rises over the past few months, proceedable buyers are taking more time to weigh up the greater choice of available properties.

They are also carrying out their own stress testing before taking advantage of their stronger position in the market.’

Despite June’s surprise pick-up in activity, the UK mortgate and housing sector will remain weak in the months ahead, predicts Ashley Webb, UK economist at Capital Economics.

Webb explains:

The net monthly change in mortgage lending improved a touch in June, up from -£0.1bn in May (i.e. repayments were greater than new loans) to +£0.1bn.

And mortgage approvals rose a bit further, from 51,100 in May to 54,700 in June. That said, approvals still remain well below the pre-pandemic average of 66,000.

The interest rate on newly drawn mortgages rose by another 7bps, from 4.56% to 4.63%. Admittedly, the lower-than-expected CPI inflation data for June probably signalled the end of the upward march in mortgage rates. But our view that the Bank will keep rates high until the second half of next year means mortgage rates are likely to plateau rather than fall.

That suggests mortgage lending and housing activity will remain weak over the coming months.

Biggest jump in consumer lending since April 2018.

Consuner credit also jumped last month, at the fastest rate in five years, as households struggle to pay bills.

Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals increased to £1.7bn in June, the highest since April 2018, the Bank of England reports, following a £500m drop in May.

Borrowing on credit cards remained stable at around £600m, the Bank says.

But borrowing through other forms of consumer credit, such as car finance deals and personal loans, increased “significantly” from £500m in May to £1bn in June.

A chart showing UK consumer credit

Chart: mortgage approvals rise

Here’s a chart showing how UK mortgage approvals rose unexectedly last month:

A chart showing UK mortgage approvals

UK mortgage approvals jump unexpectedly

Newsflash: UK mortgage approvals rose unexpectedly last month, despite borrowers being hit by rising interest rates.

New data from the Bank of England shows that net mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 54,700 in June, up from 51,100 in May. Economists had expected a fall to around 49,000.

Approvals for remortgaging rose from 34,100 to 39,100, suggesting homeowners tried to nail down new deals before rates hit new highs.

The BoE, which has raised interest rates 13 times in a row, reports that the ‘effective’ interest rate – the actual interest rate paid – on newly drawn mortgages rose again in June, up 7 basis points to 4.63% [from 4.56%].

The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages increased by 10 basis points, to 2.92%.

Today’s report also shows that net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals rose by £100m in June, after people repaid £100m in May and made record high net repayments of £1.1bn in April.

Updated

UK fixed-term mortgage rates are unchanged today, as hopes build that borrowers will see better deals soon.

Financial data provider Moneyfacts reports that:

  • The average 2-year fixed residential mortgage rate today is 6.81%. This is unchanged from the previous working day.

  • The average 5-year fixed residential mortgage rate today is 6.34%. This is unchanged from the previous working day.

Last week, several large lenders cut rates on their fixed mortgage deals last week, in a sign of mounting expectations that the Bank of England may be nearing the end of an aggressive cycle of interest rate rises.

The City currently expects Bank rate to peak at 5.75% next spring, up from 5% today, but lower than the 6.5% forecast at the start of this month.

Speaking of oil… Goldman Sachs yesterday revised up its forecast for global oil demand for this year.

Goldman analysts estimate that global oil demand climbed to an all-time high of 102.8 million barrels per day (bpd) this month.

Solid demand is expected to create a larger-than-expected 1.8 million bpd deficit in the second half this year, and a 0.6 million bpd deficit in 2024.

Goldman is also sticking with its forecast that Brent crude will trade at $93 per barrel in 12 months time (up from $84/barrel today).

It pointed to the reduced risk of a global recession, and Opec’s efforts to push up prices by cutting supplies.

Updated

Global education group Pearson has reassured investors that it is on track to hit its sales and profit targets this morning.

Strong demand for English language learning, exams and qualifications have helped Pearson to beat market expectations, as it reported 44% growth in profit in its first half of the year this morning.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor, has the details:

“Pearson reported adjusted operating profit in the first half up 44% to £250 million while sales increased by 5% to £1.8 billion. Assessment and qualifications sales were a bright spot with sales up 7% along with workforce skills sales up 9% and English language learning sales up 44%. However virtual learning sales fell by 15% and high education sales fell by 2%. The education publisher said it is confidence about achieving its full-year expectations.

Pearson has been repositioning itself towards digital education services and is harnessing artificial intelligence to support its Pearson+ service as well as other technological tools. It has also been focusing on upskilling and reskilling demand which have all helped to boost profitability.

Updated

Shares in North Sea energy producers are rising in early trading in London, after Rishi Sunak confirmed that hundreds of new oil and gas licences will be granted in the UK.

Centrica, which last week put the sale of its UK North Sea natural gas fields on hold, has jumped 1.7% to the top of the FTSE 100 risers.

Independent oil and gas operator Ithaca Energy are up 2.2%, with Harbour Energy gaining 1.7%.

New CEOs at BT and Capita

It’s a Monday morning of job moves in the City.

BT has appointed board member Allison Kirkby as its first female chief executive, which will return the number of female CEOs at FTSE 100 companies back to 10, following Alison Rose’s shock departure from NatWest last week.

Kirkby will replace Philip Jansen by January 2024 at the latest.

She will take on a business that has seen more than £10bn wiped off its market value over the past four years, and which is planning to cut 55,000 jobs in the future.

Kirkby said:

“I’m incredibly honoured to have been appointed as the next Chief Executive of BT Group.

BT is such an important company for the UK, and our many customers both in the UK and internationally and is uniquely placed to help everyone benefit from the rapid advances in digitalisation. Our products and services have never been more important to how our customers live and work, and thanks to the significant investment BT is putting into digital infrastructure and in the modernisation of its services, I see us playing an even more important role going forward.

There’s also a shake-up at outsourcing firm Capita, where CEO Jon Lewis has decided to retire from the company by the end of the year.

He’ll be replaced by Adolfo Hernandez, currently the vice-president for global telecommunications for Amazon Web Services.

Updated

UK to grant new North Sea oil and gas licences

A redundant oil platform moored in the Firth of Forth near Kirkcaldy, Fife

Rishi Sunak has confirmed that hundreds of new oil and gas licences will be granted in the UK.

As he heads to Scotland to announce funding for a planned carbon capture scheme in the region, the prime minister argues that Britain needs to strengthen its energy security.

In a statement, Sunak says:

“We have all witnessed how Putin has manipulated and weaponised energy – disrupting supply and stalling growth in countries around the world.

“Now, more than ever, it’s vital that we bolster our energy security and capitalise on that independence to deliver more affordable, clean energy to British homes and businesses.

“Even when we’ve reached net zero in 2050, a quarter of our energy needs will come from oil and gas. But there are those who would rather that it come from hostile states than from the supplies we have here at home.

“We’re choosing to power up Britain from Britain and invest in crucial industries such as carbon capture and storage, rather than depend on more carbon intensive gas imports from overseas – which will support thousands of skilled jobs, unlock further opportunities for green technologies and grow the economy.”

Sunak is due to fly up to a critical energy infrastructure site in Aberdeenshire, Scotland today, to announce funding for a planned carbon capture scheme in the region.

He’s also insisted that banning people from flying is “absolutely the wrong approach” to tackling climate change, in a tetchy-sounding radio interview ….

The new consumer duty is the most significant change in conduct regulation in the last two decades, says David Morrey, financial services group partner at Grant Thornton UK.

Morrey says the introduction of the Duty today is “perhaps ‘the end of the beginning’,” and will prompt firms to take actions in four days:

  • Follow through on the implementation actions that weren’t ready for today – high on this list is producing the management information (MI) required to measure good outcomes.

  • Assurance so boards can ‘sleep at night’ as well as formally confirm every year that they comply with the Duty.

  • Closed book actions – the deadline for complying with the Duty on closed books is 31 July 2024.

  • Optimise – the FCA would call this embedding the right practices. It can also mean turning some of the tactical fixes of the past few months into something more robust (‘Consumer Duty by design’).

Updated

UK watchdog ready to pounce on firms harming consumes

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

Britain’s financial watchdog is poised to pounce on any companies who aren’t giving customers a good deal, as new consumer protection rules come into force today.

The ‘consumer duty’ lays out clearer standards of consumer protection across financial services, sets a higher bar for financial firms and giving customers more certainty that products actually do what they promise.

It means firms must focus on delivering “good outcomes” for customers and preventing “foreseeable harm”, when selling products such as home loans and insurance.

You might hope that financial service providers already had their customers’ needs at the heart of their work, but those who have suffered a “poor outcome” know this isn’t always the case.

Nisha Arora, a director for consumers and competition at the FCA, said the consumer duty “raises the bar across all corners of finance”.

Arora says firms who are harming consumers are in the regulator’s sights, telling Reuters:

“We have been tracking those who are not ready or may not be ready and we will therefore be poised to take action and deal with firms who are not compliant and causing harm to consumers.

“Where we see fees or charges based on nothing, or products that have no value to them, or excessive fees... those are the things that will attract our attention.”

Rocio Concha, the director of policy and advocacy at the consumer body Which?, said the new regime was the FCA’s response “to what it sees as too many customers being ripped off in financial services”.

The new regime coincides with growing concern over “debanking” – where people or organisations have their bank accounts closed, typically with little or no explanation – after Nigel Farage said his account with the NatWest subsidiary Coutts was shut down because it disagreed with his political views.

More here:

Also coming up today

We discover how the eurozone economy performed this spring, when GDP data for the second quarter of 2023 is released. Economists predict the region grew by 0.2%, after failing to grow for the previous six months.

The Bank of England’s latest mortgage lending figues will show if rising interest rates have cooled the market, as borrowers brace for another hike in Bank rate on Thursday.

In the energy sector, Rishi Sunak is committing to pressing ahead with oil and gas exploration and production in the North Sea, despite concerns it will undermine the push towards net zero.

In another attack on green policies, ministers are considering restrictions on councils’ ability to impose 20mph speed limits, as Sunak insists he is on the side of motorists.

The agenda

  • 9am BST: Italian GDP report for Q2 2023

  • 9.30am BST: UK mortgage approvals and consumer credit data for June

  • 10am BST: Eurozone inflation report for July

  • 10am BST: Eurozone GDP report for Q2 2023

  • Noon BST: Mexico’s GDP report for Q2 2023

Updated

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