Closing summary
Time for a recap:
Two planned strikes on the London Underground this week have been called off following “significant progress” in talks over jobs and conditions.
About 3,000 Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members were due to strike on Wednesday and Friday, but the industrial action is now cancelled.
The RMT union said the strikes had been called off after “significant progress” in talks with London Underground at conciliation service Acas.
Nick Dent, London Underground’s director of customer operations, has said:
“We are pleased that the RMT has withdrawn its planned industrial action this week and that the dispute on our change proposals in stations is now resolved.
“This is good news for London and we will continue to work closely with our trade unions as we evolve London Underground to ensure we can continue to support the capital in the most effective way.”
The pound has slipped to its lowest level against the US dollar in six and a half months, below $1.21, as ‘king dollar’ continues to strengthen.
Fears of a UK recession are also weighing on sterling, analysts say.
Japan’s yen weakened to a near one-year low, before a rebound which created speculation that Tokyo had stepped in to support the currency.
Britain’s cost of living crisis has eased, with food prices dropping by 0.1% on a monthly basis in September, the first such fall in two years.
The British Retail Consortium said last month’s fall in average food prices helped to bring down overall shop price inflation to 6.2% in September, down from 6.9% in August – the lowest annual rate since September 2022.
Bakery chain Greggs has confirmed that cost inflation has eased, and pledged to resist any price rises before Christmas.
On the economic front, the number of US job vacancies has jumped to 9.6m for August, which is likely to create pressure to maintain high interest rates for longer.
Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard, explains:
“US economic strength continues to surprise on the upside. Today’s job openings imply 1.5 open jobs per unemployed person despite the sharpest tightening in monetary policy for decades.
I believe the Fed’s rate hike cycle is likely over, but data like today’s pose the risk that one more hike might be needed.”
Here’s the rest of today’s stories:
Shares in the embattled Chinese property developer Evergrande jumped after trading resumed in Hong Kong after their suspension last week.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is considering charging users in the EU €13 (£11) a month to access an ad-free version of Instagram or Facebook on their phones, as the company grapples with regulatory pressure on how it uses people’s data.
Boohoo has warned that sales will fall by more than expected this year as shoppers buy fewer items than hoped for amid heavy competition from the Chinese rival Shein and the revival of high street shopping.
The owner of the airline easyJet has launched a legal action to force a Leicester band to change their name, accusing the members of Easy Life of being “brand thieves”.
Updated
Back in the currency markets, Japan’s yen has weakened below the ¥150 to the dollar mark for the first time in nearly a year.
But, it then rebounded, creating speculation that Japanese authorities may have intervened to prop up the yen.
Did authorities just intervene in the FX market to strengthen the yen after it weakened to 150 per dollar? pic.twitter.com/YawX1quqX7
— Robert Burgess (@BobOnMarkets) October 3, 2023
*JAPAN MOF OFFICIAL: NO COMMENT ON IF JAPAN INTERVENED ON YEN
— Robert Burgess (@BobOnMarkets) October 3, 2023
