Closing summary
Time to wrap up.
On Wall Street, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have fallen, with Tesla shares down 6.8% as price cuts ate into the electric carmaker’s profit margins, while Netflix slid 8.6% after its quarterly revenues missed analysts’ forecasts.
Over here, Marks & Spencer has been refused permission to demolish and rebuild its flagship store on Oxford Street in the West End of London in a win for campaigners concerned about the carbon footprint of redevelopment.
The Bank of England could plunge the UK into a recession by raising rates too far, the former governor Mervyn King has said.
Supermarkets must make prices clearer, the UK’s competition watchdog has said after finding that confusing labels were preventing shoppers from getting the best deals.
Global wheat prices jumped more than 8% yesterday, the biggest daily jump in more than a decade, after Russia pulled out of a UN-brokered Black Sea grain agreement and carried out heavy air strikes on grain stores in the Black Sea port of Odesa. The price of wheat rose further this morning before falling back.
The most active wheat contract traded in Chicaco is currently down 0.48% to 724 1/2 per bushel, after hitting a three-week high of $7.50 3/4 per bushel yesterday.
Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling cakes, Oxo cubes and Bisto gravy granules, has said it believes recent food cost inflation has peaked, and it is not planning any more price rises for its food products for the rest of the year.
UK borrowers received a glimmer of good news after average rates on new two- and five-year fixed mortgages fell for the first time since May.
Nigel Farage has praised a “swift” intervention by government ministers after reports that new laws could be drawn up to stop banks closing customers’ accounts because they disagree with their political views.
The government’s green energy ambitions have been dealt a blow after plans for a giant offshore windfarm off the Norfolk coast ground to a halt due to spiralling supply chain costs and rising interest rates.
Holidaymakers are not being deterred by the heatwave in Europe and are continuing to jet off on their summer vacations amid booming demand for travel, according to easyJet.
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care – JK
Updated
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has lifted sanctions on the Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov.
The decision comes days after Sir Richard Branson urged the government to reconsider its decision to sanction Tinkov, a serial entrepreneur who founded the digital bank Tinkoff.
Tinkov was sanctioned in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine but has criticised the “insane” war and renounced Russian citizenship over it.
A foreign office spokesperson said:
Having considered all of the factors in this case, including the actions Mr Tinkov has taken following his sanctions designation, we have revoked his designation.
We keep all sanctions designations under review.
