Britain’s FTSE 100 index closed up by 0.11% at 7,479.74 on Thursday and the FTSE 250 down by 0.25% at 19,257.8 amid mixed signals. A boost from oil and mining stocks offered some relief, thanks to rising crude oil and commodity prices, but investors remain cautious ahead of an annual meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with a keynote from Jerome Powell, head of the Federal Reserve System, America’s central bank.
Britain saw further signs of a chill in its economy, with consumer spending on credit and debit cards falling by four percentage points – and spending on ‘delayables’ such as clothes (i.e. expenses which can be put off) down by eight per cent in the week to August 18.
The ONS says that this indicates that consumers are putting off buying things they do not immediately need as the cost-of-living crisis bites.
Meanwhile, borrowing costs rose in the UK, with benchmark 10-year borrowing costs hitting 2.7%, the highest level since 2014. The yield on two-year government debt rose to 2.9% on Wednesday amid expectations of further interest rate rises.
Energy stocks were the biggest gainers, with shares in Hunting PLC (GB:HTG) up 21% on the back of solid first-half revenues of $336.1m up from $244.4m in the same period a year before.
Likewise, shares in Harbour Energy (GB:HBR) leapt 10% on news of an increase in a share buyback programme by 50% to 300 million, as the company reported first-half free cash flow of $1.4 billion.
British business news today
Time to tackle the UK’s quantitative easing problem (FT)
Double dereliction of duty: Government failing to provide food and energy security (Daily Mail)
Truss plans big package to help with energy bills (The Times)
