Good morning from London where the FTSE 100 is down to fresh four-week lows of around 7,440 points again this morning after the ONS unveiled its latest wage growth report, which showed record 7.8% growth between April and June. If you’re hearing that for the first time and wondering why you don’t feel you got 7.8% richer during the second quarter of this year, its because price inflation means wages are still effectively stagnant in real terms.
Nevertheless the base rate setters at the Bank of England appear likely to lift interest once again in response, at least according to the analysts at Capital Economics.
Moving to equities now and M&S shares soared after the retailer said it now expects to beat expectations with its interim results, and grow its profits for the full year.
It was a different story at Legal & General though, with investors clearly unconvinced by the insurer's comments of confidence - their shares fell after the company revealed a 2% reduction in profit at the half-year stage.
William Hill owner 888 Holdings also fell after releasing interim results early on, which showed a £33 million post-tax loss, down from a profit of £12mln last year.
And finally with the small caps, GSTechnologies jumped after confirming its acquisition of Canadian money services firm PAYPT had received the regulatory green light.