Good morning from London where the FTSE 100 is trading at its lowest level since August at just above 7,400 points. Analysts from Barclays Bank this morning are saying that a prolonged slump in stock markets is the only way to stop a recent dramatic surge in bond yields.
Looking at a few of this morning’s other big stories now and Metro Bank has revealed its looking for £600 million to shore up its finances – their share price are down 20% on the day so far as a result.
Imperial Brands shares moved in the other direction, trading higher on the launch of a new £1.1 billion share buyback. The cigarette giant is yet to comment on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to progressively outlaw smoking here in the UK.
The National Grid also climbed early on after reassuring investors that trading was as expected over the first half of the year, plotting it on course for an overall profit. News that Diversified Energy had scrapped plans to list in the US was also well-received, sending its stock higher as well.
And outside of the stock market property website Rightmove is saying this morning that average London rents have risen to yet another record of £2,637 a month, compared with £1,278 outside the capital, with an average of 25 people competing for each UK property between July and September.