- FTSE 100 up by almost 68 points at just under 8216
- GDP flat at 0% for April
- US inflation slows to 3.3%
4.39pm: FTSE boosted by US inflation boost
The FTSE 100 closed up 67.67 points or 0.8% at 8,215.48 on Wednesday after US inflation data boosted market sentiment.
"Just when all hope of a rate cut in 2024 seemed lost, today’s CPI reading has provided fresh reasons to expect a cut this year," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
The US Fed decision is still to come later this evening, and could still surprise the market.
"The past few sessions had seen stock markets hit by several blows," said Beauchamp, pointing to a strong US jobs reading and the surprise French election, but the afternoon session in Europe has seen "a classic risk-on move – stocks are up, and the dollar and volatility are both down".
"Today’s post-CPI reaction shows there is still plenty of money prepared to get behind further gains in equities, though the Fed meeting tonight could still be a trigger for more volatility."
Indeed, said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, "we’ve been here plenty of times before.
"While inflation is slowing, it remains well above the 2% target and so one shouldn’t expect a rate cut at the Fed’s meeting later today."
He said investors have concluded that softer inflation means we’re on the right path towards cuts.
"It has also helped to have a new hook on which to hang the AI hype," Coatsworth added, with the combination of Apple's AI announcements and Oracle reporting big demand for AI-related activities, which "has given investors something new to talk about and two different ways to play the theme instead of relying on chip giant Nvidia".
4.00pm: FTSE 100 to close higher as rate cut optimism grows
London's blue chips are on track to close the day nearly 0.9% higher, offsetting a large portion of yesterday's losses and reaping the benefit of improved rate cut prospects in the US.
FTSE 100 stocks got off to a positive start this morning after GDP flatlined at 0% for April, keeping in line with the market's consensus and improving the economic outlook ahead of potential rate cuts this summer.
At lunch, the index jumped around 30 points after US inflation data came in cooler-than-expected, paving the way for future rate cuts, with traders now expecting the first to come in September.
Meanwhile in company news, Legal & General was the FTSE 100's biggest faller after its newly appointed boss underlined his restructuring plans.
Antonio Simoes, who joined the company in January from Santander, outlined plans to sell the housebuilder Cala, merge divisions, and initiate a £200 million share buyback, aiming for a "simpler, better-connected L&G".
The reorganisation includes combining Legal & General Investment Management with the group's investment unit and selling non-core assets.
Helping push the index higher was Rentokil, the pest control company, which rallied close to 14% after it was revealed Nelson Peltz, the billionaire activist investor, had developed a stake in the group.
Peltz's investment firm Trian Fund Management said it had opened a "significant position" in the company, making it one of the company's top ten largest shareholders.
3.34pm: Entain could face £100 million lawsuit over Turkish bribery case
Coral and Ladbrokes owner Entain could see its investors seek more than £100 million in compensation due to the corruption and bribery issues surrounding its former Turkish business.
Fox Williams, the law firm, said it was readying to launch a large group litigation claim against the betting group for its "failure to report honestly" on the issues.
Last year, the FTSE 100 group was fined £565 million by HMRC for the Turkish bribery case, with an investigation having found that the former business failed to properly outline measures to prevent corruption.
A spokesperson for the company said: "Entain is not aware of any issued claim of this kind against the company. We would defend any such action robustly.”
Entain shares traded 0.7% today, but remain close to 30% down in the year-to-date.
3.15pm: Apple regains spot as world's largest company
Apple has regained its spot as the world's largest company after its shares rallied this week on the back of its partnership with OpenAI.
Shares in the tech group rallied close to 4% on Wednesday, helped by a rally in the markets and continuing from a strong Tuesday, which saw it close at a record high.
Apple's market capitalisation hit US$3.299 trillion, overtaking Microsoft, which boasts a total market value of US$3.247 trillion.
It was only last week that Apple slumped into third place after it was overtaken by AI chipmaker Nvidia, which now sits with a market cap of US$3.099 trillion.
On Monday, Apple revealed ChatGPT would be integrated into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS later this year as part of a deal with OpenAI.
This will allow Siri to utilise ChatGPT’s capabilities, enhancing features such as text generation and image creation within Apple's Writing Tools.
2.56pm: Euros to boost spending in Britain
Euro 2024 is expected to give UK retailers a vital spending boost, a new survey is predicting.
After weak retail sales growth in May of just 0.7%, a new poll of 2,000 UK shoppers suggests that the nation's love of football will translate into a splurge on TVs, replica shirts and heading to the pub to watch the games,
Groceries and electronics are tipped to be the big winners, as more than one in eight people plan to spend more on drinks and snacks, while over one in twenty plan to buy new screens to watch the games.
The polling found that 13% of people plan to spend more on groceries, beer, wine, spirits, and takeaways to enjoy while watching the Euros
2.37pm: US stocks rally at the open
Wall Street has rallied at the open, with today's cool inflation data boosting the hopes for a rate cut later this year.
The Dow Jones lifted by 0.8%, or 312 points, to 39,090, while the Nasdaq jumped more than 1%, 178 points, to 17,523.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 0.9%, or 50 points, to 5,425.
Economists have welcomed easing inflation, arguing it will increase the likelihood of a September rate cut and drive dovish sentiment through the Federal Reserve.
Kathleen Brooks at XTB said: "Heading into the CPI report it felt like the latest inflation data would determine the outcome of tonight’s Fed meeting.
"The market has already priced in a dovish Fed: there is now a 65% chance of a September rate cut.
"The risk is that the market has got ahead of themselves pricing in a September rate cut. After all, the Fed will need to balance strong payroll growth alongside falling inflation when it makes its policy decision.
Not only is there a 65% of a September rate cut, but the US interest rate futures market is also pricing in a 75% chance of a second cut in December.
"As we lead up to tonight’s Fed meeting, the Fed will either be king maker, or the king of disappointment for traders later today."
2.20pm: Bitcoin rallies after dropping below US$67,000
Bitcoin sank to a three-week low yesterday but has rallied more than 3% after US inflation data came in cooler than expected and ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting later on Wednesday.
The largest cryptocurrency fell below $67,000 for the first time since the middle of May but in the hours since has rebounded to $69,365.
Core inflation, which removes volatile fuel and food prices, was 3.4% for May, improving on last month's 3.6% rise and coming in lower than the 3.5% analysts had predicted.
Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said crypto asset prices are "highly correlated to risk assets, so price action will follow the macro narrative for the most part, with the additional factor of global regulatory action weighing on the sector".
The Fed is expected to keep interest rates unchanged in its press conference at 7pm local time, maintaining the benchmark lending rate of 5.50%.
1.38pm: US inflation cooler-than-expected
US stocks are set to open higher after inflation came in softer than expected, increasing the prospect of an interest rate cut later this year.
Core inflation, which removes volatile fuel and food prices, was 3.4% for May, improving on last month's 3.6% rise and coming in lower than the 3.5% analysts had predicted.
Headline inflation hit 3.3%, slowing from April's 3.4% and beating consensus by one tenth of a percentage point.
Lower-than-expected inflation will prove a boost for the Federal Reserve, which is meeting today to set interest rates and has been looking for positive data to justify a cut later this year.
All three of the US's lead indexes are up, according to premarket futures.
It comes after both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs on Tuesday, with the former having been boosted by Apple reclaiming its spot as the second-largest company in the world.
Apple shares slipped 0.7% in pre-market trading, having closed yesterday around 7.5% higher at a new record high.
1.09pm: Starling Bank "very committed" to London IPO
In a needed boost for the London Stock Exchange, Starling Bank has said it is "very committed" to floating in the City on the same day it posted its third annual profit.
Interim chief executive John Mountain said while a date had not been targetted, discussions in board meetings and with shareholders had focused on plans for an IPO.
Calling London the challenger bank's "natural home", Mountain said further updates on a listing were expected to come when incoming boss Raman Bhatia takes over at the end of July.
Mountain added: "A number of shareholders’ investment strategies are based around a public-private approach.
"The timing we need to look at, but we’re very committed to that.
"We’ve always been very much a UK tech business and the London Stock Exchange would be a natural home for us."
With 4.2 million customers signed up to the mobile-online challenger bank, the group posted pre-tax profits of £301.1 million in the year to April, marking a near 55% jump compared to 2023.
Sales during the period lifted by 50% to £682 million as the total amount deposited rose 4% to £11 billion.
12.52pm: Invesco disbands Neil Woodford's former team
Invesco Ltd (NYSE:IVZ) is to disband the team that made Neil Woodford an investment name before the subsequent setbacks that beset the stock picker when he set up on his own.
At one time, Woodford was running Invesco’s equity income fund with a value of £33 billion but this has shrunk to £6.8 billion currently due to the flow of money out of UK shares and abroad.
Woodford, who left Invesco in 2013, became a star at the group after it acquired Perpetual in 2000 where he was working at the time and by focusing out of favour dividend payers.
After attracting huge sums when it launched in 2014, Woodford’s fund was gated in 2019 following a wave of withdrawals and a disappointing performance.
Invesco said it will merge its UK equities team with its European arm to create a Pan European Equity operation.
12.38pm: Economists target August for first rate cut - Reuters poll
Ahead of the Bank of England's interest rate decision next week, all economists in a poll by Reuters have ruled out the possibility of a June rate cut.
All but two of the 65 polled said they expect the BoE to start the cycle of rate cuts in August, with the majority expecting at least one cut in 2024.
The two economists who didn't forecast a cut in August expect the central bank to do so in September.
Markets are currently pricing in only one rate cut this year and expect it to occur in September.
"While we are seeing some tentative signs of cooling in the labour market, service sector inflation remains persistently high and it is likely the MPC would want to wait until the next set of forecasts and a few more data points before it embarks on its first rate cut," said Yael Selfin, chief UK economist at KPMG.
12.23pm: Tesla to power new battery storage facility for giant wind farm
Tesla said it would provide a giant battery system to help balance the electricity grid at the giant Hornsea 3 wind farm after the renewable energy group Orsted revealed it would be opening a new battery storage facility capable of supplying 80,000 homes onshore.
To be installed at Swardeston, near Norwich, on the same site as the onshore substation for Hornsea 3, the plant will use a Tesla battery with a capacity of 600 Mwh.
Duncan Clark, the Danish firm's UK and Ireland chief said in a statement: “The battery will help ensure that renewable energy is used in the best possible way by storing it when demand is lower and then releasing it back into the system when it's really needed."
While Tesla continues its work within the renewable energy sector, investors are gearing up for an important vote tomorrow where shareholders will decide on whether to approve Musk's US$56 billion pay package.
Originally awarded in 2018, but made void in January this year after a US judge found that Tesla’s directors had failed properly to disclose the full details of the package, the new vote is to re-approve the package given the release of more details.
Top proxy advisors ISS and Glass Lewis have both recommended their institutional clients vote against ratifying the package, while other top shareholders have come out against the bonus.
12.00pm: EU raises tariffs for Chinese EV imports
Over in mainland Europe, the EU is planning to raise tariffs for Chinese imports of electric vehicles as the bloc attempts to reduce the number of cheaper alternatives flooding the market.
Under the new plans, Chinese importers are expected to face over £1.7 billion in increased costs when bringing EVs over to countries in the European Union, marking a 38% increase.
Tariffs are set to be 17.4% for BYD, 20% for Polestar owner Geely and 38.1% for SAIC, while smaller producers complying with the investigation will face a 21% tax.
Those who have failed to co-operate with the EU will have to pay tariffs of 38.1%.
It echoes a move made by the Biden administration last month, in which a 100% border tax was imposed on any Chinese EVs.
In a statement, the EU said: "The provisional findings of the EU anti-subsidy investigation indicate that the entire BEV value chain benefits heavily from unfair subsidies in China, and that the influx of subsidised Chinese imports at artificially low prices therefore presents a threat of clearly foreseeable and imminent injury to EU industry.”
11.40am: Co-op Bank business accounts see payments taken twice
Co-op Bank has apologised to its customers for a glitch in its systems which led to some payments going through twice for small business accounts.
"Almost £5k down thanks to this with no resolution in sight," one person took to Twitter/X to say.
Apologising for the mistake, the Co-op co Bank said only a "small number" of its 96,000 small business customers experienced the glitch.
A spokesperson said: "We are aware there are a small number of SME account holders who have duplicated payments showing in their balances and are in the process of correcting this issue.
"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and are supporting customers during this period."
Last month, Coventry BS and The Co-operative Bank PLC agreed terms of a merger despite the society's members not getting a vote on the deal.
Coventry will buy Co-op Bank for £780 million under the agreement, creating an entity with an £89 billion balance sheet.
11.20am: Starling Bank posts third full-year profit
Starling Bank has been helped by the higher interest rate environment over the last year as it posted its third annual profit.
With 4.2 million customers signed up to the mobile-online challenger bank, the group was able to up its pre-tax profits to £301.1 million in the year to April, marking a near 55% jump compared to 2023.
Sales during the period lifted by 50% to £682 million as the total amount deposited rose 4% to £11 billion.
Yet, gross lending fell a little to £4.7 billion, as it continues to move away from its role in the government's Covid business recovery program.
David Sproul, chairman at Starling believes the neobank is now “an established part of the UK banking scene”.
Incoming boss Raman Bhatia is expected to start his job later this month, a little over a month after he was poached from Ovo Energy.
11.05am: London suffers hit as property trust pulls IPO
London’s struggling IPO market has suffered another blow with Special Opportunities REIT failing to attract the minimum investment required to go ahead with the listing.
Special Opps had aimed to raise £500 million, which would have made it the largest new issue funding this year so far, but having failed to reach the minimum decided that carrying out its strategy in private is the better option.
The trust planned to use the money raised to invest in commercial properties affected by people working from home and where it hoped it could strike a good deal from owners keen to sell up.
Special Opps had already received funding guarantees worth £104 million
10.48am: SSP shrugs off regulator's call for competition at railway stations
SSP, the operator of food and drink stores in travel locations, is facing pressure from the UK's railway regulator after it said the process for acquiring railway catering outlets should be more competitive.
The Office of Rail and Road has previously revealed sites in stations had been remaining in the same hand for long periods due to the way the leases were structured.
Railway station operators were found to have not recieved enough incentives to push competition among their food outlet locations with leases set to expire.
Now, the regulator's final report has suggested simpler and more standardised contracts should be offered for those newly interested.
More strategic focus and a support to railway station operators is believed to be required and SSP has been asked to submit a plan that follows this.
“A push by the Office of Rail and Road to improve competition in the UK railway station catering market is bad news for SSP," said Russ Mould at AJ Bell.
“Selling baguettes and pasties at above-market prices has been lucrative business for SSP given its dominance in the sector.
“Despite a potential shake-up to the market, shares in SSP barely moved on the news. Investors appear to have taken the view that SSP’s expertise and scale won’t be materially challenged, partially because it does business in many geographic territories beyond the UK.
“It’s worth noting that SSP’s share price is already depressed and has been since the onset of Covid, making it one of the few companies not to see its stock bounce back post-pandemic."
Shares in SSP held flat at 162p.
10.10am: DFS tumbles but analysts remain bullish
DFS Furniture PLC (LSE:DFS) shares opened sharply lower on Wednesday, down more than 4% to 108p, after the sofa retailer downgraded its revenue guidance.
The retailer, in a statement, said it now expects £995 million to £1 billion of revenue in the 53-week trading period ending 30 June 2024, down from £1 billion to £1.015 billion.
Profit before tax is meanwhile seen between £10 million and £12 million, from prior guidance of £20 million to £25 million, with the group blaming lower orders and Red Sea disruption as the driving forces.
However, analysts at Peel Hunt have taken a nicer view, arguing that these issues are industry wide.
"Forecasts fall today but that will not come as a major surprise to anyone: we believe there is a great business here and others will be feeling the pain more severely than DFS right now," the brokerage firm said.
"The better volume growth in 4Q offers some signs of hope that the consumer will return and with valuation low based on recovered earnings, investors should keep the faith.
"We reiterate our Buy rating and 200p TP."
9.55am: Overnight in the US
Musk has been making headlines regarding both OpenAI and Tesla overnight in the US.
A day after warning that he would ban Apple products if it continued with its partnership with OpenAI, the world's richest man withdrew his lawsuit against the ChatGPT creator.
Musk had initially lodged a lawsuit accusing the company of abandoning its orginal aim to make artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity not for profit.
However, without reason, the Tesla and SpaceX boss asked the Californian state court to dismiss the accusations.
While Musk was dismissing lawsuits, shareholders in Tesla were lodging some after an institutional shareholder alleged he had made billions by using insider information.
The Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island filed the lawsuit in the hopes the courts will force Musk to return all "unlawful profits".
Memstock Gamestop rose around 22% before dropping 5% in the aftermarket as it confirmed it had completed an "at-the-market" equity raise of US$2.14 billion.
GameStop said it sold the maximum 75 million shares placed under the program.
Finally, Shari Redstone, the American media executive whose family is the largest shareholder of Paramount, cut talks with Skydance Media, ending the chance for David Ellison's firm to become the controlling owner of the media conglomerate.
9.33am: National Grid sees success in rights issue; shares remain subdued
National Grid lifted over 1% this morning after it confirmed 91% of investors bought new shares through its £7 billion rights issue, with those unbought going to underwriters Barclays and JP Morgan in a bid to find new buyers or else take them up themselves.
Grid’s fundraising was seen as a bold move by analysts given the seeming lack of appetite for new equities in London.
Heavyweight brokers such as UBS and Citi weighed in with 'buy' recommendations during the ex-rights trading period, but this was not enough to sway all investors.
Another bank, Jefferies reduced its earnings per share forecast by 14% for the 2025 financial year following the rights issue dilution and was worried about the regulatory uncertainty over the next year.
Shares remain down 14% in the last month, down around 16% since the electricity firm announced the rights isssue.
9.17am: Oil prices rise despite warnings of a "major surplus" this decade
Oil prices have rallied this morning despite the International Energy Agency's warning that the world will face a "major surplus" of the commodity by the end of the 2020s.
Slowing demand caused by the transition to greener energy and an uptick in production are expected to cause a rise in oil supplies, the IEA said.
Brent crude prices shrugged off the warning, with the price per barrel rising by 0.6% to US$82.40, while West Texas Intermediate enjoyed a gain of 0.8% to US$78.52.
Global oil production is expected to outgrow demand before 2030, with countries like the US and those in the Americas set to drive the surge in supplies.
"As the pandemic rebound loses steam, clean energy transitions advance, and the structure of China’s economy shifts, growth in global oil demand is slowing down and set to reach its peak by 2030," said Fatih Birol, the executive direct at IEA.
"This year, we expect demand to rise by around one million barrels per day.
"This report’s projections, based on the latest data, show a major supply surplus emerging this decade, suggesting that oil companies may want to make sure their business strategies and plans are prepared for the changes taking place."
Both Shell and BP also showed resilience in the face of the warning, with both companies' shares rising by a little under 1% today.
9.07am: Analysts react to Legal & General's shake-up
Legal & General shares are holding lower, down by around 3%, after the market spurned its latest plans to sell the housebuilder Cala, merge divisions, and initiate a £200 million share buyback, aiming for a "simpler, better-connected L&G".
Panmure Gordon in a short assessment of the announcement said newly incoming boss Antonio Simoes had probably done 'just enough', but it also noted there may be some disappointment around the dividend growth.
Analysts at UBS maintained their price target of 258p and neutral rating for the stock, predicting a near 6% increase in its shares within the next twelve months.
The Swiss bank had expected L&G to receive a "small positive reaction" to the plans due to "stronger near-term capital returns".
UBS believes there is more than a 5% upside for the group's shareholder returns, despite dividend growth of 5% in 2024 being expected to lower to 2% by 2027.
"If we assume £200m per year of recurring share buybacks and 2% dividend per share growth we only see marginal upside (<5%) to shareholder capital returns, with higher near-term capital returns (e.g. in 2024)," analysts explained.
8.44am: From Mickey Mouse to No More Mouse
Nelson Peltz may be still rueing from his failed attempt to acquire a seat on the Mickey Mouse creator's board as he has switched his attention to pest control.
Rentokil is doing a large portion of the lifting for the FTSE 100 this morning after it was revealed the billionaire fund manager and activist investor had developed a stake in the company.
Shares in the Crawley-based group surged more than 13.5% to 470p after Peltz's investment firm Trian Fund Management said it had opened a "significant position" in the company, placing it as one of the top ten largest shareholders.
Peltz's firm said it "reached out to Rentokil to discuss ideas and initiatives to improve shareholder value”.
Since the start of March, shares in the firm had dropped more than 18%, but today's gains have offset much of this and are now pushing it closer to its 2024 high of 504p.
Back in April, Peltz failed to secure a seat on the Dinsey board having waged a campaign against the conglomerate's management, claiming it was lagging behind rivals in various industries.
8.29am: UK recovery to be steady rather than spectacular, says economists
Economists have said improved household incomes and an improvement in consumer confidence will be vital in the country's recovery over both 2024 and 2025.
Yet, Peter Arnold, EY UK's chief economist, believes the slow reaction from the Bank of England to slash interest rates will mean the improvement is gradual.
"Tighter fiscal policy and the lagged passthrough of past interest rate rises are likely to mean that the UK economy’s exit from its long period of stagnation will be steady rather than spectacular,” he said.
"Early business survey data has signalled that private sector activity growth remained robust across the first two months of the quarter. However, planned strikes in the healthcare sector at the end of June will likely weigh on activity."
Looking forward, he said he expects quarter-on-quarter GDP growth to be slower in the second quarter than in the first three months of the year.
8.20am: FTSE 100 kicks higher
The FTSE 100 has opened around 0.6% higher, up by around 51 points, to 8,198 on Tuesday as the markets welcome the prospect of further economic growth despite GDP figures flatlining in April due to wet weather.
Blue chip shares had been on the slide on both Monday and Tuesday after the geopolitical uncertainty driven by Macron's snap election filtered through to markets across the globe.
Gross domestic product hit 0% for April, weakening on the 0.4% growth experienced in March but bettering the 0.1% contraction analysts had predicted.
Economists have reacted positively to the print and believe it could mean the Bank of England heads to the interest rate meeting next Thursday with brighter optimism for the economy's near-term future.
Meanwhile, in company news, L&G unveiled it will combine its housebuilding and green energy investment arms into its wider £1.2 trillion investment arm, reducing its divisions from four to three.
Legal & General Capital, the alternative investment manager which focuses on infrastructure and building homes, will merge with the wider Legal & General Investment Management, newly appointed chief executive Antonio Simoes said.
Shares in the finance giant slipped more than 3% in reaction to the decision.
8.05am: GDP growth to outperform BoE's forecasts, says economists
Economists believe second-quarter growth will be better than the Bank of England has predicted, potentially offering some good news in regards to interest rate decisions and how GDP will influence them.
Deutsche Bank chief UK economist Sanjay Raja said the bank expected growth in the months from April to June to experience growth between 0.3% and 0.4%, better than the BoE's esitmates of 0.2%.
Raja said: "The flat April print will likely be temporary. And moreover, we continue to see GDP maintaining its upward momentum through the rest of the year.
"To be sure, a cyclical recovery is underway. A firming in real disposable incomes will likely give way to firming household consumption. An early election will give way to more fiscal certainty with some fiscal easing inevitable following the general election."
Luke Bartholomew at Abrdn warned that monthly GDP figures can offer fail to paint a clear picture and that it is “important not to put too much stead in just one month of data and look at the broader trend across several months”.
7.49am: GDP flat; pushed lower by drops in construction and industrial output
The British economy saw its weakest performance in four months in April, as both industrial output and construction suffered falls, despite the service industry having grown in the period.
Production output dropped by 0.9% in the month, down from a growth of 0.2% in March, with manufacturing as the key driving force after it suffered a 1.4% decline.
Construction output shrank by 1.4% in what was its third consecutive monthly fall but was helped slightly by services rising by 0.2%, marking the fourth straight month of rises
Pharmaceutical products and preparations slumped by 6.1%, while food products, beverages and tobacco dropped by 2.3%.
Meanwhile, output of water supply, sewerage and waste management rose by 1.3%, outperforming the mining sector which rose by 0.8% and the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning output which grew by 0.5%.
George Lagarias, chief economist at Mazars, said: "British GDP was flat in April, but still came in slightly ahead of expectations.
"April’s dismal retail sales had prepared investors for a slowdown, so the number didn’t come as any sort of surprise.
"Going forward, however, we remain positive."
7.36am: FTSE 100 to open higher
London stocks are set to start the higher up by around 50 points with the FTSE 100 at 8190 this Wednesday as the markets react to GDP figures.
The economy stagnated in April, just months after being confirmed it had exited a recession, figures today revealed.
GDP for the month came in at 0%, the ONS said, down from growth of 0.4% in March, but an improvement on the 0.1% contraction analysts had been expecting.
Asian markets lifted higher overnight, helped by a rising technology sector, with the broadest index, barring Japanese shares, rising by around 0.3%, while Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.5%
Later today in the US, economists will react to the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates and the latest inflation print in the States.