G.morning. Amid the impact of the Treasury’s most popular Eat Out to Help Out program, the latest official data on UK retail released on August 7 is expected to show a slowdown in August.
Elsewhere, it was generally quiet Friday, with European stocks expected to decline slightly after yesterday’s poor performance.
5 things to start your day
1) Sen millionaire holds large stake in Sainsbury’s: Daniel Credinsky, Royal Mail’s largest investor, is the fourth largest shareholder in the supermarket owned by 3 PC.
2) Nearly half of companies swing jobs ax: A CBI survey of nearly 250 companies reveals that a two-speed labor market is emerging before the virus re-emerges.
3) Lithium Explorer makes a ‘significant’ discovery in Cornwall: Cornish Lithium hopes to meet the demand for electric car batteries in the UK.
4) Ryaner influences investor revolt over management pay: Budget airline boss Michael O’Leary offers 8,000 458,000 bonus despite declining revenue and profits following the Corona virus crisis
5) The Future of Rail: Are we on track for a Peaching Part 2? Prior to the Covid 19 there were growing calls for replacement of peach cuts. Now the number of train passengers has dropped. Where does it leave our network?
It happened overnight
Asian stocks were slightly higher on Friday, though some investors’ attention turned back to the uncertainties of global economies amid the corona virus epidemic, reflecting an overnight fall on Wall Street.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 changed slightly, but traded lower by 0.1 pc at 23,326.00 in morning trade. South Korea’s Gosby added 0.3 PC to 2,412.37. Australia’s S&P / ASX 200 changed to 5,887.30. Hong Kong ‘s Hong Cheng was up 0.2 pc at 24,398.87 and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.5 pc at 3,286.68.
Coming up today
Business Report
Investec
Economy
Retail (UK); Manufacturer Prices (Germany); Consumer Sense (US).
“Alcohol evangelist. Devoted twitter guru. Lifelong coffee expert. Music nerd.”