The London Stock Exchange failed to open at its usual time of 8am owing to a technical issue.
Buyers and sellers of UK company shares on indices such as the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 were unable to trade British-listed companies as a result.
The LSE says that it is investigating a potential “trading services issue”, but has not been more specific than this.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation rose to 2.1% in July, up from 2% according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The ONS’s alternative measure, CPIH, which includes housing costs, stood at exactly 2% for July.
The stats body says that the biggest contributor to the CPIH measure of inflation in the past nine months has been housing and household services, rising by 1.9% on average. Chiefly to blame are gas and electric bills and council tax rate increases adding to household bills. See the graph below.
Over-55s have had to claim back some £480 million in overpaid taxes from the government since the launch of pension freedoms in 2015, figures from HMRC reveal.
As many as 17,000 people had to claim £46 million in tax back between April and June, up from 14,000 people claiming £29 million in the same period in 2018.
The average annual equivalent rate (AER) for all easy-access savings accounts on the market is currently 0.58%.
This figure is in itself embarrassingly low compared to the top rate on the market of 1.5% offered by Cynergy Bank, Marcus and Virgin Money.
Now, new analysis has named and shamed the big banks that provide the worst rates across the board.
Barclays offers an average rate 0.3% below the average. HSBC is little better offering 0.29% below, and Lloyds and RBS both offer 0.19% under the average.
The Office for National Statistics reports that the average by which prices increased (CPI inflation) was 2% in June 2019.
The alternative CPIH, which includes housing costs, was 1.9% for June.
While this figure is more or less right on the target set for the Bank of England by the government, the slowing global economy, potential no-deal exit from the EU, and rising wage growth all present headaches of different natures for those with their hands on the levers.
NEST, the largest provider of auto-enrolled workplace pensions in the UK, has announced that it is to divest all the money it manages for pension savers from the tobacco industry.
The firm says that it currently has around £40 million of exposure to tobacco stocks. This represents about 0.7% of its total assets under management (AUM).
From next year, 3.7 million pensioners will have to stump up the annual fee.
However, anyone in receipt of pension credit over the age of 75 will be able to receive a free licence from June 2020. This new scheme will cost the BBC around £250 million by 2021/22.
The BBC says that the current scheme is “untenable” and would have cost the corporation £745 million per year – equivalent to around one-fifth of its budget.
Chancellor Philip Hammond is calling to an end speculation about the demise of copper coins.
The chancellor will confirm in a speech that no changes will be made to the current cash supply, from 1p and 2p coins all the way up to £50 notes.
This is despite analysis from the Bank of England last year that suggested removing 1p and 2p coins would have little-to-no impact on inflation.
Mr Hammond comments: “Technology has transformed banking for millions of people, making it easier and quicker to carry out financial transactions and pay for services.
A report from the House of Lords Committee on Intergenerational Fairness and Provision has made wide-ranging recommendations on benefits for the elderly, calling for much of the help for older generations to be curtailed.
It has called for the free TV Licence for over-75s to be phased out, and for the state pension triple lock to be ditched.
The report has also criticised Winter Fuel Payments and older person’s bus passes, calling for both benefits to be only made available five years after state pension age, and treated as taxable income.
Mark Carney, who oversees the Bank of England's three main policy committees, one of which sets interest rates, will leave the post on 31 January 2020.
The governor has been in the post since July 2013, and had his tenure extended by the Treasury to 2020 in order to help support a “smooth exit” from the European Union.