UK house sales slide after stamp duty holiday cut; retail stock levels shrink – business live
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- Latest: Nasdaq hits fresh record on economic optimism
- UK retail stock levels at record low amid supply problems
- Retail prices rise, as import penetration drops
- UK house sales fell over 60% in July after busiest ever June
- Housebuyers rush to complete deals before stamp duty tax cut trimmed
Earlier:
- Oil surged 5% on Monday on rising demand hopes and weaker dollar
- Wall Street closed near record high as FDA gave full approval to Pfizer’s Covid vaccine
- Might weaker data delay Fed tapering?
The more UK-focused FTSE 250 has hit a fresh record high today, with travel stocks giving it a boost.
The FTSE 250 index of mid-size companies jumped 0.6% today, or 145 points, to end at 23,886 points, slightly above yesterday’s intraday record. That means it’s gained more than 16% so far this year, lifted by hopes of an economic recovery and a flurry of takeover bids.
Crypto assets are having a weak session, with bitcoin falling back from Monday’s three-month highs over the $50k mark:
Crypto update:#Bitcoin 48443.40 -2.17%#Ether 3225.64 -3.43%#BitcoinCash 648.13 -4.03%#EOS 5.2641 -5.2%#Litecoin 178.52 -4.16%#Stellar 0.3637 -3.37%#Crypto 10 Index 20828 -4.47%#BTC $ETH #BCH #XLM #LTC https://t.co/0cbLaG5E8c
