Business

The latest snapshot on the UK housing market sees “significant downward pressure” on prices as mortgage costs rise. The monthly report by Halifax showed just a 0.1% dip in prices last month from August but that the annual rate of growth had slowed from 11.4% to 9.9%. Its commentary focused on tougher affordability amid the

On today’s episode, Ian King speaks to an energy expert about fuel prices increasing and warnings about gas supplies. There’s also a discussion about how investors are staying away from gold. And he chats to a teacher-turned-landlord, whose pub has just been named ‘Great British Pub of the Year’. :: Listen and subscribe to The

Two million fewer barrels of oil are to be produced each day, equivalent to 2% of global supply, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and Russia have agreed. The move is an effort to increase prices in countries feeling the heat from high energy costs. Members Saudi Arabia and Russia have led the

The taxpayer support for household energy bills could cost up to £140bn in an “extreme” scenario, an energy market expert has warned. Cornwall Insight, which became a prominent voice in predicting levels for the energy price cap before it was replaced by the government’s energy price guarantee (EPG) this month, said its findings showed a

It never rains but only pours at Credit Suisse. Switzerland’s second largest lender has stumbled from one crisis to another in recent years. There was the corporate spying scandal three years ago in which the bank was accused of hiring a private detective after one of its former executives had defected to a rival. Shortly

The pound and government bond yields have recovered some poise in the wake of the government’s U-turn on abolishing the top rate of income tax. Kwasi Kwarteng revealed early on Monday morning that the decision to axe the 45p rate – part of his growth plan revealed last month – would now not happen in

Gas and electricity bills are going up tomorrow as the new energy price cap takes effect. You may have read that from 1 October the price cap will mean average energy bills will increase by 27% from £1,971 a year to £2,500. But it isn’t as simple as that. House prices warning as growth slows

Shares in companies that depend on consumer spending have plunged after Next, the fashion to homewares retailer, cut its sales forecast for the second half of its financial year and annual profit guidance. The company used the publication of its half-year results to the end of July to say that there were too many variables

Images of banknotes featuring a portrait of the King will be revealed by the end of this year – but the public won’t be able to get their hands on the cash until 2024. Under the Bank of England plans, coins and banknotes featuring King Charles III and Queen Elizabeth II will co-circulate. Currency featuring

Pendragon, the London-listed car dealer behind brands including Evans Halshaw and Stratstone, has received a fresh £400m takeover approach from its largest shareholder. Sky News has learnt that Hedin Group, which owns roughly 26% of Pendragon, has tabled a 29p-a-share offer for the company. The approach is expected to be confirmed in a stock exchange

The markets were quick to respond to Kwasi Kwarteng’s ‘shock and awe’ mini-budget. The most spectacular reaction by far was in the bond market where yields on gilts (UK government IOUs) immediately spiked higher on the prospect of a big surge in government borrowing. Mr Kwarteng announced some £45bn worth of tax cuts and, along

The German government has said it will nationalise the country’s biggest gas importer, Uniper, as it battles massive losses amid Europe’s energy crunch. The Finnish company Fortum that had controlled Uniper said Russia’s squeeze on supplies since the invasion of Ukraine meant that the unit had lost €8.5bn (£7.4bn) to date. The latest state intervention

Elon Musk has said his company Starlink will ask for an exemption to sanctions, so it can provide satellite broadband to Iran. The founder of Tesla and SpaceX posted on Twitter that Starlink is “now active on all continents, including Antarctica”. When a fan asked if it would be possible to supply Starlink to people

Atom Bank’s finance chief since its launch nearly a decade ago is stepping down just months before a possible flotation of the digital-only lender. Sky News understands that David McCarthy is to leave the Durham-based bank after eight years as part of its leadership team. Shareholders in Atom Bank were notified about his departure in

Ocado says more of its customers are buying fewer items and trading down to cheaper options as they try to navigate the cost of living crisis. The online supermarket revised its full-year outlook on Tuesday and now expects a small decline in sales as Britons try to cope with inflation, which hit 10.1% in July.

Mike Ashley, the high street tycoon who has snapped up some of Britain’s best-known retailers, is plotting a takeover of Gieves & Hawkes, the historic Savile Row tailor. Sky News has learnt that Mr Ashley’s Frasers Group is among a handful of bidders vying for control of the brand, which is being sold after its

There is much we do not know about the government’s new plans to help people out with their energy bills. We do not know how much they will cost. We do not have a clear sense of how they will be financed or paid for. We do not know precisely how the scheme will work

The digital lender Atom Bank is close to picking bankers to work on a stock market listing after calling off talks about a £700m merger with a vehicle set up by Donald Trump’s former commerce secretary. Sky News has learnt that Atom Bank is interviewing investment banks about roles on an initial public offering –

The European Central Bank (ECB) has hiked its key interest rates by an unprecedented 75 basis points, signalling that further rises are likely. On Thursday afternoon, the bank – which makes monetary policy for the eurozone and the European Union – lifted the deposit rate from zero to 0.75% and the main refinancing rate was

An unprecedented intervention in the energy market will shield households, businesses and public sector organisations from the worst of the surge in wholesale gas prices. The Truss government’s “energy price guarantee” aims to keep the bill pain facing the public at less than half the amount predicted for the winter ahead, with firms also getting