Retail rebound lost pace in August – live updates

Good morning. The latest official data on UK retail sales, set for release at 7am, is expected to show a slowdown during August amid the impact of the Treasury’s hugely-popular Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

Elsewhere, it’s a typically quiet Friday, with European stocks expected to drift slightly lower after yesterday’s poor performance.

5 things to start your day 

1) Czech billionaire takes big stake in Sainsbury’s: Royal Mail’s biggest investor Daniel Kretinsky becomes supermarket’s fourth-largest shareholder with a 3pc holding.

2) Almost half of firms set to swing jobs axe: CBI survey of almost 250 companies reveals a two-speed labour market emerging as ahead of a resurgence in the virus.

3) Lithium explorer makes ‘significant’ discovery in Cornwall: Cornish Lithium hopes to meet demand for electric car batteries in the UK.

4) Ryanair suffers investor rebellion over executive pay: Budget airline boss Michael O’Leary handed €458,000 bonus despite collapse in revenue and profit in wake of coronavirus crisis 

5) The future of rail: Are we on track for a Beeching part 2? Calls to reverse Beeching cuts were growing before Covid-19. Now rail passenger numbers have collapsed. Where does that leave our network? 

What happened overnight 

Asian shares were slightly higher on Friday despite some investor attention shifting again to the uncertainties in global economies amid the coronavirus pandemic, as reflected in the overnight fall on Wall Street.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was little changed but inched up less than 0.1pc in morning trading to 23,326.00. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3pc to 2,412.37. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed at 5,887.30. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.2pc to 24,398.87, while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.5pc to 3,286.68.

Coming up today

Trading Statement 

Investec

Economics

Retail sales (UK); producer prices (Germany); consumer sentiment (US).