Business news live: FTSE 100 rises and new data shows UK pay growth slows to below inflation rate

The FTSE 100 has opened up, just 0.17 per cent in the green but up nonetheless.

Meanwhile the FTSE 250 is up around the same level, while the AIM is down around 0.15 per cent.

In Europe it’s a similar story early on – small rises in France, Germany and on the Euronext.

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has explained world events and constant changes to the geopolitical landscape make it all but impossible to predict where the UK’s economy is headed – and even interest rate decisions are tough to predict one BoE meeting ahead due to the pace of changes at present.

“Focusing on the tariff issue… it is very unpredictable where this is all going to end up,” he told MPs.

“We are coming towards the end of the 90-day period that President Trump set out for reaching agreements. We’ve had one agreement so far which is with the UK – it obviously isn’t implemented yet – and that is it at the moment.

“So quite where this is going to go, we don’t know at this stage.

“When I’m thinking about my decision on interest rates, because of the sheer unpredictability it’s not that I’m ignoring the world – anything but.

“But I’m not putting that high a weight on it because, frankly, it is so unpredictable at the moment that, as we saw in the last 24 hours, it can easily change overnight.”

A survey of the labour market in the UK suggests slowing pay growth and a fall in job vacancies, particularly for graduate-level roles.

Reuters cite data from Brightmine and jobs firm Indeed as showing pay growth has now dropped to 3 per cent in the private sector across March, April and May – below the current rate of inflation, which stands at 3.4 per cent.

Roughly one in seven businesses gave raises of below 2.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, job vacancies were down 5 per cent by mid-June compared to the end of March.

Hospitality, tourism and food service jobs saw the biggest decrease in job posts.

A quick look back at the overnight stock markets:

In the US, the S&P 500 ended 1.1 per cent up, with the Nasdaq reaching 1.43 per cent for the day.

That was followed by positivity around Asia, where each of the Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng and Nikkei 225 are all up approaching the close. Only the latter has had a rise of less than 1 per cent.

A trial giving heating engineers a free heat pump for their own homes is to be rolled out to thousands of people after it boosted professional support for the tech.

The “start at home” pilot by innovation agency Nesta to support heating engineers to install their first heat pump in their home found it boosted their technical knowledge, understanding of living with the technology, and confidence in promoting them to customers.

Experts warn large-scale deployment of clean electric-powered heat pumps is key to replacing the widespread use of gas boilers in homes to reduce carbon emissions as part of targets to cut greenhouse gases to “net zero” by 2050.

That means installing round 450,000 heat pumps in existing homes a year by 2030, requiring 38,000 more installers trained and confident to install heat pumps before then, Nesta said.

But while the number of heating engineers and plumbers who are training as heat pump installers is on the rise, that is not translating into a large active workforce focused on the technology, a report by Nesta warned.

Amazon is set to create thousands of new jobs across the UK as part of a substantial £40 billion investment over the next three years, signalling a major expansion of its logistics network.

The technology giant confirmed that a new fulfilment centre in Hull will open this year, generating some 2,000 roles.

Another 2,000 jobs are earmarked for a site in Northampton, scheduled to open in 2026.

Beyond these confirmed locations, Amazon also announced plans for two additional warehouses in the East Midlands, slated for a 2027 opening.

Good morning and welcome back to The Independent’s live coverage of the world of business.

Across the day we’ll be updating you on the latest around the Israel-Iran situation and the knock-ons on oil markets, as well as stock market news and wider business stories across the UK.

The FTSE 100 rose slightly yesterday but it has been a mixed week so far.

That’s it for us today – we’ll be back tomorrow morning at 7am as usual.

The FTSE 100 dropped late on and has closed at just 0.01 per cent up – though the 250 finished up 0.97 per cent for a positive day.

US stocks are also up now their market is open, the Nasdaq at +1.35 per cent.

We’ll see all the overnight happenings tomorrow – see you then.

Tax and audit firm RSM UK have analysed HMRC tax receipts and say those for capital gains tax has been declining of 23% in two years.

However, they believe it could turn around this year and show the largest percentage increase of all tax types paid to the Treasury.

The OBR is anticipating £19.7bn in CGT receipts for 2025/26 – an increase of 50 per cent from the prior year and more than 16 per cent higher than the previous record.

Supermarket chain Aldi have announced quicker payments to suppliers and farmers, as both struggle with hotter weather placing strain on growers.

Any fresh produce suppliers with turnover under £5m will be offered the new terms, a release states.

Julie Ashfield, chief commercial officer at Aldi UK, said: “We know smaller growers are under real pressure – from a dry spring to rising input costs – and we want to do what we can to help. These shorter payment terms are a small, practical step to give them quicker access to cash and a bit more flexibility as the season progresses.”