Inflation blow leaves Britain facing just one rate cut this year – latest updates

Thanks for joining me. Inflation has fallen to 3.2pc, official figures show, in a boost/blow to hopes for interest rate cuts.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics come after Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said he saw “strong evidence” that inflation was coming down in the UK.

5 things to start your day 

1) Last-minute deal saves Britain’s biggest train factory from closure | Alstom secures vital new order after crunch talks with Transport Secretary

2) Champagne sales slump amid flat demand for French fizz | Moët & Chandon owner LVMH suffers post-pandemic hangover with 16pc drop in sales

3) New nuclear power plant expected to kill 46 tonnes of fish a year | EDF building £50m nature reserve near Hinkley Point to compensate for loss of life

4) Greensill administrators threaten to seize Sanjeev Gupta’s assets after he fails to repay £472m | Collapsed lender in ongoing negotiations with steel magnate to recover unpaid funds

5) Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Gold is sniffing out monetary and geopolitical dystopia | ‘Never seen before’ levels of buying could be the makings of a war chest

What happened overnight 

Asian shares were trading mixed as expectations resurfaced that US interest rates may stay high for a while.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped 0.5pc in afternoon trading to 38,296.69. 

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up less than 0.1pc to 7,618.50. South Korea’s Kospi was little changed, inching down to 2,608.93. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.2pc to 16,219.84, while the Shanghai Composite gained 1.1pc to 3,040.72.

The mixed reaction came after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at an event Tuesday that the central bank has been waiting to cut its main interest rate, which is at its highest level since 2001, because it first needs more confidence inflation is heading sustainably down to its 2pc target.

In America, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2pc, to 37,798.77, the S&P 500 lost 0.2pc, reaching 5,051.38, and the Nasdaq Composite index 0.1pc, to 15,865.25.

Yields for 10-year US Treasury bonds hit a new five-month high on diminishing expectations of Fed policy easing this year, and after stronger-than-expected economic data from China revived worries that inflation could reaccelerate. They fell to yield 4.66pc, from 4.63pc late on Monday.