Thanks for joining me. Total wages rose faster than inflation in the three months to September, raising concerns that interest rates will remain high for longer.
Wages including bonuses rose 7.9%, ahead of inflation of 6.7%, raising alarm that higher wages could lead to higher prices in the economy.
5 things to start your day
1) The Bank of England’s rate-setter says net zero policies are pushing inflation higher | Households face the costs of climate change policies such as carbon taxes and emissions trading schemes
2) Avon opens its stores for the first time amid a decline in the number of stay-at-home mothers | The beauty giant has been forced to rethink its sales strategy as more women go out to work
3) Google gives Apple 36% of advertising revenue from its Safari browser, a court has heard | The world’s most popular search engine is accused of paying billions to the iPhone company to maintain a monopoly
4) Chinese shoppers are spending 60% less in London as calls grow for the tourism tax to be dropped | The business group says Europe is reaping the benefits of the British tax decision
5) Treasury to save £4bn with deficit benefit reform | Reforms aimed at encouraging more people into work may be announced in the autumn statement
What happened overnight
Asian stocks mostly rose ahead of potential market inflation numbers from the US.
Japanese stocks closed higher, as the benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.3%, or 110.82 points, to close at 32,695.93 points, and the broader Topix index rose 0.4%, or 8.67 points, to 2,345.29 points.
The price of the Japanese yen reached 151.71 yen to the dollar during the Asian hours, after touching its lowest level in a year at 151.92 on Monday. If the struggling currency breaks above last year’s low of 151.94, it will hit a new 33-year low.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.6% to 6,992.10. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.1% to 2,429.21.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.4% to 17,359.13 while the Shanghai Composite Index rose less than 0.1% to 3,047.13.
Wall Street stocks had a mixed performance on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 54.77 points, or 0.2%, to 34,337.87.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 3.69 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,411.55 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 30.37 points, or 0.2%, to 13,767.74 points.