Business news live: FTSE 100 falls, US takes $1.3bn in tariffs from UK goods

A slight rise for UK stocks since this morning, but only to bring the index back up to where it started.

The FTSE 100 is at 0.04 per cent up today – though that’s better than can be said for European and US stocks.

In Germany the DAX is down 0.7%, while France’s CAC 40 is down 0.45%.

Shortly after trading has started in the US, it’s a similar story with the Nasdaq at -0.05%, the S&P at -0.1% and the Dow -0.5%.

The Government and travel industry experts believe Gatwick expansion will cut the cost of holidays and boost flight routes.

An additional 100,000 flights per year will be able to serve the West Sussex airport if its emergency runway is brought into regular use.

It is hoped this will lead to more competition between airlines and airports, leading to lower prices.

Gold has again surged this week and has hit a new record price.

$3,760 is the current level for gold futures, having risen more than 11% in the past month and 44% across this year as a whole.

Demand is increasing upon speculation the Fed will further cut interest rates in the US.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Pat McFadden, says welfare reform needs to continue to be on the agenda and the benefits bill is unsustainable.

“Welfare reform is happening all the time. Anyone who looks at the current system shouldn’t conclude that the thing to do is to circle the wagons around it,’” he said.

“’Look, I’m not ruling anything out. Welfare reform is really important. At the moment this system is unhealthy for people and in the long run is pushing up the benefits bill because we’re not getting the help to people who could work,” he added.

Passengers at Heathrow could face another day of disruption after a cyber attack affected several major European airports.

Terror law watchdog Jonathan Hall KC said it was possible state-sponsored hackers could be behind the attack on Collins Aerospace, which operates check-in and boarding systems.

On Monday morning Heathrow said work was continuing to “resolve and recover” from the “outage” in the system.

Mr Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said attributing the attack would not be easy.

Barclays analysts still believe the Bank of England will cut interest rates again this year – and once more early next year.

Some economists have predicted no further cuts before mid-2026, with the bank rate at 4% after the BoE’s MPC left it untouched last week.

But that’s not how Jack Meaning at Barclays sees it, as he wrote in a research note.

“Our Bank Rate call remains two more cuts in the next six months, in November 2025 and February 2026, leaving Bank Rate at 3.5%. Recent MPC communication, along with an upwardly revised path for CPI inflation, makes this more finely balanced than [in] June.”

Keir Starmer is torn between attracting the world’s wealthy and speaking to the working man. His mixed messaging – and Britain’s sloppy legislation – is holding the country back, says Chris Blackhurst.

BMW’s UK car finance business has set aside more than £200 million to cover the potential impact of the continued fallout from the car loan mis-selling scandal.

It is the latest car firm to reveal the potential cost of the motor finance scandal, with millions of drivers expected to be eligible for compensation claims.

The financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is currently consulting on an industry-wide redress scheme for consumers who lost out when they took out a car loan between 2007 and 2020.

This is because it thinks many banks and motor finance firms broke the law or its rules by not properly telling customers about commission paid to dealers, meaning people may not have got a fair interest rate on the deal.

The FCA said earlier this month that is hopes to start redress payments to affected customers next year.

Research from the British Chambers of Commerce shows over a third of SMEs (35%) say they are actively using AI technology, up from 25% in 2024.

Shevaun Haviland, director general of the BCC, said:

“Our data shows more SMEs are plugging into AI – and that’s really encouraging news for the UK’s economic future.

“The pace of technological change is speeding up, not slowing down, and it’s crucial that all businesses are part of the digital revolution. Our survey shows the picture is not equal across all sectors and firms aren’t yet using the technology to its full potential.

“It’s crucial that the Government acts swiftly on the recommendations of the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce. Improving AI awareness, support and skills must be the focus.

“Getting this right will help firms drive forward economic growth in an increasingly digital world.”