Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as Royal Mail’s delivery targets are relaxed.
Newsflash: Britain’s blue-chip stock index has hit a new alltime high, as investors shrug off the threat of Donald Trump’s trade wars.
Update: The FTSE 100 index has risen by as much as 80 points, or 0.9%, to a fresh record peak of 8947.84 points, over the previous record of 8908.82 set in March.
Mining stocks are leading the rally today, signalling that traders are not worried that Trump’s blizzard of tariffs will cause a global recession, despite new tariffs such as the 50% imposed on US copper imports and on imports from Brazil.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, says investors are in an “ebullient summer mood”, adding:
