FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks rise as global bond market sell-off continues to ease

Around 3,000 people at Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) will find themselves considered for possible dismissal, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

It comes as boss Charlie Nunn is seeking to cut costs, with about half that number also set to lose their jobs unless their work improves, the source said. They added that there was no fixed target for layoffs from the bank’s 63,000-strong workforce.

A Lloyds spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement that it was transforming its business and “striving to embed a high-performance culture”.

“We know change can be uncomfortable, but we are excited about the opportunities ahead as we propel forward to achieve our growth ambitions and deliver exceptional customer experiences,” the spokesperson said.

Lloyds has already reduced its high street presence, stating in January it would shut 136 branches as more customers take up digital banking.

Gold prices could soar to almost $5,000 an ounce if Donald Trump continues to threaten the independence of the US Federal Reserve, and traders continue to move from the Treasury market into the precious metal, Goldman Sachs has said.

Analysts at the bank said in a note:

It comes as the spot gold price hit a record of $3,578 an ounce earlier this week, and has been one of the strongest performing major commodities this year.

Goldman forecast that gold will climb to a baseline of $4,000 an ounce by mid-2026 but could rise to nearly $5,000 if just 1% of the US treasury market moved to gold.

The global bond market has continued to stabilise today. Borrowing costs have cooled from their recent sharp upturn, with 30-year gilt yields down 1.6% from the 27-year highs seen at the start of this week.

Yesterday, the yields on UK and US long-term debt both fell back, bringing some relief after Britain’s 30-year borrowing costs hit the highest level since 1998.

Jim Reid, market strategist at Deutsche Bank, said:

Overnight, an auction of 30-year Japanese government bonds also proceeded smoothly, with helped support Japan’s debt prices.

Demand for its long-term debt, the bid-to-cover ratio, which measures the amount of bids against the amount of debt on offer, was 3.31, only slightly below the 12-month average of 3.38.

This helped to push down the yields, or interest rates, on Japan’s debt in the bond market – a relief, after long-term yields hit record highs earlier this week.

Aldi was the cheapest supermarket in the UK in August, with an average household basket full of groceries and other essentials coming in at £127.92, a study by consumer group Which? found.

Lidl came in second, with the same shopping list costing only 43p more at £128.35. Customers using Lidl’s loyalty discount could save a further 5p on average (£128.30). The German discounter lost its crown as the cheapest supermarket after a July reign.

Aldi shoppers saved an average of £44.69 when compared with customers at Waitrose, the most expensive retailer, who spent an average of £172.61 for the same basket of goods.

The basket of 75 items cost £139.42 at Asda, £142.36 at Tesco (TSCO.L) with a Clubcard, £144.75 at Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L) with a Nectar card, £147.20 at Morrisons with a More card and £159.79 at Ocado (OCDO.L).

Reena Sewraz, Which? retail editor, said:

The list of items included both branded and own-brand items, such as Birds Eye Peas, Hovis bread, milk and butter. Special offers and loyalty prices were included, but any multi-buys were not.

The study found Asda to be the cheapest supermarket for a larger trolley of 190 items, at £474.86.

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Stocks in Asia were mixed overnight with the Nikkei (^N225) rising 1.5% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 1.1% in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 1.3% down by the end of the session and in South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) added 0.5% on the day, marking its third consecutive session of gains following positive GDP figures released earlier in the week.

This decline in China followed a report from Bloomberg indicating that the country’s financial regulators are contemplating measures to limit stock market speculation due to concerns regarding the rapid pace of a $1.2 trillion rally that began in early August.

The global bond selloff paused for breath last night, as weak US data meant investors ramped up their expectations for Fed rate cuts this year.

The main catalyst was the JOLTS report for July, which showed that job openings fell to a 10-month low and exacerbated fears about a labour market slowdown. So that pushed the 2-year Treasury yield (-2.2bps) to 3.62%, whilst the 30-year yield (-6.5bps) saw an even bigger decline to 4.90%.

Across the pond on Wall Street, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.5%, moving back within 1% of its record high from last Thursday, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 1% higher. The Dow Jones (^DJI) slipped 0.05%.

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what’s moving markets and happening across the global economy.

Looking at the day ahead, data releases in Europe include Euro Area retail sales for July, whilst in the US we’ll get the ADP’s report of private payrolls for August, the weekly initial jobless claims and the ISM services for August.

From central banks, we’ll hear from the Fed’s Williams and Goolsbee, and the ECB’s Cipollone. Finally, the Senate Banking Committee will hold the nomination hearing for Stephen Miran to join the Fed’s Board of Governors.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s on the agenda:

• 7am: Trading updates: Curry’s, Funding Circle, Genus

• 9am: UK car sales data for August

• 9.30am: UK construction PMI for August

• 12.30pm: US Challenger job cuts report

• 1.30pm: US jobless claims

• 1.15pm: US ADP private payrolls data

• 3pm: US service sector PMI