The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.66 per cent or 47.89 points to 7,170.75 as cases of Covid-19 continue to rise sharply and the Bank of England prepares to vote on whether or not it will hike interest rates tomorrow.
Inflation soared above 5 per cent in November, new figures published today show, adding to the growing alarm about the threat of ‘stagflation’.
The headline CPI rate hit 5.1 per cent, significantly above the expectations of analysts and the highest for more than a decade, rising from 4.2 per cent in October.
Britain’s energy regulator has laid out a raft of measures to boost supply in the country, including financial stress tests for companies from January and reviewing its price cap policy, after record gas prices led to a wave of collapsed suppliers.
Ofgem said suppliers would also be required to undertake self-assessments of their management, adding that it had extended the period of assessment for new supplier licences to nine months.
LV members and MPs have called for a shake-up of the mutual insurer’s board to ensure it is set fair for the future.
The life insurer’s chief executive Mark Hartigan and chairman Alan Cook are still in their roles despite failing to push through a sale to private equity shark Bain Capital last week. Other members of the board, who backed Cook and Hartigan, have also remained in place.
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UK CPI jumped to 5.1% in November, reaching a decade high after jumping from 4.2% in the previous month
