Asian stocks fall as US and Iran exchange fire – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news European stock markets have opened broadly flat, as investors look ahead to a key US inflation reading due later this afternoon. The UK’s blue chip FTSE 100 index has ticked up 0.1%. The German Dax and the French Cac 40 are also up by about 0.1%. The Stoxx Europe 600, which tracks the biggest companies on the continent, is up 0.07%. US May inflation data is due out later today, with economists expecting both core and headline inflation to tick up. Consensus is for headline CPI inflation to reach 4.2%, which would be the highest it’s been since April 2023, and following on from strong jobs data would put more pressure on the Fed to think about raising interest rates. The US central bank is stuck between a rock and a hard place, with the President likely to take a dim view of rate rises, but higher oil prices are steadily pushing up prices across the economy. “The new financial year has begun well. Like for like sales for the first 10 weeks have risen by 4.4%, building on a strong comparative period last year and our underlying profitability continues to improve, maintaining the momentum we have built in recent years. As we move into our summer season, preparations have gone well. Our garden investment programme has seen fresh space created for peak trading, advance bookings for the World Cup have been strong, and we are seeing increased demand for staycations benefiting our excellent rooms business. Continue reading...