The new chancellor’s emergency fiscal statement today helped calm markets, with sterling higher overall and circling the $1.14 mark while investors were prepared to lend to the government for 10 years at under 4% as gilt yields fell back.
London’s FTSE 100 was higher, led by some of the sectors hit hardest by the now defunct “mini-Budget”, including housebuilders and UK mortgage banks. The original “mini-Budget” mesures hit both sectors, when the outlook for UK interest rates was upended and a record number of home loans were pulled from the market.
This afternoon’s Commons statement by Jeremy Hunt will include details of the medium-term fiscal plan due on 31 October.
The statement came on the first trading session since the Bank of England ended its government bond-buying scheme.
