FTSE and US stocks rise ahead of slew of corporate reports

• Full piece on Huw Pill here

• Huw Pill, chief economist at Bank of England says there is “still work to do” on inflation — adding that we need to get to target “in a way that’s sustainable through time”.

  We “shouldn’t rush to achieve the target” of 2%, he adds, at the OMFIF event this morning.

  Wage developments are being singled out as a persistent component of inflation that may not unwind on its own, unlike gas prices, which was the big driver of inflation after the start of the Ukraine-Russia war a year ago.

• Risers and fallers in the FTSE today as of 9.25am:

  UP:

  Rio Tinto — 1.2%

  Shell — 1.1%

  British American Tobacco — 1.1%

  DOWN:

  Ocado — -3.6%

  Intertek — -2.2%

  Compass Group — -1.3%

• Coming up this morning is Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill at the OMFIF, speaking on the UK’s economic outlook. We’ll be covering that from around 9.30am.

• UK house sales dipped 17% year-on-year and house price growth slowed at a pace not seen since 2008 this month, according to new data from Rightmove.

  The latest instalment of property portal’s house price tracker showed average new seller asking prices increased by 0.5% (£1,950) to £368,231, the smallest average asking price increase at this time of year since 2008. The historic norm in October is a 1.4% increase.

  “While this year’s much more subdued rise indicates that some new sellers are gradually heeding their agents’ advice to price competitively, agents report that other sellers still need to adjust their expectations on the price that they are likely to achieve in the current post-pandemic, lower-activity market,” said Tim Bannister Rightmove’s director of property science.

  Meanwhile, the number of buyers enquiring for each available home for sale is 8% higher than the more normal market of 2019.

  The proportion of homes that are finding a buyer has dropped from eight in every 10 at the height of the frenzy, to a more subdued sales rate of six in every 10, Rightmove added.

• Overnight in Asia

  Asian stocks fell on Monday as the market continues to digest the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Reports suggest it is edging closer to spilling over into other parts of the Middle East.

  There are currently hopes that a passage in and out of Gaza called the Rafah crossing could be reopened for the delivery of aid.

  The Nikkei (^N225) in Japan was the worst performer out of the major Asian indexes as investors took money off the table ahead of inflation data for September due later this week. Tech stocks saw the heaviest losses as markets also watch US interest rates.

  Meanwhile, the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong was down 0.9% and the SSE Composite (000001.SS) was lost 0.6% as markets look to China’s GDP reading later this week.

  The central bank increased liquidity support for its banking system as it rolled over medium-term policy loans on Monday. Interest rates remained unchanged.

• Good morning! We’re in the midst of a cold snap in London but that doesn’t seem to have stopped European stock futures going green. We’ve already had house price data from Rightmove and rental data from estate agents at Foxtons. Let’s get to it.

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