Thanks for joining me. Energy regulator Ofgem has cut the energy price cap meaning households face a £151 reduction in average annual bills.
The cap – which limits the amount that a supplier can charge per unit of gas or electricity they sell – will drop to £1,923 from the start of October.
5 things to start your day
1) Oxford Street needs support to retain ‘iconic’ status, says Ikea chief | Swedish furniture giant delays new store opening in further blow to London shopping district
2) HMV owner in last-ditch bid to rescue Wilko | Late stage interest offers hope for some of the retailer’s 12,000 jobs
3) OnlyFans’ Ukrainian-born owner banks £267m from adult website as revenues top $1bn | Milestone comes in spite of platform’s growth slowing from runaway rates seen during Covid
4) Video calling is bad for creativity, says Zoom chief | Pandemic-era tech darling risks its own ‘Ratner moment’ amid return to office push
5) Record rise in young men out of work and education | Impact of lockdowns blamed for leaving 16 to 24-year-olds less prepared for getting a job
What happened overnight
Asian stocks tracked a drop on Wall Street while Treasury yields stabilised after further upward pressure as traders await Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole summit for clues on the next steps for interest rates.
Equity markets in Japan, Australia, South Korea and China all slipped with declines prominent in Hong Kong-listed technology stocks, echoing heavy selling in US tech shares on Wednesday.
Wall Street stocks fell on Thursday ahead of a key address by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as Treasury bond yields resumed their upward climb.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.1pc to 34,099.42.
The broad-based S&P 500 sank 1.4pc to 4,376.31, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slid 1.9pc to 13,463.97.
The benchmark yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.23pc from 4.20pc late Wednesday.