FTSE 100 falls as UK inflation surges [Video]

The FTSE 100 was trading lower in today’s session, as it was reported that inflation rates in the UK rose in August.

Consumer prices in Britain rose to their highest levels in 9-years, with figures from the Office for National Statistics showing a 3.2% surge (YoY).

This was the biggest annual rise in inflation since March 2012 and an increase from the Bank of England’s  2.0% target, which was recorded in July.

Despite this, the BOE maintains its expectation for rates to average out at 2% early in 2022, despite warning that inflation could climb to as high as 4% by the end of this year.

It is believed that the short-term rise would come due to bottle-necks caused by not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but also  Brexit.

London’s FTSE 100 closed 0.25% today.

U.S. indices higher despite weak manufacturing figures

The Dow Jones and the benchmark S&P 500 were trading higher on Tuesday, as it was revealed that U.S. factory production had slowed.

Figures from the Federal Reserve showed that manufacturing output in the United States only increased by 0.2% last month, versus the 0.4% expected.

This comes in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, which many believe was the main reason for the slowdown, as several factories were forced to shut, in response to the storms.

Despite the short-term decline, it was shown that factory production is 1.0% above its pre-pandemic level, which is likely due to the manufacturers capitalising on pent up demand from earlier this year.

As a result, the blue-chip Dow Jones was trading 0.72% higher, with the S&P 500 also up.