Bank of England’s Broadbent sees inflation over 5% soon; markets rally as Omicron fears fade – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as the UK's growth outlook is marred by Omicron

• Latest: BoE deputy governor sees inflation over 5% next spring
• Increase in energy cap will push up cost of living

Earlier:

• UK building sector gathers speed as shortages ease
• UK construction PMI rose to 55.5 last month from 54.6 in October
• German factory orders tumble 6.9%...chip shortages hit UK car sales
• CBI revises next year's economic growth forecast down to 5.1%
• KPMG: New Covid variant to push back UK economic recovery

Shares of China's Evergrande Group have tumbled to a record low on Monday on fears that the property giant it is on the verge of a potentially disastrous default, and could be forced into a full-blown restructuring.

Evergrande's shares slumped by up to 19.5% in Hong Kong trading, after the firm said there was no guarantee it would have enough funds to meet debt repayments.

The company has lurched from one crisis to another in recent months as it faced a series of repayments on debts - three times waiting until the last possible moment to stump up the cash needed to stay afloat.

But a statement from the company over the weekend said that there was no guarantee" that the group could meet its obligations and added that creditors had demanded immediate repayment of a total of $260m (196m).