UK energy bills forecast to fall further in July; US inflation rate drops – as it happened

Investec predict UK energy bills will average 2,500/year in the second half of 2023 year, as US consumer price index falls to 6.5% in year to December

• US prices dropped in December for first time since May 2020 as inflation rate fell to 6.5%

British shoppers traded up to top-tier lines during the holiday season, Marks & Spencer CEO Stuart Machin says.

Machin added that M&S also saw a big increase in demand for everyday value items, saying (via Reuters):

We planned for that (strong demand for top tier) and we actually sold out of most of our collection lines ... so we saw customers trade very much both.

We would hope that by the middle of the year it will have peaked and then we will see it come down the other side."

We all would expect customers to tighten their belts after Christmas and that's certainly what we have built into the plan this year,"