Pound hits 10-month high against dollar after Fed caution – as it happened

Dollar slides after US Federal Reserve adopts more cautious tone on inflation outlook

3.16pm BST

With this, we are closing the blog for today. Good-bye and thank you for all your great comments. We'll be back tomorrow.

2.42pm BST

Wall Street has got off to flying start: US stocks have risen to fresh record highs boosted by a flurry of strong company results.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 70 points, or 0.4%, to 21778.96 while the S&P 500 advanced nearly 4 points, or 0.15%, to 2481.73. and the Nasdaq climbed 33 points, or 0.5%, to 6455.67.

1.48pm BST

Investors are breathing a sigh of relief after US durable goods data showed a better than expected 6.5% gain in orders in June, says Dennis de Jong, managing director at online broker UFX.com.

A downbeat assessment on current inflation levels at yesterday's Fed Reserve meeting had cast further uncertainty over the next interest rate, although today's numbers suggest the US economy remains in good health."

The greenback could claw back some of yesterday's losses against major European counterparts.

1.36pm BST

Phillip Hammond has found a new Bank of England deputy governor to replace the disgraced Charlotte Hogg from within his own Treasury ranks.

The chancellor has appointed the Treasury's chief economic adviser, Sir David Ramsden to replace Hogg, who resigned earlier this year after failing to disclose that her brother was a senior executive at Barclays - a bank she would have regulated.

12.10pm BST

The world's oil consumption could peak as early as the late 2020s as electric cars become more popular, says Royal Dutch Shell boss Ben van Beurden.

But he added that oil would still be needed for several more decades, arguing that it will remain the main fuel used in planes, ships and heavy trucks.

Even if the UK, France and the western world in general will all go to 100% electric vehicles, that would be great, but that wouldn't be enough... We still have less advanced economies that cannot do that switch.

11.52am BST

France has decided to nationalise the STX France shipyard, marking president Emmanuel Macron's first major industrial policy decision, Reuters is reporting, citing Le Monde.

The French government has been in an ownership standoff with Italy over the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, north-western France. Reuters says:

As France's most pro-business leader in decades, few would have predicted the former investment banker's first big move in the corporate sector to be a nationalisation.

However, his action fits with the interventionist style of other postwar French leaders. It also crosses into the strategically sensitive defence sector where many national governments prefer to wield influence over ownership.

11.16am BST

The warm summer weather added a sizzle to Britain's high streets this month: retail sales growth hit a three-month high as shoppers updated their summer wardrobes and bought more groceries, according to a monthly survey from the CBI employers' group.

Its retail sales balance rose to 22 in July from 12 in June, marking the highest reading since April. Expectations for next month were the strongest since last December, but the CBI warned it might not last.

While retailers expect a similar pace of growth next month, the factors underpinning their sales growth are more shaky. Although employment is strong, real incomes are falling in the wake of higher inflation, and that's expected to feed slower consumer spending growth ahead."

10.36am BST

Time for a quick market round-up. The FTSE 100 index has slipped into negative territory, trading down some 2 points at 7450.24.

AstraZeneca's woes are weighing on the index, as is the stronger pound, which is rising against the dollar after a more cautious statement from the US Federal Reserve last night suggested the next interest rate hike may be some way off, and sent the greenback sliding.

10.02am BST

Sky has also reported results this morning. Our media correspondent Mark Sweney reports:

Sky is to hire 300 new technology staff to keep pace with rivals such as Netflix and Amazon as the broadcaster suffered a drop in full year profits and an increase in the rate of customers defecting to rivals.

Related: Sky in tech battle with Netflix and Amazon as its profits fall

10.01am BST

Here is our full story on Lloyds.

Related: Lloyds takes fresh 1bn hit from PPI compensation claims

9.57am BST

AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot is fielding numerous questions about whether he's leaving to join Israel's Teva. With a sigh, he said

AstraZeneca CEO: 'I will only make one comment: I'm not a quitter;" says about Mystic failure that immuno-oncology drugs take time to work

9.39am BST

The head of Britain's financial markets watchdog just said that the UK will scrap the scandal-hit Libor interest rate benchmark from the end of 2021, when a substitute index should be in place.

Libor is based on banks' submissions of interest rates they believe they would be charged for borrowing money.

9.25am BST

AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot is speaking on a conference call to journalists after the failure of a key lung cancer drug trial sent the company's shares down more than 15%, to 43.24. The stock is heading for its worst day ever.

Soriot, whilst saying that the company never comments on market speculation and rumours, has tried to squash the speculation triggered by a recent media report that he could jump ship and defect to Israel's Teva, the world's biggest generics drugmaker.

I'm impressed with the progress we've made. I'm proud to be the CEO of this company and I'm looking forward to continuing on our journey ahead... I'm committed to delivering our strategy of returning to growth.

8.47am BST

Travel company Thomas Cook as announced that it will start selling holidays in Tunisia again soon, after the UK changed its travel advice yesterday.

Chief executive Peter Fankhauser told journalists:

The foreign office came to the conclusion that it is again safe to travel. We didn't have any programme for the winter so we are setting up a really good quality offer for Tunisia and this is going to take some time. I suppose that we are gong to start during the winter season, but more towards the spring.

8.44am BST

The Walkie Talkie skyscraper in the City has been sold to a Hong Kong oyster sauce maker for 1.28bn in a record-breaking deal.

Land Securities has sold the building at 20 Fenchurch Street to Hong Kong-based Lee Kum Kee, a sauces company that specialises in oyster-flavoured sauce. It is the latest trophy building in London to be acquired by Asian investors, and marks the biggest sale ever of an office building in the UK.

8.33am BST

Guardian Business has launched a daily email.

Besides the key news headlines that you'd expect, there's an at-a-glance agenda of the day's main events, insightful opinion pieces and a quality feature to sink your teeth into each day.

Related: Business Today: sign up for a morning shot of financial news

8.26am BST

Foxtons, the London-based estate agent known for its fleet of Minis, has seen its shares tumble 7% to 89.75p, after a 64% plunge in first-half profits, as the London market cooled. Pretax profits dropped to 3.8m in the six months to June, from 10.5m a year earlier.

Chief executive Nic Budden said:

Our performance has been resilient in the context of a London property market that has been further impacted by unprecedented economic and political uncertainty. Whilst sales commissions in the second quarter as a whole were down 3% versus prior year, sales exchanges and our under offer pipeline weakened through June and the early part of July.

8.14am BST

Shares in AstraZeneca have crashed more than 16%, after the drugmaker suffered a major setback with the failure of an key lung cancer trial. The shares plunged as low as 42.71, wiping about 10bn off the company's market value.

The long-awaited initial results from the Mystic study found that a combination of two injectable immunotherapy drugs, durvalumab and tremelimumab, failed to help patients.

7.57am BST

Let's have a look at the company results.

Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds has set aside another 700m to meet PPI claims, taking the PPI charge in its first half to 1bn. However it has also reported its biggest first-half profit in eight years - a statutory pretax profit of 2.5bn, 4% higher than last year - and lifted the interim dividend.

7.45am BST

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

The pound has hit $1.3146, its highest level since last September against the dollar, after last night's US Federal Reserve statement. The dollar is sliding after the Fed adopted a more cautious tone on the inflation outlook - boosting expectations that the next interest rate hike may be delayed until next year.