Key events
The FTSE 100 is the worst of the European stock market performers on this sunny Thursday morning in London: it is down 0.6% in the early trades.
Germany’s Dax index is up 0.3%, while France’s Cac 40 is down 0.4%.
Across the indices larger stocks are down, with the Euro Stoxx 50 down 0.2%.
Sainsbury’s says profits to be flat after breaking £1bn; Fed warns on inflation
Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of business, economics and financial markets.
Sainsbury’s has made underlying retail operating profits of more than £1bn for the first time, but the British supermarket chain suggested it will not beat that this year as it battles with rivals on price.
UK supermarkets are locked in a battle for market share, trying to entice shoppers with lower prices – or trying to defend their turf against cheaper rivals.
Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s share prices slumped last month after Asda said it would cut prices. Price cuts look like they will continue to hit
Sainsbury’s pre-tax profits rose 38.6% to £384m but underlying operating profit hit £1bn if one-off items, such as those related to the closure of cafes and hot food counters announced in January, were excluded, retail correspondent Sarah Butler reports.
Federal Reserve’s inflation warning
If it’s price cuts that are worrying British supermarket investors, price rises are the focus of the US Federal Reserve.
Jerome Powell, the Fed’s chair, said that Donald Trump’s tariffs were causing a “challenging scenario” for the central bank and were likely to increase inflation.
Chinese online retailers Shein and Temu last night gave a clear indication of how tariffs will increase inflation: they said that they will increase prices for US customers, although they did not say how much. Economists are expecting a big jump in the prices of the billions of dollars of goods imported from China in particular, after Trump raised tariffs on most products to 145%.
Powell’s comments caused US stock markets to drop last night, and the FTSE 100 has followed suit on Monday morning, down 0.8% in the early trades.
And happy ECB day to those who celebrate! The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates for the seventh time in a year later today in an effort to prop up the European economy, under pressure from the chaos across the Atlantic.
The agenda
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1:15pm BST: European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate decision
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1:30pm BST: US initial jobless claims (week ending 12 April; previous: 223,000; consensus: 225,000)
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1:45pm BST: ECB press conference with Christine Lagarde
