BUSINESS CLOSE: UK markets fall; BoE hikes interest rates to 0.5%; Record 54% energy cap rise; Shell initiates $8.5bn buyback programme
The FTSE 100 closed down 0.71 per cent or 54.16 points to 7,528.84 this afternoon, while the FTSE 250 index finished down 1.27 per cent or 281.62 points to 21,967.78.
The Bank of England has lifted interest rates from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent in efforts to combat soaring inflation, which is currently at a 30-year high.
The BoE is also expected to signal further unwinding of its pandemic stimulus and a gradual reversal of its huge bond-buying programme.
Ofgem has confirmed a 54 per cent rise in the domestic energy price cap, which will jump by £693 per year to £1,971 for customers on default tariffs.
The rise will impact an estimated 22million people.
Shell has boosted its dividend and share repurchases after its fourth quarter profits soared to $6.4billion at the end of last year, thanks to higher oil and gas prices.
The group expects to increase its dividend by 4 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 and it will buy back $8.5billion worth of shares in the first half of 2022, including $5.5billion from the sale of its Permian shale assets in the US.
BT Group has entered exclusive discussions with Discovery to create a joint venture with BT Sport and Eurosport, giving customers of the former access to Discovery’s sport and entertainment content, including the discovery+ app.
The group saw revenue fall by 2 per cent in the final nine months of 2021 to £15.68billion, with declines in global and enterprise partly offset by growth in Openreach.
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The Bank of England hiked raise interest rates from 0.25% to 0.5% this afternoon