Image source, Getty Images

Housebuilder Persimmon is still "in rude health", says George Salmon of Hargreaves Lansdown, "with cancellation rates actually declining, and sales rates and visitor numbers up strongly".

"Prior to today’s results, investors will have been heartened to see interest rates cut in the aftermath of the vote, which should support mortgage affordability.

"Help-to-buy and the UK’s endemic housing shortage are also pulling in the right direction, but Persimmon acknowledge[s] that the uncertainty around the impact of Brexit on the UK economy is unlikely to pass quickly," he says.

Despite rising today, Persimmon shares are still 11% lower than from before the Brexit vote which sparked a sharp sell-off in shares of building firms.

Image source, PA

Housebuilders finished the morning as the biggest winners on the FTSE 100, helping the share index to rise 0.4% to 6,857.72 points.

Persimmon led the way, with its shares up nearly 5%, while Barratt was up 3.6% and Taylor Wimpey 3.3%.

On the currency markets, the pound briefly went above $1.32 for the first time since the Bank of England cut interest rates on 4 August. Against the euro, sterling is holding above €1.16.

Image source, Getty Images

The German carmaker Volkswagen says it's reached agreement with two suppliers to end a dispute which had threatened to hit production. 

After marathon talks, VW said the two firms - which supply gearbox parts and seat covers - had agreed to resume deliveries. 

The dispute had disrupted manufacturing of its Golf hatchback and Passat sedans - and forced VW to cut the hours of thousands of workers.

Women have been telling the BBC about returning to work after maternity leave.

Agi, from London, says:

"I came back from maternity [leave] after having my first child just over a year ago. I took nine months off and came back to a changed job, the company having gone through two restructurings. Since then, my job changed again, I was given more responsibilities, which are now also more senior. None of the changes include a pay review. I was told there were a lot of uncertainties and redundancies... which naturally made me worried I may lose my job if I object to taking on more."

Are you dealing with unfair treatment at work while pregnant? Are you a new mother losing out at work? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, external with your experience using “Gender pay gap 37156178” as subject.

Image source, Reuters

Orders for British manufacturing exports rose to their highest level in two years in August, according to a survey by the CBI, external. 

The business group said there were signs the fall in sterling may be feeding through to stronger overseas demand for UK manufacturers. 

In the survey, 21% of businesses reported export orders to be above normal and 27% below, resulting in a balance of -6%, the highest since August 2014 (-3%).

Eurozone economic activity edged higher in August, despite the supposed shock of the UK's Brexit vote, a closely watched survey has suggested. 

The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), external for the eurozone rose to a seven-month-high of 53.3 points, up from 53.2 in July. Anything above 50 indicates growth. The initial, or "flash", reading had a strong showing from France as well as powerhouse Germany. 

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, the data company that compiles the PMI, said the findings suggest the eurozone is on course for modest economic growth...

This shot of Matteo Renzi, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande on an Italian military aircraft carrier following their Brexit talks yesterday reminds the Financial Times' news editor of a certain US TV series... 

BBC World Service

The loss of cheap crude from Venezuela is raising the prospect of blackouts in Cuba, according to Latin America expert Richard Feinberg of the Brookings Institution.

He tells the BBC's Rob Young that this is a "very difficult - perhaps dangerous - moment" for Cuba's Communist government.

Image source, Getty Images

Energy regulator Ofgem has said that National Grid can recoup a £54m claim for its Fiddlers Ferry contract from energy firm SSE. The coal-powered Fiddlers Ferry power station is earmarked for closure around March 2017.

National Grid must bear £17.7m costs over a separate contract for the SSE Drax power station, but can recover £95.3m "via balancing charges on suppliers and generators", Ofgem added.

Women have been contacting the BBC to share their experiences of returning to the workplace after becoming a mother.

Alison Davies said: 

"After my first child at 29 I returned part time but due to the nature of my job I was demoted... to opening post and making tea. I could not see the point of paying for a child-minder and spending time away from my baby to open post and make tea for the people I used to manage, so after six months I quit.

I have been unable to find a job that covers childcare costs and travel costs and makes more than £50 per week so I have been a stay at home mum for nine years (second child 2008)...

My husband’s career has steadily grown... [but] as my children get older my career sacrifice has turned into career suicide."

Are you dealing with unfair treatment at work while pregnant? Are you a new mother losing out at work? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, external with your experience using “Gender pay gap 37156178” as subject.

Image source, Thinkstock

Asda is selling its picture-developing business to Photo-Me, external, the photo booth company, for up to £6m. 

The deal will see Photo-Me run Asda's 191 photo centres and 172 self-service kiosks for ten years, as well as Asda-branded online photo processing for two and a half years. Asda's existing staff will move across to Photo-Me. 

The supermarket's photo division made about £19.3m in sales last year and a loss of £3.4m, Photo-Me said.

Shares in Photo-Me are up 0.8%, valuing the company at £615m.

Leisha Chi
Business reporter in Singapore

Taiwanese prosecutors are investigating whether Mega Financial bank broke local criminal laws, as the company's chairman said it did not help customers launder money overseas.

"We are gathering information and will review it to see if there has been any violation of criminal law in Taiwan," said Chang Chieh-chin, deputy head prosecutor with the Taipei District Public Prosecutors Office.

The investigation comes after New York authorities on Friday fined Mega International Commercial Bank $180m under anti-money laundering regulations, the first time in a decade that a Taiwan-based financial institution has been penalised by US authorities.

Shares of Mega Financial in Taipei have lost more than 8% since last week.

Image source, Getty Images

Ramen noodles have overtaken tobacco to become the most valuable commodity in US prisons, a new study suggests.

The research said the shift was a response to a decline in the quantity and quality of food on offer.

"Because it is cheap, tasty, and rich in calories, ramen has become so valuable that it is used to exchange for other goods," said study author Michael Gibson-Light, external.

Read more here.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Negative interest rates in many parts of the world cost banks money to store cash with central banks - so some financial institutions are looking at buying warehouses to store cash instead.

In Germany, where the ECB does charge for deposits, some big institutions are already experimenting with bulk storage of cash.

Mike Bowen of G4S says his firm is one of four organisations in the UK licensed to handle cash in bulk.

"We have a network of nine cash centres across the UK... a little bit like mini-Fort Knox-es," he says.

He adds that Ocean's 11 scenarios of big robberies are less of a risk than "shrinkage" - employees pocketing cash.

BBC Breakfast

Sue Langley, chair of the Women's Business Council, is on BBC Breakfast talking about two reports out today suggesting that women are falling further behind men in terms of salaries and promotions.

The headline from one - that women are paid less after childbirth - "is a bit simplistic", she says. "If you take time out of the workplace and don't have the same number of years' experience as someone else, you will be paid less, but I think to say it's due to women having kids isn't the answer."

The second report, from the Chartered Management Institute, external, suggests men are more likely than women to have been promoted into senior roles last year. 

"There is a responsibility on women to put themselves forward,"  Ms Langley says. "Sometimes they feel reluctant to ask for that next job or that next promotion. It's a bit of a generalisation but women tend to be less good at saying 'I've achieved the following over the last year'."

However, she adds: "Companies need to be much more proactive in recognising what women do - that perhaps characteristics and behaviours are different - and pulling those women through and promoting them."

Tesco is still far and away the biggest grocer in terms of market share, according to Kantar Worldpanel, with 28.1% of the market.

Sainsbury's is second, with 16.1% of the market, and Asda is third, on 15.7%. Morrisons has 10.6%. 

Asda and Sainsbury's have vied for second place for a number of years, but the Walmart-owned supermarket fell behind Sainsbury's, external in terms of market share in November 2015, and remains in third place.

By comparison, Aldi has 6.2% of the market, and Lidl has 4.5%.

The FTSE 100 is 0.55% higher in early trade at 6866.39 points.

Housebuilder Persimmon is the biggest winner on London's blue chip index, rising 3.1%. It comes after the company reported "robust" interest in its houses after the Brexit vote, as well as a 29% jump in profit in the six months to the end of June.

Builders Taylor Wimpey, Berkeley Group and Barratt Developments are also among the top risers.   

The FTSE 250 of mid-cap UK firms is also up 0.29% to 17,923.12.

Image source, Reuters

Asda's market share has fallen 5.5% in the 12 weeks to 14 August, according to Kantar Worldpanel.

Meanwhile, Aldi's share of the market jumped 10.4%, and Lidl's rose 12.2%. 

Last week Asda reported a drop in sales of 7.5% in the past three months, its worst quarterly performance on record.