Bank votes 6-2 to hold interest rates
Bank downgrades UK growth forecast to 1.7%
Bosses' fall in pay 'limited and late'
Next store sales fall but online shopping up
Image source, Getty ImagesRetail sales in the eurozone exceeded expectations in June, rising by an estimated 0.5%, according to the European Union's statistics office Eurostat.
The market expectation had been for a 0.1% rise.
Year-on-year the volume of retail sales rose 3.1% in June, higher than the 2.6% rise forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
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The Guardian and the Grocer have reported that the upmarket chocolate company's latest range of new bars make no claim to be organic.
Its dark chocolate Velvet Edition range is to be launched in the UK this month.
The company is owned by US food giant Mondelez International which is parent company to Cadbury.
Its Velvet Edition range will be produced under its Cocoa Life Sustainability initiative which it says will benefit thousands of cocoa farmers, mostly in West Africa.
Image source, PADFS, the UK's largest independent furniture retailer, has announced it is taking over smaller rival Sofology for an initial £25m.
Last month shares in DFS plunged by 22% after the firm issued a profit warning.
Sofology is a specialist sofa retailer with a network of 37 stores in the UK and a strong web presence.
Ian Filby, DFS chief executive, said: "While the UK furniture retail market continues to be very challenging, we remain focused on making strategic progress to strengthen our position in living room furniture."
Sterling traded close to an 11-month high against the dollar on Thursday, as currency traders waited for a Bank of England policy decision to give an indication as to when interest rates may be hiked from their current record lows.
The pound was up 0.25% at $1.32560.
Image source, Getty ImagesAnother big business of sport story that is around today concerns an ongoing pay row featuring Australia's top male cricket players.
A deal has been agreed "in principle" to resolve a long-running dispute that could have threatened this winter's Ashes series against England.
Cricket Australia says a deal was struck with the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) on Thursday.
The Test tour of Bangladesh starting this month is now expected to go ahead.
Australia A's tour of South Africa was cancelled in July amid the row over the scrapping of a revenue-sharing model.
Australia's leading 230 players have effectively been unemployed since the previous five-year agreement expired on 30 June.
Hyperloop: Passenger pod tested successfully
Hyperloop One has carried out its latest test of a futuristic high-speed transport system in the Nevada desert. The creators hope to carry passengers at speeds of up to 650mph in vacuum propelled pods.
Quote Message“Next shares flew off the shelves in early trading, jumping 10% after a trading update that showed sales returned to growth in the second quarter thanks to its online division and a turnaround strategy - a return to ‘easy to wear styles that can be delivered in large volumes’ - is paying off. On the face of it, not a lot different today from Next - sales are still wobbly but the company is still strongly cash generative and can keep up the dividends as promised. Today investors cheered as the company declared a third special dividend of 45p and looks well placed to deliver more.
Neil Wilson, Senior Market Analyst, ETX Capital
Image source, Getty ImagesIt's been a lacklustre day for Asian markets with falls across the region.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.7% as tech shares lost steam. Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei index gave up 0.4% and Australia's S&P ASX 200 slipped 0.2%.
Financial stocks were weak in Sydney trading after the Commonwealth Bank of Australia was accused of money laundering breaches.
Shares in Next soared 10% higher, to £44.18, on its second-quarter performance, which was boosted by growing sales at its Next directory arm.
The London stock market was down at open of trade on Thursday.
Not long after open the FTSE 100 benchmark index of bluechip stocks was down 0.25%, or 18.56 points, at 7392.87.
Quote MessageThe warm British summer may have increased clothing sales at Next, but it hasn't brought a great deal of joy to investors. Some could be disappointed that the company's full-year profit guidance, downgraded slightly in March, has been held steady by the retailer despite all the sunshine. Sales were indeed higher-than-expected in June and July, but Next didn't manage to clear as much stock as hoped during its end-of-season sale, neutralising the benefit. British retailers like Next are evidently still struggling to deal with a spike in inventory costs caused by the dramatic fall in the value of the British pound, which is also weighing on consumer confidence.
Ben Flint, Market analyst, City Index
Insurer Esure Group has reported a big rise in first-half pretax profit, after rising insurance prices and an increase in demand for its motor insurance products.
Esure, which has almost two million customers for its motor, home, pet and holiday policies across the UK, said pretax profit from continuing operations rose 44.6% to £45.1m in the six months to the end of June.
Image source, ReutersRussian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said new sanctions imposed by the US are tantamount to declaring a "full-scale trade war" against Moscow.
The law will limit the amount of money Americans can invest in Russian energy projects and make it more difficult for US companies to do business with Russia.
Congress overwhelmingly passed the move and sent the bill to President Donald Trump. He sat on it for a few days before reluctantly - and behind closed doors - signing the measure into law.
The president later accused Congress of overstepping its constitutional authority - because the law "handcuffs" him from easing the penalties on Russia. He said the bill was "deeply flawed".
Mr Medvedev said Russia would "calmly" continue to develop its economy, despite the sanctions
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
Despite the rise of binge viewing and streaming TV services, TV viewers are still watching traditional broadcast networks, says Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom Consumer Group Director.
She says seven out of ten people sit down at least once a week as a family and watch a TV show, particularly big sports events or TV events like the final of Strictly Come Dancing.
Also, according to Ms Fussell, the average adult watches three and a half hours of broadcast television a day.
Older people are watching more television than younger people she says.
Image source, PAMore on that executive pay story.
Research carried out by the High Pay Centre think tank and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) showed there were just six women amongst the top 100 chief executives.
They were paid on average £2.6m last year compared to £4.5m earned by men.
Edwin Morgan of the Institute of Directors said the pay gap between men and women was indicative of a whole range of issues.
"I think the FTSE 100 has a big problem with women at senior levels," he said on BBC Breakfast TV.
He said headhunters needed to put more women forward, businesses need to examine issues of unconscious bias and why women were under represented at senior levels of management.
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
Aviva boss Mark Wilson is asked whether chief executives are paid too much. He neatly sidesteps that by talking about how Aviva pays the Living Wage, which is calculated by the Living Wage Foundation as enough to support a family.
"We were one of the first employers to do the Living Wage. We've been leading the charge.
"I think the Living Wage is fundamental to doing the right thing by society. We did that very early, not only for us, but we've also forced our many thousands of contractors to pay the Living Wage if they want to do business with Aviva.
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
Aviva's chief executive is Mark Wilson is asked whether the insurance market penalises loyal customers:
"I think that the UK car insurance market is dysfunctional, I don't think it works properly, I think the entry level is too low and then it gets put up for all existing customers."
He says Aviva has developed a "suite" of products to be launched before the end of the year, which will help reward loyal customers.
"Let's see how it goes," he says.
Car insurance is just 2% of Aviva's total business.
High Street fashion chain Next has seen full price sales at its stores drop by 7.4% in the May to July quarter compared with last year.
However, sales at its Next Directory online shopping were up by 11.4%, leaving overall sales for the quarter ahead by 0.7%.
"We believe there has been some improvement in our product ranges and our online functionality during this period," the firm said in a statement.
However it said the improvement in full price sales had "been offset with lower clearance rates during our end-of-season sale".
And it said it had narrowed its sales guidance range for the full year to -3.0% to +0.5%.
Worries over Financial Fair Play rules being breached
BBC Radio 5 live
Image source, Getty ImagesNeymar's huge 222m euros (£198m) deal to take him from Barcelona to Paris St-Germain will not breach Uefa's Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, according to a football finance expert.
The Spanish club had been reportedly ready to alert European football authorities that the French club might be in breach of FFP regulations.
Those rules basically mean that over a period of a number of seasons, club outgoings must not exceed incoming revenues.
According to David Bick, Chairman of Square 1 Consulting - the man who advised American billionaire Randy Lerner when he took over Aston Villa in 2006 - PSG should be in the clear.
"I can't see them doing this without being very careful to see that they don't fall outside the rules," he told Radio 5 live's Wake Up to Money programme.
He said PSG would be counting on increased revenues off the back of the Neymar purchase, including things like shirt sales, and - potentially - image rights.
Image source, ReutersThe food delivery company Deliveroo is introducing safety measures to try to protect its riders from violence.
It follows acid attacks in London last month, where the victims included riders delivering by bike or moped.
Since then, over 70 Deliveroo riders have said they did not want to complete a delivery because of safety fears.
Among the measures being introduced are a new app feature that allows riders to raise security concerns, plus a trial of helmet cameras.