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The number of residential property transactions fell by 0.3% in April, but was 0.8% higher than a year earlier.

The figures from HMRC, external show that there were 99,420 residential transactions in the month.

Kevin Roberts of Legal & General Mortgage Club said: “Despite greater innovation in the mortgage market and Government schemes like Help to Buy and Shared Ownership, property transactions remain stagnant."

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"There are twin drivers for the pound/dollar – Brexit fears hitting sterling and a strengthening dollar," says Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.

"As far as Brexit goes there it’s still as clear as mud and traders are de-risking from the pound. Mrs May is today attempting to persuade cabinet colleagues she can get the deal through next month, but it looks dead in the water.

"I’d reiterate the view that we are heading to either no-deal or no Brexit, a binary outcome that will keep traders on the sidelines.

"The safe haven appeal of the dollar in the current trade war situation is keeping the dollar supported," he said.

Emma-Lou Montgomery, associate director from Fidelity Personal Investing’s share dealing service has been looking at today's figures from Severn Trent. She said:

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BBC Radio 4

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The Financial Conduct Authority is warning about the prevalence of scams in the crypto asset world. Lots of fraudsters are at work and the FCA says the average loss if £14,600.

The fraudsters often contact people on social media, encourage them to invest and initially show them statements showing the value of the investment has gone up. The victim will then be encouraged to deposit more money and sell the scheme to friends and family.

"Never invest based on someone contacting you out of the blue, through social media, or calling you up," said Laura Suter, Personal Finance Analyst, at AJ Bell.

"Don't respond to anything that is time bound. Quite often people will say this is a great investment opportunity but you've got to put your money in the next half an hour. Don't necessarily trust family and friends that they've done their research," she said.

The pound has fallen below $1.27 for the first time since January.

It's really carrying on recent weakness as traders react to uncertainty over Brexit and the rising prospect of the UK leaving the European Union without any kind of transition deal.

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Water company Severn Trent has posted a 6.8% rise in profit for the year after scoring a number of performance-related incentives from regulator Ofwat, that offset a rise in costs linked to last summer's supply shortages.

It confirmed the final dividend will be 56.02p.

But the firm warned once more about the impact of any future nationalisation of the industry on its strategic goals.

Labour published plans earlier this month under which it would offer shareholders in water utilities around half their current market value under a nationalisation programme should it win the next general election.

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Thomas Cook shares have staged a bit of a recovery this morning, but it's all relative. Over the last four sessions shares have lost almost 60% of their value.

Last week was a grim one for the company.

On Thursday the company reported a £1.5bn loss and warned of "further headwinds".

On Friday analysts at Citigroup said the shares were "worthless".

Today shares are up 9% at 11.25p. But it's worth pointing out that in May of last year they were trading around 130p.

Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

Image source, British Steel

"Sources close to Greybull Capital say its lenders have told them that unless they can secure a £30m lifeline, they will pull the plug on British Steel tomorrow.

"The timing of this could hardly be worse for the government, coming as it does right before the European elections.

"Cynics might suggest that Greybull is not unhappy with the timescale of the plea.

Business Secretary Greg Clark has a very tough decision as I’ve already written.

"The question may be whether the government can put this down to Brexit mitigation and tap the same source of contingency funds Chris Grayling disastrously used to procure emergency Ferry capacity.

"At least there would be an immediate dividend - to stave off the collapse of a firm that employs 4,500 people directly and has 20,000 more at risk in the supply chain.

"However, having already lent £120m to cover a genuinely Brexit related carbon emissions bill, further assistance to a private company struggling in a deeply challenged industry may be a precedent they would rather not set."

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Troubled builder Galliford Try has confirmed that its strategic review launched last month to generate cost savings of £15m a year will lead to 350 job losses across the country.

The company said the restructuring costs will lead to a £40m write-down during the year.

Graham Prothero, chief executive, said: "We have made some difficult decisions in response to the challenges faced by the Group's Construction business.

"The associated operational changes are being implemented across the business. We are confident that the decision to refocus our construction activities will deliver a more stable business for the future and support improved margins."

The FTSE 100 opened this morning at 7,337.67, up 26.79 or 0.37%.

Meanwhile the FTSE 250 opened at 19,420.79, up 85.20 or 0.44%.

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Entertainment One, which owns Peppa Pig and PJ Maks, has reported a 43% fall in annual profits to £36.8m., external

Profits were hit by a one-off charge of £61m relating to the company's home entertainment buisness. It said that returns from £15m worth of content will be lower than expected. It has written down the value of other assets and is making allowances for bad debt and laying off staff.

Excluding those one-off charges and other items, profits were up 21% at £198m.

It was helped by higher sales generated by the childrens TV shows Peppa Pig and PJ Masks.

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British bicycles and car parts retailer Halfords has reported a 18% fall in annual profit to £58.8m from £71.6m.

The company blamed weak consumer confidence, unhelpful weather and investment in the business.

Halfords kept its guidance for profit in its new financial year to be broadly in line with 2018-19, though it cautioned the current economic environment and consumer confidence remained challenging.

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Joe Garner is Nationwide's chief executive. He says profits were down because the company has been investing in technology. Otherwise the business is strong.

"Although the housing market has been relatively subdued. The mortgage market is incredibly vibrant and competitive."

"We've been picking up customers from everybody... our current account market share of switchers is over 20% in the period just gone."

Mr Garner says the company has launched business banking, helped by £50m from the government's Capability and Innovation Fund.

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British Steel is on the verge of administration as it continues to lobby for government backing, sources say.

The UK's second-biggest steel maker had been trying to secure £75m in financial support to help it to address "Brexit-related issues" but that figure has now been cut to £30m.

If the firm does not get the cash it would put 4,000 jobs at risk and endanger 20,000 in the supply chain.

Company sources said that the direction of talks with the government would become clearer in the coming hours.

Image source, WH Smith

Retailer WH Smith said like-for-like sales climbed 1% in the 11 weeks to 18 May.

Sales fell 1% in the high street stores but were up 1% in its travel business, where it plans to open around 20 new units in the UK including 10 hospital stores.

Chief executive Stephen Clarke, who will leave in October, said: "We remain confident in the outcome for the full year."

Image source, WH Smith

Stephen Clarke, chief executive of retailer WH Smith, will leave in October after 15 years with the firm, with six in the top job.

He will be replaced by Carl Cowling, currently managing director of the WH Smith High Street business.

Image source, Nationwide

Nationwide has reported, external an annual profit of £833m, down from £977m the previous year.

The results include a charge of £227m for writing down the value of assets and additional spending on technology.

"We expect demand in the housing market to remain fairly subdued, close to recent levels, before strengthening once the wider economy gains momentum. Deposit growth is likely to rise by around 4% per year, a little stronger than that recorded over the past two years," the company said in its results.

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Tesco Bank has stopped mortgage lending and is looking to find a buyer for it's mortgage book, which total £3.7bn with 23,000 customers.

Gerry Mallon, chief executive Tesco Bank said: "We have made the strategic decision to focus on serving a broader range of customers in more specific areas, which means moving away from our mortgage offer.

"We have therefore chosen to cease lending to new customers and announce our intention to explore a sale of our portfolio."

It only entered the mortgage market in 2012.

The US government has temporarily eased some restrictions on Huawei, giving telecoms operators that rely on Huawei equipment time to make other arrangements.

But what do all these restrictions on Huawei mean for the telecoms industry? Jake Saunders is a Managing Director at the tech consultants ABI Research.

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Wake Up To Money

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Now, what's the view from inside Thomas Cook? In other words, how have 22,000 staff reacted to the travel company's turmoil over the past few days?

Tony Wheeler of the TSSA union, external told Wake Up To Money: "There's a certain degree of confusion and upset.

Thomas Cook employees are very proud of their brand and I don't think anybody saw these issues coming."

He said he had concerns for the direction that Thomas Cook may take.

The longevity of the business is a worry now," he said. "We need some reassurance."