Retail sales volumes rose 0.5% in May, better than the expected 0.2% drop.

The business said its cost-cutting efforts were going well but taking longer than expected.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee raised the interest rate from 4.5% to 5% on Thursday.

A report in The Times said the online grocer may be in the crosshairs of more than one US suitor.

The Competition and Markets Authority said the full merger of Cochlear and Oticon Medical ‘could reduce innovation and quality’.

The independent hotel sector has been declining, Whitbread boss Dominic Paul said, benefiting big players like Premier Inn.

Downing Street insisted that the Prime Minister’s plan to halve inflation was still on track, despite the setback

Inflation remained unchanged at 8.7% in May, the Office for National Statistics revealed on Wednesday.

Consumer Prices Index inflation stayed at 8.7% last month, the data shows.

Experts expect inflation to slow down again.

The business revealed on Tuesday morning that it had taken a 5% stake in Boohoo.

The deal has got the backing of investors who own more than 40% of the company’s shares.

The business which specialises in serving the over-50s said its ocean cruise business has managed to fill around eight in 10 spots for this season.

The Bank said that it would produce a report next year listing the institutions that took part and how the systems performed.

The Chinese arm of the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant might list in Hong Kong, according to a report.

On Wall Street, both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones were trading flat a short while after markets in Europe shut.

The results, published next Wednesday, come as house price data looks increasingly bad for companies who sell homes.

Although the firm hailed its performance in the first quarter of the year, an expected bounce-back did not materialise in the second.

Amazon’s deal to buy iRobot Corporation will now go ahead.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 25.52 points, or 0.35%, to 7,628.26, lifted by Shell and Astrazeneca, the two biggest companies on its list.