Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Wednesday and new Chancellor John Healey will be hoping for an early boost when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals June’s inflation rate at 7am. Headline CPI inflation is tipped to have eased slightly from 2.8 per cent in
Felix Armstrong
Wednesday 22 July 2026 6:30 am | Updated: Tuesday 21 July 2026 8:57 pm
Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog.
It’s Wednesday and new Chancellor John Healey will be hoping for an early boost when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals June’s inflation rate at 7am.
Headline CPI inflation is tipped to have eased slightly from 2.8 per cent in May to 2.7 per cent in June, according to City economists polled by Bloomberg.
A sharp drop in petrol and diesel prices is hoped to have pulled the overall inflation rate down by one percentage point. But fresh tensions between the US and Iran have sent oil prices back up, so any easing of inflation revealed today could be fleeting.
Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK, said falling oil prices after the interim ceasefire agreement will be the “main drag on inflation in June”.
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“However, oil prices have rebounded in July as tensions escalate which means inflation is still likely to peak at around 3.4 per cent in November,” he said.
He cautioned that food prices could “rebound later this year, as higher energy and fertiliser prices due to the conflict in the Middle East make their way through supply chains”.
An inflation boost would be welcome for Burnham, whose first full day as Prime Minister was rocked by a row over his plans to fund a cut to VAT on electricity bills using the money saved by scrapping Digital ID.
Critics – including sacked Starmer ally Darren Jones – claimed that this money doesn’t exist because the Digital ID plans were yet to be funded.
We’ll be bringing you the latest market updates and analysis as the day develops.
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