Pound jumps as UK retail sales beat forecasts - business live
(The Guardian Business News)

All the day´s economic and financial news, including an eagerly awaited Federal Reserve policy meetingThe agenda: Fed may start unwinding its QE programme tonightPolicymakers likely to leave rates on holdMarkets at record levelsDow and S&P 500 hit new highs last night 9.38am BST Breaking! UK retail sales were much stronger than expected in August.The Office for National Statistics reports that retail sales jumped by 1.0% last month, beating City forecasts, and suggesting that consumers are still hitting the high street.Stroooooong retail sales and the British pound is officially on another mad one pic.twitter.com/oopj4NOAH4 9.26am BST Britain´s small businesses don´t share the sense of optimism in the markets.Confidence among UK firms has taken a tumble in the last three months, according to the Federation of Small Businesses. It´s Small Business Index has dropped to just +1 this quarter, down from +15 in April-June, and near to the -3 seen after last summer´s Brexit vote. `Rising inflationary pressure and a weakening domestic economy are the twin drivers of plummeting confidence among small firms and consumers alike. Optimism among UK small firms has tumbled to its lowest level since EU referendum a/c Fed of Small Businesses survey Continue reading...