UK grocery inflation falls to 1.6%; Fed chair Powell hints at US rate cuts – business live

The water regulator for England and Wales is taking action against four more water companies including Severn Trent and United Utilities over sewage spills, just days after being accused of showing “contempt” to customers over the latest water bill price rises.

Ofwat said it had served formal notices on Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, Hafren Dyfrdwy, Severn Trent and United Utilities asking them to provide evidence for its investigation into companies’ wastewater management in England and Wales.

The regulator has looked at the firms’ environmental performance and data about how often they spill from storm overflows. It said this had heightened its “concerns that these companies may not be fulfilling their obligations to protect the environment and minimise pollution”.

This means Ofwat is now taking enforcement action against all 11 water and wastewater companies in England and Wales over sewage pollution. Once it has fully investigated, it will publish its findings and where appropriate take action over any breaches of legal obligations.

Investigations into Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South West Water, Thames Water, Wessex Water, and Yorkshire Water began two years ago and are ongoing. Southern Water remains subject to enforcement monitoring after a record £126m fine in 2019 over “shocking” failures at the company’s sewage treatment sites that polluted rivers and beaches in southern England.

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Grocery inflation has dropped to its lowest level since September 2021, according to fresh data from market research firm Kantar.

Food inflation fell 1.6% in the four weeks to July 7, down from 2.1%, with toilet tissues, dog food and butter accounting for the largest fall in prices over the period.

However, prices have continued to rise for items including vitamins, supplements, fruit juices and deodorants.

But overall, falling price inflation helped fuel sales of branded products by 3.6%, outpacing grocery stores’ own-label products, which grew at 2.7%.

Easing price growth also coincided with the fastest rise in monthly footfall so far in 2024.

People made 2% more trips to the supermarket over the four-week period than they did a year earlier, Kantar said.

And, of course, the men’s Euros football tournament helped fuel purchases of beers crisps and snacks on match days though low alcohol beer sales soared on weekdays as Britons celebrated in relative moderation.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said:

England’s hopes might have been dashed on Sunday, but there was still some cause for celebration in the grocery industry.

Football fans drove beer sales up by an average of 13% on the days that the England men’s team played, compared with the same day during the previous week.

Sales of crisps and snacks also got a boost, up by 5% compared with the month before.

With many matches played on “school nights”, though, some Britons chose moderation. Spending on no and low-alcohol beer soared by 38% on matchdays.

Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of business, economics and financial markets.

The long wait for US interest rate cuts could soon be over.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has dropped hints that the central bank will not need to see inflation hit its 2% target before cutting interest rates.

Speaking at the Economic Club of Washington DC, Powell said:

The implication of that is that if you wait until inflation gets all the way down to 2%, you’ve probably waited too long, because the tightening that you’re doing, or the level of tightness that you have, is still having effects which will probably drive inflation below 2%.

Instead, he explained that policymakers are looking for “greater confidence” that price inflation is striding towards that figure:

What increases that confidence in that is more good inflation data, and lately here we have been getting some of that.

Traders are currently betting on at least two rate cuts before the end of 2024, starting in September. That could result in a drop in the main federal funds rate, from its current range of 5.25% to 5.50%.

Fed policy makers are next set to meet on July 30-31, though they are expected to hold interest rates steady.

The agenda

• 11:45am BST: Bank of America Q2 , Morgan Stanley Q2

• 1:30pm BST: US retail sales for June