Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as new car sales rise 5% year on year in June
The FTSE 100 index has opened around 50 points higher at 8,222, a 0.6% gain, as millions across the UK head to the polls. The ballot boxes close at 10pm this evening.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:
Opinion polls are suggesting one of the biggest landslides the nation has ever seen for Labour, but they have been wrong before.
In a shortened trading session ahead of today’s 4 July celebrations, investors have been digesting weak jobs data in the US. Private payroll growth came in at 150,000 for June, below analyst forecasts. And weekly jobless claims continued their upwards journey for the ninth week in a row. All eyes will now be on tomorrow’s non-farm payroll numbers.
As you develop these vehicles at scale, you can drive down these costs to a certain extent, but the raw materials, in particular, the battery is a lot more expensive. Of an electric vehicle that battery is about 40% of total cost of the car.
A number of our vehicles that are sold in the UK come from Asia. They’re no longer going through the Suez [canal]. They’re going around the Cape. That adds two to three weeks in terms of transit and back again. And obviously that adds cost. So that’s just yet another strain.
