Sunak fulfils inflation pledge as rate falls to lowest in two years Business

Thanks for joining me. Inflation has dropped below 5pc for the first time in two years as falling energy prices helped Rishi Sunak meet his target to halve the measure before the end of the year.

The consumer prices index fell to 4.6pc in October, coming in below the Prime Minister’s target of falling below 5.4pc.

5 things to start your day 

1) Central banks will have to slash rates as the world’s fiscal bubble bursts | The main prop of global economic recovery is wobbling

2) The Cassandra warning that central banks are driving the world’s economy off a cliff | Optimism may be short-lived as the scale of interest rates hikes is yet to fully hit

3) Over-65s are stopping young families getting on housing ladder, says Zoopla | Two fifths of older homeowners live in a home that is larger than they need

4) Mortgage price war ramps up as Sunak prepares to claim inflation victory | Major lenders cut fixed-rate deals ahead of critical announcement

5) Selfridges seized by Thai retailer after debt crisis at co-owner | It ends weeks of uncertainty over ownership of the luxury department store

What happened overnight 

Asian shares surged higher as they were cheered by a rally on Wall Street that was one of the best days of the year following a surprisingly encouraging report on inflation.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 2.6pc to 33,545.14 as investors appeared to shrug off news that Japan’s economy contracted at a worse than expected 2.1pc annual rate in July-September.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 3.3pc to 17,971.81, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.5pc to 3,069.81 after economic data for October showed the Chinese economy is holding up even as some indicators slowed.

Factory output and retail sales rose but property sales fell further. Lending, exports and inflation have also been lower than expected.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.4pc to 7,105.90. South Korea’s Kospi surged 1.9pc to 2,480.51.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 closed up 1.9pc at 4,495.70, while the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite was up 2.4pc to 14,094.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4pc to 34,827.70.

Meanwhile, US Treasury yields dropped after lower than expected inflation signalled to the market that interest rates might have hit their peak – with expectations of cuts next year. The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined 18 basis points to 4.46pc.