Business news live: FTSE 100 and global stock markets rise, latest EV grant car models confirmed

Good morning all and welcome to another week of business and finance coverage on The Independent.

Stock market news, UK economic updates, companies news and personal finance all heading your way over the coming hours.

Hope you all had a good weekend!

Last week saw stock markets face an up and down time. The FTSE 100 rose midweek before being flat or falling on Thursday and Friday – it was lower for the week as a whole.

There are fewer big-name companies set to report earnings this time around, but Persimmon’s will give an indicator of Labour getting close (or not) to being able to hit that 1.5m new homes target of theirs.

The US market rose overall last week but remains subject to the whims and wonderings of the president, his tariffs and his capital letters on social media.

Millions of sole traders and landlords have just months to prepare for massive changes to the tax system that take effect next year.

From 6 April 2026, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) will apply to sole traders and landlords whose combined gross income from self-employment and/or property exceeds £50,000 a year. If this applies to you, you’ll need to keep digital records and use HMRC-compatible software to submit four quarterly updates and then a ‘final declaration’ to HMRC each year. This will replace the current self-assessment tax return.

The Government claims MTD will “modernise the tax system” and “reduce the tax gap”. But critics says HMRC’s communication on the subject has been woefully lacking, with the new regime set to cost freelancers and landlords time and money.

Manase Mtopa, head of UK at accounting service Hnry, says: “Filing of taxes used to be a free service completed annually, so introducing the need to use software quarterly will invariably introduce costs to the taxpayer. The self-employed are often paying for a business bank account and accountant already so this is an unwelcome cost.”

Whatever your view, MTD is on its way and it’s best to prepare now.

With the latest electric vehicles announced that government grants are eligible for use on, the hope is for a quicker uptake on the EV transition – even with demands on manufacturers having been cut.

Colin Walker, head of transport at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said:

“EV sticker prices continue to fall, driving up sales as more and more people are able to access the savings of hundreds, even thousands, of pounds a year that come from running an EV over a petrol car. These grants should accelerate that process, enabling even more people to make the shift to cleaner and cheaper electric driving, and enjoy substantial savings in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.”

Markets had assumed gold would escape the tariff, as other key US imports have. But it has since emerged Swiss gold bars will face the full 39 per cent export duty, James Moore explains

The government has named the next 13 electric vehicle models which are eligible to receive grants, as part of a £650m scheme.

The new eligible models announced for £1,500 grants are:

Renault Alpine A290 Renault Megane Renault 4 Renault 5 Renault Scenic Nissan Micra Nissan Ariya (available from 13 August 2025) Vauxhall Corsa Electric Vauxhall Combo Life Electric Vauxhall Astra Electric Vauxhall Mokka Electric Vauxhall Frontera Electric Vauxhall Grandland Electric

Citroën ë-C3 Citroën ë-C4 Citroën ë-C5 Citroën ë-Berlingo

RAC head of policy, Simon Williams, said:

“Another wave of cars qualifying for the government’s revamped Electric Car Grant is yet more welcome news. It’s also very positive to see other manufacturers that don’t meet the grant’s green production targets lowering their prices.

“Those looking to make the switch now have a wider choice of better value vehicles than ever before. This can only help speed up the transition to electric motoring.”

Overnight, stock markets climbed in Asia, with the primary index of India, Shanghai and Australia all rising – and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose a hefty 1.85 per cent.

This morning the FTSE 100 has followed the same path, albeit not as dramatically of course – it’s up 0.3 per cent in early trading.

The German DAX is down about the same amount, but much of Europe is in the green, leaving the Euro Stoxx 50 at 0.1 per cent up.

After the Bank of England needed two votes to cut interest rates last week, down to 4%, the question on many lips is whether they’ll go down again this year or not.

Turn the clocks back a few months and many analysts were expecting the UK to be at 3.5% by the end of the year – that’s well out of the question right now.

But Barclays are still backing another rate cut in November.

“We expect upcoming decisions to be finely poised given the current equilibrium within the MPC and the renewed emphasis on short-term inflation risks, we continue to see a 25bp cut at the November meeting as the most likely outcome, followed by a further cut in February 2026.”

That would be the 3.5% rate six months from now, with inflation expected to be running at 4% into the second half of 2025.