 Fitch blames pro-Trump Capitol riots for US credit downgrade | The Capitol riots that saw Donald Trump supporters storm Congress have been blamed by Fitch for its decision to strip the US of its gold-plated credit rating. 2) French air traffic control chaos fuels spike in delays | Disruption threatens the aviation industry's fragile recovery 3) What Rishi Sunak's climbdown over the CE safety mark means | Brexiteers fear backtracking on symbolic standard sets a precedent for maintaining EU rules 4) | Cashmere and corduroy interiors and kevlar and carbon fibre trims popular among buyers 5) Soaring mortgage rates hit South East hardest as house prices collapse | Rising rates see more homeowners selling at a discount What happened overnight Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower on Thursday after Fitch Ratings cut the United States government's credit rating. Tokyo's market benchmark fell almost 1.5%. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul declined. Oil prices edged higher. Wall Street turned in its biggest one-day decline in months after Fitch Ratings downgraded the top-level US government credit rating on Tuesday. The S&P 500 closed down 1.4pc to 4,513.39 for its sharpest tumble since April, marking its second straight loss after reaching a 16-month high on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1pc lower, while the Nasdaq Composite finished down 2.2pc. In the bond market, the benchmark yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.07pc from 4.04pc late Tuesday. The policy sensitive two-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.89pc from 4.91pc as its price rose. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo tumbled 1.4pc to 32,244.0){kind=link}
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Shoppers cut back on spending last month amid rising interest rates, rain and rail strikes as the Bank of England prepares to raise borrowing costs for a 14th consecutive meeting today.
Retail footfall dropped between June and July for the first time since 2009, when MRI Springboard first started compiling the figures.
Shopper numbers typically rise by more than 3pc between the two months, as the start of the school summer holidays leads to an uptick in people spending time in city centres.
However, the figure dropped by 1.7pc as rain and rail strikes held back consumers already tightening their belts as interest rates impact household finances.