FTSE 100 Live: Retail sales slow; Unemployment figures tick up

Good morning from the City AM liveblog team.

After a dismal first three quarters of the year, London’s IPO market is finally roaring back, returning the capital to a level playing field with its rival listing venues after a string of fresh flotation announcements.

That’s the view of bosses at top City broker Peel Hunt, who are delighted to have some work to do at long last.

Speaking at City & Financial Global’s Capital Markets Summit, Charles Hall, head of research at Peel Hunt, said: “There are a lot of companies that do want to IPO… we’ve got a list of 20 to 25 companies that would be brilliant IPOs for the UK.

“The challenge for us is keeping them in the UK.”

Despite new floats, there are still obstacles that could scupper the London Stock Exchange’s resurgence.

Julian Morse, chief executive of Cavendish, told City AM: “The main driver [of the IPO market] is the economy, so if the government brings in policies which harm the economy, that is going to harm the IPO market.”

“They need to be very careful,” he added.

Morse urged the government to be “business friendly” in their changes to tax, pointing to employment and employer levies, which he said “they need to either not touch or actually rescind some to create growth”.

Will the government heed Morse’s calls?

Here’s a summary of our top headlines from yesterday:

• Lloyds Bank shares edge up despite £800m motor finance hit
• Astrazeneca vows to lower US medicine prices after pressure from Trump
• Shawbrook looks to raise over £50m in November IPO
• Billionaire Issa brothers’ zero-emission truck start-up saved
• Andrew Bailey: Stock markets could crash if debt levels spiral
• Big jump for Big Yellow shares as Blackstone eyes takeover bid