House prices jumped 0.9% in October, according to Halifax.

It’s the fourth monthly increase in a row and house prices now cost an average of £270,000 in the UK.

“One of the key drivers of activity in the housing market over the past 18 months has been the race for space, with buyers seeking larger properties, often further from urban centres,” said Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax.

“Combined with temporary measures such as the cut to Stamp Duty, this has helped push the average property price up to an all-time high of £270,027. Since April 2020, the first full month of lockdown, the value of the average property has soared by £31,516 (13.2%).”

“First-time buyers, supported by parental deposits, improved mortgage access and low borrowing costs, have also helped to drive price growth in recent months.”

“First-time buyer annual house price inflation (+9.2%) is now at a five-month high, and has pushed ahead of the equivalent measure for homemovers,” he added.

Galley also predicted that the housing market could cool if inflation is to rise, saying: “With the Bank of England expected to react to building inflation risks by raising rates as soon as next month, and further such rises predicted over the next 12 months, we do expect house buying demand to cool in the months ahead as borrowing costs increase.”

The Bank of England voted in favour of maintaining rates at 0.1%, surprising markets thats had been expecting the Bank to take action against raising inflation.

“The BoE has voted by a majority of 7-2 to keep interest rates at the current level of 0.1%. Many were expecting a hike today in the face of rising inflation but the decision is quite finely balanced,” said Dan Boardman-Weston, CIO at BRI Wealth Management.

Sterling fell as low as 1.3545 against the dollar in the immediate reaction to the decision as traders unwound positions that were hoping for a more hawkish Bank of England.

With inflation soaring, Manny had expected the BoE to move to bring price increases under control. However, with a vote of 7-2 in favour of keeping rates on hold, MPC voters clearly choose to help preserve the increasingly fragile economic recovery.

“Inflation might be rising, but the BoE is right not to consider an interest rates hike as a silver bullet to this problem. Labour data is crucial, and by deciding to postpone hiking rates, the MPC is likely waiting for more jobs data to become available following the end of the furlough scheme,” said Giles Coghlan, chief currency analyst, HYCM.

“Raising rates right now would risk harming businesses’ recoveries. It would also discourage people to spend their pent-up savings. All of this would damage the UK economy’s post-pandemic recovery and could result in ‘stagflation’, where inflation rises but the economy stagnates.” 

Passenger numbers for Wizz Air are growing and the group is set to be back on pre-pandemic levels.

Revenue in the second quarter of 2021 jumped from €471.2m to €880.4m thanks to a growth in passenger numbers by 92.7%.

Wizz Air’s chief executive Jozsef Varadi, commented: “Close to 10 million passengers booked a Wizz Air flight in the quarter with load factors around 80 per cent for the quarter and reaching 84% in August as our capacity peaked at 98% of 2019 ASKs in the same month.”

“Our revenue performance was 79 per cent better than last summer and ex-fuel CASK in the second quarter continued to normalise and was only 12 per cent higher compared to pre-pandemic levels.”

“As a result, we delivered an operating profit of €57m for the quarter. We closed the quarter with €1.7bn of total cash, highlighting our ability to manage liquidity well and continue to maintain our investment grade rating.”

Virgin Money has said that it is expecting pre-tax profits to jump 546% to £801m.

Pre-tax profits at the group is expected to be £417m for the year, which is a jump of 10.2% compared to the same period last year.

New customer sales rose 95% while personal lending increased 4%. The group has said in a trading update that “Strong financial momentum” means that it is on track for impressive full-year results.

Chief executive officer David Duffy commented: “As a result of Covid, the pace of digital change has accelerated with multi-year developments now achieved in just one year. Competition is increasing and customer expectations are rising rapidly.”

Virgin Money is expected to declare a final dividend of 1p.

Pre-tax profits at Sainsbury’s have jumped to £371m for the 28 weeks ended September 18.

Higher grocery sales thanks to more people eating at home saw revenues rise 23% compared to the first half of 20/21.

The group expects pre-tax profits to be at least £660m in the financial year to March 2022.

Chris Daly, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Marketing,“successfully overcome supply chain issues in the short term at least.” He added: “The supermarket giant’s public advocacy and support of global efforts to combat climate change has been well received, especially in the build up to COP26.”

“However, with 63 per cent of consumers believing that many brands only get involved with sustainability for commercial reasons – as opposed to ethical ones – Sainsbury’s must be mindful to avoid accusations of ‘corporate grandstanding’ or greenwashing. 

“If Sainsbury’s is to continue winning the hearts and minds of consumers, it must ensure its commitments are perceived as authentic and carefully tow the line between intentions and tangible actions.”

Sainsbury’s has proposed an interim dividend of 3.2p.

“Sainsbury posted positive results today with the company showing growth in the majority of sectors while continuing to focus on food items and improving competitiveness,” said Walid Koudmani, market analyst at financial brokerage XTB.

“While grocery sales increased and despite a strong growth in digital sales, general merchandise sales disappointed as the impact of lockdown was clearly felt in this sector. Overall, today’s report could reassure investors as it shows the strength and resilience of the company while highlighting the importance of having multiple strategies to contend with rising costs, supply shortages and labour issues.”