Today, volatility eased, after Liz Truss was chosen by the 160,000 members of the Conservative party to succeed Boris Johnson. She will be officially appointed Prime Minister at a ceremony with the Queen on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 9am.

Truss is under pressure to come up with measures to support households through the energy crisis and the looming recession. Investors are also worried about the impact of her plan to cut taxes.

This comes after new data showed retail sales only gained 1% year-on-year in August, down from July's 2.3% increase, as shoppers feel the pinch of inflation.

Meanwhile, oil prices are slightly up after Opec announced a small reduction to output due to to the deteriorating outlook.

 

Things to read today:

Liz Truss will have to be great just to be good (Financial Times)

Russia Sanctions Ben Stiller, Sean Penn After Latest US Measures (Bloomberg)