Latest financial, market & economic news and analysis | Business

Lloyds storms back into the black

Lloyds's £1.6bn profit in the first half of this year is double what most analysts had forecast
- Standard Chartered threatens to quit London
- Santander overtakes HSBC
Premier Foods in pension U-turn

Debt pushes Premier Foods to rethink its long-standing pension promise to 17,000 workforce
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Commercial property price rises slowing

Markets latest

Financial data from Reuters Share prices are updated with a 15-minute delay. Data is not intended for trading purposes. Important disclaimer.

Services PMI: what the economists say

News of government's cuts already knocking private sector activity, even though the bulk are yet to come, sent the pound lower and UK government bond prices higher. Here is a round-up of economists' reactions
Service sector growth slows as Osborne's cuts bite

Public sector cuts limit services sector to slowest growth in a year, services PMI survey shows
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Market forces live

Seumas Milne: Obama says withdrawal is on schedule, but renaming or outsourcing combat troops won't give Iraqis back their country

Low interest rates are a boon for the bank, but what if they go up?

"Here for good," announces Standard Chartered's new motto. The bank is not referring to London.

Savers' bank bonus

Letters: May I claim some small credit for the celebrated reversal of fortune for the banks? My contribution is to make my money available to them free of charge in real terms
UK banks bounce back

Britain's banks have bounced back with strong first-half figures this week
Lloyds TSB account charges help boost profits

Lloyds's £1.6bn profit reflects its status as one of the more expensive high street banks for authorised and unauthorised borrowing
All change for Britain's high street banks

From Metro Bank to Project New Bank, a wave of new banking startups is set to sweep onto the UK's high streets
More on banking