Good morning. Today we're talking about potential mortgage help, Amazon gets the green light on a deal and interest rate rises in Europe.

Big Stories

Mortgage help considered

Cabinet minister Michael Gove says that help for households struggling with their mortgages is being kept "under review" but a final decision would be for the chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Treasury sources says he has ruled out giving any direct support as it could drive up government borrowing and fuel inflationary pressure. It comes amid expectations that the Bank of England could raise base rates to over 6% by next year, compared to 4.5% today. In recent weeks lenders have pulled several mortgage products from the market and replaced them with more expensive ones. New research by the Resolution Foundation think tank suggests that rising interest rates means people looking to remortgage their homes will pay an average £2,900 a year more from 2024.

Amazon’s seal of approval

The ecommerce giant’s proposed $1.7bn deal to buy robot vacuum firm iRobot was given the all-clear by the UK’s competition authority, the CMA. The acquisition, first announced last August, is a major step in Amazon’s goal of dominating home robotics and would add to its current portfolio of Alexa voice software, Echo smart speakers and Ring doorbells. Just like Apple’s ecosystem of tech that works together seamlessly, Amazon is striving to do the same with the home appliances. But the CMA opened an investigation into the iRobot deal over concerns it could put Amazon at an unfair advantage over its competitors. However the regulator concluded the deal would not result in “a substantial lessening of competition” in the UK.

Eurozone’s 22-year high

The European Central Bank has increase interest rates by 0.25% to 3.5% across the twenty countries which use the Euro. It’s the highest level since 2001 and ECB President Christine Lagarde made it clear that more hikes were on the way as she looks to curb stubborn inflation amidst persistent wage growth and low unemployment. However data released last week showed that the Eurozone had entered a technical recession in the first quarter of this year. This poor economic performance might limit the ECB’s ability to increase rates further to rein in inflation. ECB officials have nevertheless previously suggested that it is more important to bring down prices than to avoid an economic slowdown.

Elsewhere...

Fintech fall: Revolut’s value has plunged by nearly 40% over the past year as it struggles to win a banking licence.

Corporate pressure: Company insolvencies in England and Wales jumped by 40% in May to the highest level since monthly records began in 2019.

Crypto exit: Binance has suffered setbacks in two European markets after the crypto platform announced plans to quit the Netherlands and came under investigation by French prosecutors.

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$35 million

How much Cineworld's management team will be paid to leave the British cinema operator after it finalises bankruptcy proceedings next month.

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