There was other good data for Britain, which showed gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter grew 0.2% from the quarter before. It also confirmed that Q2 GDP was 1.8% higher than the last quarter of 2019, just before the pandemic started. The FTSE 100 gained 0.1% on Friday but fell 1.0% for the week.

Today, investors will focus on the release of purchasing managers index (PMI) data across Europe, after this weekend’s Chinese PMI data, which was rather mixed.

Among stocks, defense firm BAE Systems rose 2% after winning a £4 billion contract to build submarines as part of the AUKUS programme with the US and Australia. This contributed to lift the FTSE 100 by 0.1% this morning.

Meanwhile, water company Pennon Group climbed 4.4% after it unveiled its investment plan.

Things to read today:

Global lessons from inflation’s rise above the UK target (Financial Times)

Europe Is Being Battered by the US Bond Hurricane (Bloomberg)