Donald Trump has revealed he is considering four candidates — including former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett — to become the next head of America’s central bank.

In an interview with CNBC, Trump said:

“I think I say Kevin and Kevin, both Kevins are very good, and there are other people that are very good too.”

Current Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s term expires next May.

Trump also revealed that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told him he did not want to be nominated to replace Powell at the Fed, as he wants to stay in his current role.

Trade war news: Swiss president Karin Keller-Sutter and business minister Guy Parmelin will fly to Washington on Tuesday, the government said, to try to avoid the 39% tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on exports to the United States.

The pair will “facilitate meetings with the US authorities at short notice and hold talks with a view to improving the tariff situation for Switzerland,” the government said.

The trip comes after Keller-Sutter was accused of mishandling a vital phone call with the White House, leading Trump to hit Switzerland with a shock 39% export tariff.

Britain’s main minimum wage rate will probably need to rise by around 4.1% next year to £12.71 an hour to keep up with the government’s goal for it to match two thirds of median earnings, according to the body which sets the rate.

The Low Pay Commission said today the final figure for the National Living Wage could range between £12.55 and £12.86 an hour.

The commission is due to provide a firm recommendation to the government by the end of October. The national living wage is currently set at £12.21 for those aged 21 and over.

Newsflash: The UK’s financial regulator has decided to fine former star fund manager Neil Woodford and his investment management company nearly £46m, over the collapse of his popular equity fund.

The Financial Conduct Authority says it has decided to fine Woodford £5,888,800 and ban him from holding senior manager roles and managing funds for retail investors.

The FCA has also decided to fine Woodford Investment Management (WIM) £40,000,000.

The penalties result from failures in their management of the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF), the FCA says, which collapsed in October 2019 after investors rushed to withdraw money in response to a raft of poorly performing company investments, including some hard-to-sell, illiquid assets.

The fund was frozen and later closed and wound up. About 300,000 people had invested in the fund, including 130,000 through Hargreaves Lansdown, which is being sued by thousands of investors.

In today’s ruling, the FCA explains that between July 2018 and June 2019 WIM and Woodford made “unreasonable and inappropriate investment decisions”, including selling sold more liquid investments (where it’s easier to find a buyer) and buying less liquid ones (which are harder to shift quickly at a good price).

They also failed to react appropriately as the fund’s value declined, its liquidity worsened and more investors withdrew their money, the regulator says.

However, these findings are only “provisional”, as Neil Woodford and Woodford Investment Management have referred the Decision Notices to the UK’s Upper Tribunal.

The FCA is also critical of Woodford – a former star investment manager – today, saying he held “a defective and unreasonably narrow understanding of his responsibilities.”

Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said:

‘Being a leader in financial services comes with responsibilities as well as profile. Mr Woodford simply doesn’t accept he had any role in managing the liquidity of the fund.

The very minimum investors should expect is those managing their money make sensible decisions and take their senior role seriously. Neither Neil Woodford nor Woodford Investment Management did so, putting at risk the money people had entrusted them with.’

It appears that the UK government’s offer to subsidise new electric car purchases may have actually dampened the car market last month.

The grants, which offer up to 10% off the price of many electric cars costing less than £37,000, were announced in mid-July. But the government only revealed the first eligible cars today – four Citroën models.

The discount scheme won’t apply to Teslas (as they’re too expensive), or models from China as they don’t pass the government’s rules on environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices.

The SMMT explain:

The newly announced Electric Car Grant (ECG) provides a welcome and much-needed fiscal incentive for BEV uptake, but full model eligibility has yet to be confirmed, causing some buyers to hold off pending confirmation of which vehicles will qualify for a discount of up to £3,750.

Its sales figures show that registrations of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) rose 33.0% in July while battery electric vehicles (BEVs) rose 9.1%, but there was a 10% drop in hybrids (HEVs). Petrol sales fell 14.7% and diesel were down 7.9%.

Just in: Sales of Teslas in the UK more than halved, year-on-year, in the UK last month as the electric carmaker’s struggles continue.

Industry body data just released shows that just 987 new Teslas were registered in the UK in July, almost 60% less than the 2,462 registered in July 2024. This means Tesla’s UK market share shrank to 0.7% in July, from 1.67% a year ago.

For 2025 to date, Tesla sales in the UK are 7% lower, during a year in which CEO Elon Musk has faced heavy criticism for his – now-soured – relationship with Donald Trump.

The wider UK electric car sector grew in July, though. Sales of battery-powered vehicles (BEVs) rose by 9.1% to 29,825, giving BEVs a 21.3% share of the market.

China’s BYD more than quadrupled its sales last month, to 3,184 in July from 768 a year ago. The company recently launched a relatively cheap electric car, the Dolphin Surf, in the UK.

BYD’s sales are up 514% during 2025 to 22,574, up from 3,672 in January-July 2024. That’s only slightly fewer than Tesla which has shifted 23,708 cars so far this year.

Last month Tesla reported a large drop in quarterly deliveries, as demand faltered due to the backlash over CEO Elon Musk’s political stance.

Tesla’s sales have also been hurt by its aging model line-up – the company has been rolling out an updated Model Y this year, dubbed the “Juniper” refresh.

Yesterday, Tesla announced it was handing Musk stock options worth almost $30bn, in an attempt to keep him committed to the company for the next few years.

Overall, the UK’s new car market shrank by 5% in July with 140,154 units registered, which is the weakest July since 2022.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, says:

July’s dip shows yet again the new car market’s sensitivity to external factors, and the pressing need for consumer certainty. Confirming which models qualify for the new EV grant, alongside compelling manufacturer discounts on a huge choice of exciting new vehicles, should send a strong signal to buyers that now is the time to switch.

That would mean increased demand for the rest of this year and into next, which is good news for the industry, car buyers and our environmental ambitions.

The UK’s Domino’s Pizza Group has cut its profit forecast this morning, warning that costs are climbing as sales fall.

The group, which has the exclusive rights to the Domino’s brand in the UK and Ireland, reported that total orders were flat in the first half of this year, and that like-for-like sales fell 0.7% in April-June.

Pre-tax profits have fallen by almost a third, on a statutory basis, from £59.4m to £40.5m.

Domino’s now expect underlying profits to come in between £130m to £140m, down from a previous forecast of £140.8m-£149.7m.

Several factors were blamed, including weak consumer confidence and rising employment costs.

CEO Andrew Rennie blamed higher employment costs – following last year’s budget – and uncertainty over what chancellor Rachel Reeves might announce this autumn, saying:

“There’s no getting away from the fact that the market has become tougher both for us and our franchisees, and that’s meant that the positive performance across the first four months didn’t continue into May and June.

Given weaker consumer confidence, increased employment costs and uncertainty ahead of the Autumn Statement, franchisees are taking a more cautious approach to store openings for the time being.

Shares in Domino’s Pizza Group have fallen by 19% in early trading.

Overnight, UK luxury-car maker Jaguar Land Rover has named a new CEO – winning a blast from Donald Trump.

JLR named P B Balaji, the finance boss of parent company Tata Motors, as its new chief executive, increasing the Indian owner’s influence over the company.

Balaji will replace Adrian Mardell, who had run JLR for the last few years.

Mardell’s tenure will be remembered for last year’s rebranding, and the launch of a new concept electric car which looked nothing like a traditional Jag, which captured attention and wound-up the rightwing commentariat.

Anti-woke cheerleader Donald Trump was quick to give Mardell a hoofing on his way out the door. Posting on his Truth Social site, Trump declared that Jaguar’s “stupid, and seriously WOKE advertisement” had been “A TOTAL DISASTER!”, adding:

The CEO just resigned in disgrace, and the company is in absolute turmoil. Who wants to buy a Jaguar after looking at that disgraceful ad.

Shouldn’t they have learned a lesson from Bud Lite, which went Woke and essentially destroyed, in a short campaign, the Company.

Trump also hailed actor Sydney Sweeney’s new advert for American Eagle as a triumph, saying the “HOTTEST” ad meant jeans were now “flying off the shelves.”

Sweeney is probably in Trump’s good books after it emerged she was a registered Republican voter in Florida.

BP is also planning to pump more cash to its shareholders.

The company is raising its quarterly dividend by 4 per cent to 8.32 cents a share, subject to board approval.

It has also announced a new $750m share buyback programme.

Oil giant BP is launching a new cost-cutting scheme, despite reporting better than expected profits, as its incoming chairman gets to grips with the company in the face of pressure from activist investors.

BP has beaten City expectations this morning by reporting a smaller drop in underlying profits than expected in the last quarter.

On an underlying replacement cost basis, profits rose to $2.35bn in April-June. That’s 15% lower than the same quarter a year ago when the company benefitted from higher oil and gas prices, but also a jump on the $1.38bn profits posted in January-March.

Analysts had forecast a smaller rise in underlying profits, to $1.8bn.

But despite this beat, CEO Murray Auchincloss says “there’s much more to do”.

Auchincloss tells shareholders this morning:

In advance of chair elect, Albert Manifold joining the board on 1 September, he and I have been in discussions and have agreed that we will conduct a thorough review of our portfolio of businesses to ensure we are maximizing shareholder value moving forward - allocating capital effectively.

We are also initiating a further cost review and, whilst we will not compromise on safety, we are doing this with a view to being best in class in our industry.

Earlier this year, BP announced plans to cut more than $5bn from its previous green investment plan.

But activist investor Elliott Management has been pushing BP to cut its operating expenses more aggressively and demanding more cost reductions.

Manifold is due to become chairman on 1 October, a month after joining the board as a non-executive director.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets, and the world economy.

UK car sales dipped last month, after a bumper June.

British new car registrations fell about 5% year-on-year in July, according to preliminary data released this morning by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Battery electric vehicles are now projected to account for 23.8% of new registrations in 2025, slightly up from SMMT’s previous forecast of 23.5%.

The SMMT should release its final figures for July at 9am.

The data comes as the UK government announces that France’s Citroën will be the first company to benefit from its new discount scheme, which cuts the cost of a new EV for consumers.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has confirmed buyers will get discounts of £1,500 off 4 Citroën models – the Citroën ë-C3, ë–C4, ë-C5 and the ë-Berlingo - from today.

The scheme aims to bring down the price of electric cars to more closely match their petrol and diesel counterparts.

The agenda

• 9am BST: UK new car sales for July

• 9am BST: eurozone service sector PMI for July

• 9.30am BST: UK service sector PMI for July

• 1.30pm BST: US trade data for June

• 2.45pm BST: US service sector PMI for July