uk retail companies were in for a pleasant surprise this morning with data from the office for national statistics showing a higher than expected rise in the volume of goods sold last month the boost might not last long though with consumer confidence figures showing that a softening of the economy might lie ahead here’s the key business news from london this morning retail sales britain’s hottest june on record helped lift retail sales pushing consumers into department stores and supermarkets to spend on everything from food to furniture the volume of goods sold in stores and online rose 07 last month economists had forecast a 02 monthonmonth increase   that’s as consumer confidence fell for the first time in six months interrupting a rapid rebound in sentiment as the reality of soaring prices emerged as a threat to household finances the reading may signal a softening for the economy in the months ahead glencore plc the commodities giant said fullyear profit from its trading business will probably be in the range of 35 billion to 4 billion as the switzerlandbased firm heads for another bumper year   the industry experienced a blowout year in 2022 as the disruptions caused by russia’s invasion of ukraine sent prices and volatility soaring close brothers group plc the merchant bank’s recently hired portfolio managers helped deliver net new money inflows of 9 in the firm’s asset management business performance close brothers’ securities trading division meanwhile remained subdued as retail investors stay cautious   the company is currently weighing a potential sale of its wealthmanagement arm bloomberg reported last week liontrust asset management the londonbased firm said that its offer to buy troubled swiss asset manager gam holding ag is final and won’t be raised days after a rival investor group led by french billionaire xavier niel launched a partial public tender rishi sunak suffered a dramatic political upset as his ruling conservative party lost a key parliamentary election in northern england to labour which overturned a huge majority that gives keir starmer’s party clear momentum as it gears up for a national vote expected next year the prime minister is eyeing holding the uk’s next general election in november 2024 in order to allow the economy as much time as possible to recover before going to the polls a person familiar with his thinking told bloomberg on thursday meanwhile plans to wrap the cost of research into trading charges aim to boost coverage of small companies writes bloomberg opinion’s chris hughes he argues that a better goal would be the promotion of “unconflicted research” in case you missed it the planned initial public offering of arm the cambridgebased chipmaker may be this years biggest if the chipmaker can wrap itself in the market’s favourite buzzword ai average asking rents for new tenants in london shot up to a new record in the second quarter as rampant demand and higher mortgage rates prompted landlords to hike prices finally here’s a deep dive into the longrunning dispute between terry smith a uk money manager beloved by retail investors and his former partner teresa de freitas who invested in his funds when the two were still a couple vodafone group plc will kick off the heaviest earnings week of the season on monday performance in germany will take centre stage says bloomberg intelligence’s erhan gurses adding that it’s a key pillar of the telecom giant’s turnaround efforts other ftse 100 bellwethers due to give updates later in the week include unilever plc gsk plc shell plc and the biggest uk banks for a more considered take on the uks economic and financial news sign up to money distilled with john stepek