British Gas owner Centrica pops 4% after announcing £1.3 billion investment in UK nuclear project

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— Jenni Reid

U.K. government bonds, known as gilts, are selling off this morning after official data showed public borrowing rose more than expected to hit £20.7 billion ($27.9 billion) in June.

Economists polled by Reuters had been expecting borrowing to reach £16.5 billion in June.

The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday that last month’s figure marked the second-highest June borrowing since records began in 1993 — after 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the U.K. budget deficit — the gap between spending and tax revenues — hit £16.3 billion, marking the third-highest June budget deficit since monthly records started in 1997.

Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility said on Tuesday that despite the June spike, government borrowing remained within its forecasts.

However, the unexpectedly sharp increase in government borrowing is likely to pile additional pressure onto U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves.

“Reeves will face some tough questioning on the government’s fiscal policies, following another monthly PSNB deficit that was well above expectations thanks to rising debt servicing costs,” Marc Ostwald, chief economist and global strategist at London’s ADM Investor Services, said in a Tuesday morning note.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt moved 4 basis points higher by 9:07 a.m. London time (4:07 a.m. ET), to trade at 4.646%.

Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions, so government borrowing costs rise as the value of the asset goes down.

Yields on gilts across the curve rose by around 4 basis points in the wake of the ONS’ update.

— Chloe Taylor

U.K. utility firm Centrica has announced a phased investment of £1.3 billion ($1.75 billion) into construction of Sizewell C, set to be Britain’s biggest nuclear power venture in decades after the government also on Tuesday gave final approval to the project.

Centrica shares opened more than 4% higher on Tuesday.

Final negotiations have left ownership of the project at 15% for British Gas owner Centrica, 44.9% for the British government, 20% for Canadian investment fund La Caisse, 12.5% for France’s EDF, and 7.6% for Amber Infrastructure Group.

Centrica said in a statement that the deal provided an allowed return on equity of 10.8%, and that it expected its equity share to increase to around £3 billion by the time of commercial operations in the 2030s.

The government said Tuesday that Sizewell C, along with new small modular nuclear reactors set to be built by engineering group Rolls-Royce and the delayed Hinkley Point C power plant would deliver “more new nuclear to the grid than over the previous half century combined.” U.S. private credit giant Apollo announced last month it would provide a £4.5 billion ($6 billion) loan to Hinkley Point C, which has previously faced controversy on national security grounds over high levels of Chinese funding in the plant.

— Jenni Reid

Firms reporting this morning include Norsk Hydro, where rising aluminium and energy prices helped boost second quarter earnings.

The Norwegian renewable energy and aluminium company posted a 33% increase in core profit, which came in at 7.8 billion Norwegian kroner ($766 million), above expectations. 

Lender Julius Baer meanwhile missed analyst projections for first half net profit, which fell 35% on the year to 295 million Swiss francs ($369.5 million).

The financial services group said the results reflected a previously disclosed increase in loan loss provisions, as well as a charge from the sale of its Brazilian wealth management business. 

— Brittany Dawe

Good morning from London, and welcome to CNBC’s live blog covering all the action and business news in European financial markets on Tuesday.

Futures data from IG suggest a negative start to the new trading week for European bourses, with London’s FTSE 100 seen opening 0.3% lower, France’s CAC 40 down 0.3%, Germany’s DAX down 0.4%, and Italy’s FTSE MIB 0.4% lower.

European bourses have been on edge since U.S. President Donald Trump announced earlier in July that he would impose a 30% tariff on goods imported from the EU starting Aug. 1. The EU said it hopes to strike a trade deal before then but an agreement remains elusive. The bloc’s policymakers are reportedly considering retaliatory measures if a deal can’t be reached.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that implementing high tariff rates on countries starting Aug. 1 “will put more pressure on those countries to come with better agreements.”

— Holly Ellyatt

U.S. stock futures were little changed early Tuesday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit fresh records in Monday’s trading session.

The S&P 500 rose about 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced nearly 0.4% yesterday, with both indexes hitting new all-time intraday highs and closing at records, aided by a pre-earnings jump in Alphabet. The Dow underperformed and ended the day marginally lower.

Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific stocks traded mixed overnight, with Japanese stocks reopening higher after the ruling coalition lost its majority in the upper house over the weekend.

— Holly Ellyatt