The cut to the energy price guarantee, which will keep average bills at £2,500 until April, means the typical household will see just 30% of the rise in gas and electricity bills. Even after the new energy price guarantee and cost of living payments, around one in eight families (3.3 million in total) will pay over £2,000 more next year than in 2021-22.

5 things to start your day

  1. Welfare bill jumps by £90bn as Jeremy Hunt protects pensioners but workers – economists label autumn statement ‘George Osborne rhetoric and Gordon Brown politics’.
  2. Why Jeremy Hunt is counting on rising immigration to boost Britain’s economy – New arrivals in UK could help deliver much-needed growth as tax burden hits new highs
  3. Hunt bypasses Bank of England to press ahead with Big Bang 2.0 plans – Chancellor confirms post-Brexit reforms that could unlock billions in investment
  4. FTX collapse worse than Enron, crypto firm’s liquidator claims – Filing calls company executives ‘inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially at risk’
  5. Royal Mail union targets Christmas post with new wave of strikes – The CWU had already planned walkouts over the Black Friday weekend

What happened in the night

European stock futures rose and Asian stocks pared gains after Chinese tech stocks broke intraday highs. Hong Kong’s benchmark index erased all its progress to trade slightly lower, while U.S. equity contracts were flat. Investors await the results of the quarterly index reshuffle later on Friday for Hong Kong’s benchmark index. Bond yields were little changed after the previous day’s jump when St. Louis, James Bullard said policymakers should raise interest rates to at least 5 percent to 5.25 percent to curb inflation. He also warned of further economic pressure in the future. The dollar remained stable. Oil was poised for a weekly loss as worries about a worsening demand outlook roiled the crude market.