The 10 biggest business stories on Thursday December 10

Glencore targets faster debt reduction; Bank of England set to keep interest rates at record low

Bank of England will announce its latest interest rate decision at 12.00 pm (Getty)

1. The Bank of England will announce its latest interest rate decision at 12.00 pm on Thursday. Analysts expect the bank to leaves rates unchanged.

2. Zara owner Inditex reported sales growth at the fastest pace in three years as Spanish consumption shows signs of recovering after years of austerity. Net income rose 20 per cent to €2.02 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in the nine months,

3. Mining and trading company Glencore on Thursday increased its net debt reduction target and deepened its capital spending cuts as it fights for survival in the face of low commodity prices.

4. Tobacco giants Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International are to begin a legal challenge against the UK government’s bid to remove all branding from cigarette packages. The regulations will ban companies from using any logos or branding on packets of tobacco products from May 2016.

5. Marissa Mayer is paying Yahoo's editor-in-chief Martha Nelson $5 million a year, Politico reports.

6. The recently retired have overtaken the under-45s to enjoy a larger share of the UK's wealth, according to research by the Resolution Foundation.

7. Media industry regulator Ofcom has released a report forecasting that 70 per cent of UK adults will use a free catch-up service like iPlayer or ITV Hub this Christmas. That is a higher proportion than any other developed nation.

8. A female startup founder in London has revealed that she’s been using mobile dating app Tinder to recruit male chefs, Business Insider reports.

9. Online grocer Ocado announced a 15 per cent rise in sales in the fourth quarter to £381.6 million. However the order average size fell by 2.3 per cent to £107.16. CEO Tim Steiner put this down to Ocado “following market moves in pricing”.

10. Wal-Mart Stores said it would launch Walmart Pay, becoming the first US retailer to offer its own payment feature to expand consumer payment options and increase the speed of checkouts. Walmart Pay will be introduced in select US stores on Thursday.