The 10 things to watch in business on Thursday 27 August

UK house price growth slows in August; Asian shares higher on US rebound; Sainsbury's to raise staff pay

UK house price growth slows in August (Getty Images)

1.British house prices increased this month at the slowest annual pace in more than two years, a survey from mortgage lender Nationwide showed today. House prices rose 3.2 per cent year-on-year in August, the weakest annual rate since June 2013, compared with a 3.5 per cent rise in July

2. Asian shares staged a rebound in morning trading on the back of the Wall Street’s biggest one day gain since 2011. Markets were trading up across Asia, including China, following volatile trade yesterday and big losses earlier this week. The Shanghai Composite was up by 0.6 per cent to 2,942.94 points, following five consecutive days of decline in China.
- Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up by 2.5 per cent at 21,613.48 points.
- The region's biggest stock market, Japan's Nikkei 225, finished trading 1.1 per cent up at 18,574.44.
- South Korea's Kospi index closed 0.7 per cent higher at 1,908.0 points

3. Sainsbury's has given its shop workers a 4 per cent pay rise, the highest increase for store employees in more than a decade.

4. A district court judge in the US dismissed investor case against Barclays over Flash Boy trading in US.

5. Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp today said it will stop making lithium-ion batteries at its factory in Beijing this month, cutting 1,300 jobs as part of a move to focus on higher-margin products such as electric car batteries.

6. Ten of the world's biggest automakers were sued on Wednesday by US consumers who claim they concealed the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning in more than 5 million vehicles equipped with keyless ignitions, leading to 13 deaths.

7. Toyota says it will gradually restart work at its Tianjin plants two weeks after deadly chemical explosions in the Chinese port city.

8. Total plans to dispose of more North Sea assets following the collapse in oil prices

9. French conglomerate Bouygues raised its full-year core earnings and cost savings targets for its telecom business today as it posted a 51 per cent rise in first-half group current operating profit.

10. Gemalto, the world’s largest manufacturer of Sim cards, has beaten expectations for the first half of the year, with reported revenue of €1.5 billion (£1.1 billion).