Britain is to increase a tax on buy-to-let and second homes to ease demand for those squeezed out by house price rises, but early reactions from some analysts warned many undeterred investors will instead pass the cost on in higher rents.

Opec has said it is confident that excess supply in the oil market will ease as demand picks up and supply growth slows from producers outside the group, an indication its strategy of letting prices fall, reaffirmed at a meeting last week, is working.

Job security rather than workers’ salaries or disposable income has a far greater impact on consumer demand and retail rents, a report has found.