Women are more likely to suffer badly from joint problems than men, a survey has found.

Almost half (47 per cent) of women with joint pain said it was so bad they lost sleep and 40 per cent reported a decline in their mental health. 

Meanwhile, 44 per cent said it affected their emotional wellbeing, compared to only 34 per cent of the men.

Almost half (47 per cent) of women with joint pain said it was so bad they lost sleep and 40 per cent reported a decline in their mental health

44 per cent of women said joint pain affected their emotional wellbeing, compared to only 34 per cent of the men

Experts believe physiological factors and weight gain during menopause are contributing to the effects on women.

Nuffield Health surveyed 8,000 people over 16 as part of its Healthier Nation Index. It found eight in ten women had experienced joint pain at some point.

Domino’s Pizza saw a surge in takeaways being picked up by customers in stores rather than delivered to their doorsteps amid the cost of living crisis.

Collection orders of 12.2m in the six months to June 25 were 20 per cent ahead of the same period a year ago. Such gains were in contrast to a 4.4 per cent slump in takeaway deliveries.

Even as the cost-of-living crisis squeezed spending, sales across the group’s franchised and corporate stores during the period were up 7.9 per cent year-on-year. 

And profits of £68.7million were 8.2 per cent higher than same period a year ago.

Domino’s expects its profit for 2023 to range between £132million and £138million, beating the £127.6million analysts had forecast.

Domino’s posted higher sales across its franchised and corporate stores alongside a 20% surge in collection orders in the six months to June 25

It is in the process of handing back £20million of shares to investors and vowed to return another £70million. 

Shares soared 13.1 per cent, or 45.4p, to 392.8p, marking its best performance since December 2021 when the stock jumped 22 per cent after it secured a resolution with its franchisees. 

Last month the group appointed Andrew Rennie as chief executive, and he starts on Monday. 

He spent more than two decades with Sydney-listed Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (DPE). He will replace Elias Diaz Sese, who had been running the company on an interim basis since last October.

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, said a 20 per cent increase in collection orders shows ‘consumers are finding ways to save money and still get their favourite food treats’.

He added: ‘Anyone willing to go to their local store can typically get a big discount on a collection order at Domino’s.

‘In the current cost-of-living crisis, Domino’s has to take that trend as a win – after all, it’s better to shift a chunk of pizzas at a lower price than none at all.’

Stock Watch – Filtronic

Shares in Filtronic sank after the radio maker blamed its missed revenue targets on global semiconductor component shortages.

Delays in receiving several niche component parts on time from a semiconductor supplier meant the group stopped making one of its core products in the third quarter.

The problem overshadowed a number of contract wins during the year.

Sales fell 5 per cent to £16.3million in the year to the end of May. Shares slid 4.6 per cent, or 0.8p, to 16.7p.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.43 per cent, or 33.14 points, to 7666.27 and the FTSE 250 lost 0.41 per cent, or 78.1 points, to 19065.66.

4imprint flew high at the top of London’s second-tier. The group, which sells promotional products ranging from bags to notebooks and toys, raised its forecasts for 2023. Shares soared 16.1 per cent, or 715p, to 5150p to a record high.

Orders since the start of the year were 18 per cent ahead of the same period in 2022, the company said.

As a result, 4imprint expects to make at least £1.01billion of revenue this year alongside a minimum profit of £98million.

That would beat the £1billion and £87million figures analysts expected.

Defence and space manufacturer Chemring launched a share buyback programme worth up to £50million. Shares rose 7.6 per cent, or 21.5p, to 305p.

Fresnillo’s revenues of £1.05billion in the first half of 2023 were 6.7 per cent higher than the same period a year ago after an increase in silver and gold production alongside stronger precious metal prices. 

But profits tumbled by nearly 70 per cent to £38million – falling short on market expectations of £96.3million – while the cost of doing business soared. Shares sank 4.4 per cent, or 27.2p, to 591p.

Weir Group said its profit for this year to be at the top end of the £428million to £464million range analysts had forecast.

The Glasgow-based engineer’s revenues of £1.3billion in the first six months of this year, meanwhile, were 19 per cent ahead of the same period in 2022.

And profit soared 35 per cent to £170million. Boss Jon Stanton also said the worldwide push to decarbonisation has led to its mining clients investing in sustainable technology. Shares rose 2.2 per cent, or 39.5p, to 1874.5p.

Coats, which supplies threads and zips to dress and shoe makers, said it expected to increase its market share in the clothing and footwear industries. Shares gained 5.4 per cent, or 3.8p, to 73.8p.

British Gas parent company Centrica expects to post ‘significantly higher’ profits from its UK retail division for the first half of this year.

Centrica told investors Tuesday that the business has been bossted by regulatory changes that enable energy suppliers to be reimbursed some costs from selling to customers at capped prices.

The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee limits a typical annual household energy bill to £2,500, but this will drop to £2,074 from the beginning of July due to slumping wholesale costs for gas.

Outlook: British Gas’s parent company Centrica anticipates its full-year adjusted earnings per share will be towards the top end of analyst expectations

Centrica said the opening five months of 2023 were ‘strong overall’, thanks to an impressive result from its energy marketing and trading arm, and ‘good’ availability from its nuclear and gas production and storage assets.

As a consequence, it anticipates full-year adjusted earnings per share will be towards the top end of analyst expectations of 16.5p to 24.7p.

However, it cautioned that ‘uncertainties remain’ for the remainder of the trading period, including the impacts of weather, commodity prices, the economic environment and government policy.

The company’s trading update came ahead of Centrica annual general meeting in Leeds on Tuesday, where investors voted to approve the £4.5million pay proposed for chief executive Chris O’Shea.

Controversy has erupted over the compensation package, which contains bonuses of £3.7million, due to the rise in fuel poverty across the UK caused by skyrocketing household energy bills.

Unite the union had urged shareholders to reject it, with general secretary Sharon Graham saying the ‘obscene bonus is just one glaring example of the epidemic of profiteering afflicting the country’.

Centrica’s profits tripled to a record £3.3billion in 2022 as gas and electricity prices soared in the aftermath of loosening Covid-related restrictions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Prices were further pushed up by the UK’s low gas storage capacity levels, poorer-than-forecast wind and solar power generation levels in 2021, and greater gas demand from Asia and South America.

O’Shea’s bonus also comes against the backdrop of an Ofgem probe into British Gas hiring third-party contractors who broke into vulnerable people’s homes to forcibly install pre-payment meters.

The regulator has subsequently introduced a new code of practice that requires suppliers and contractors to refrain from compulsory installations for the ‘highest risk’ groups, such as the over-85s and homes containing residents with terminal illnesses.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: ‘The owner of British Gas is doing little to endear itself to the UK’s hard-pressed households, even if shareholders will be pleased, as it guides for profit at the top end of expectations.’

He added: ‘Unlike some utility suppliers, Centrica has been spared much pain during the energy crisis because it benefited from its wholesale business.’

Centrica shares were 1 per cent lower at 116.7p on early Tuesday afternoon, yet their value has expanded by around 51 per cent over the past 12 months.

A new poll released on Sunday shows Donald Trump having more support from his base going into the 2024 election cycle than President Joe Biden does among Democrats.

It also suggests that inflation and the state of the economy remain top concerns for voters less than three months before the November midterms will decide which party controls Congress for the latter half of Biden’s term.

More than 50 percent on sides of the aisle also rated the other party as ‘too extreme’ in a sign of the continuously chilling political climate.

Voters on the left surveyed by USA Today and Ipsos still aren’t enthused about the 79-year-old commander-in-chief – despite a recent boost in his job approval numbers.

Trump, on the other hand, has seen a slight boost in support since the FBI’s raid on his Mar-a-Lago property in search of classified documents.

When just given the two options, 59 percent of Republican voters said they would support the ex-president for another term while 41 percent said ‘it’s time for a change within the Republican Party.’

Forty-four percent of Democrats asked the same about Biden said he ‘should be the Democratic nominee for president in 2024 and deserves re-election.’

A 56-percent majority called for new leadership.

That’s despite most left-wing voters expressing positive views about the president, with more than 8 in 10 calling him an experienced operator and believing he’s ‘focused on bringing the country together’ and ‘fighting for the people he represents.’

Ninety percent of Republicans said Trump ‘is willing to use all tools at his disposal to get things done.’

More than 85 percent also said he, like Biden, ‘fights for the people he represents’ and against ‘woke corporations and cancel culture.’

It comes as both Biden and his party are enjoying a new wave of support. Outrage over right-wing attacks on abortion rights has breathed new life into left-wing campaigns where they previously faced longer odds.

A CBS News poll also released on Sunday shows Biden’s support rising by three points, from 43 percent in July to 45 percent now. His disapproval rating fell by the same margin – but he remains underwater with 55 percent. 

But just 11 percent of respondents to the Ipsos survey said abortion rights were the main issue for the country right now.

A plurality of voters – 46 percent – said ‘inflation or increasing costs’ were their top concern. 

Rising gun violence was a distant second with just over a quarter of respondents calling it the main issue. 

Inflation rose by 8.5 percent in July, according to the most recently available data. That’s a slight drop-off from 9.1 percent in June but remains in a range not seen since the 1980s.

Democrat voters surveyed said President Biden was an experienced statesman who cares about the people he represents. Republicans said Trump, like Biden, ‘fights for the people he represents’ and against ‘woke corporations and cancel culture’

Democrats saw some political relief in recent weeks when gas prices began easing from their all-time high average of $5 per gallon.

At roughly $3.85 today, the national average cost is still about 70 cents more than this time last year.

Trump has likewise seen his support rise in the wake of the FBI’s unannounced search of Mar-a-Lago earlier this month.

Even Republicans who were skeptical of Trump have coalesced to demand transparency at least, and accountability at most, from Justice Department officials who approved the unprecedented operation.

A New York Times poll of GOP voters from early July found that just 49 percent wanted the ex-president to mount a third campaign.

The first survey taken after the raid, released by Morning Consult, saw Trump’s 2024 support shoot up to 58 percent.

That same poll had him at 54 percent support in July. 

Trump lashed out against conclusions that his poll numbers benefited from the raid in a statement on his Truth Social app last week. The ex-president took aim at comedian Bill Maher specifically, who discussed Trump’s boost in support on his show.

‘He said I was fortunate to have my home broken into because it was good for my polls. Wrong, it was an assault on liberty, and very bad for our Country, which is incredibly angry right now…And no, I was, and am, leading everybody in the POLLS – BY A LOT!!!’ the former president wrote.