if you have joined if you havejoined us, you are welcome and we are looking at the top business stories. we start here in the uk, where there is some relief for millions of people facing soaring housing costs. lenders have started the new year by slashing the cost of mortgages as financial markets bet the bank of england will soon begin to cut interest rates from their 15 year high. from today banking giant hsbc becomes the first major lender to bring back mortgages below 4% since last march. it comes as rival halifax slashed almost a percentage point off some of its mortgage rates this week. and it s raised hopes of a price war between banks. hsbc is offering a five year fixed rate mortgage at 3.94%. it s only available to people remortgaging their home not to first time buyers. but it s far below rates
neck-and-neck race. bryan llenas is in philadelphia ahead of the fundraiser this evening. what have you heard? good morning. there will be a fundraiser tonight here in philadelphia. the president will be attending behind closed doors for john fetterman but not before they go to pittsburgh to publicly appear together to tout the bipartisan infrastructure law. the senate race here is a toss-up. the latest aarp poll finds fetterman s lead dwindled to two points over republican dr. oz. it was a six-point margin in june. the most important issue for pennsylvania voters inflation and rising prices. the average price of a gallon of gas in the commonwealth is $3.94 higher than the national average and up 42 cents from last year. rising energy costs has fracking back on people s minds.
rising prices. gas 3.94, higher than the national average and up $0.42 from last year. this has brought renewed attention to fetterman s stance on fracking. in 2015, a stain on pennsylvania. 2018, did not support fracking. now his campaign says he does and always has supported it. yeah, fracking, i i don t support fracking at all. and i never have, and i ve signed the no fossil fuels money pledge. i believe that as pennsylvania i support our energy independence r and we need to do it in a very very direct environmental regulations. dr. oz says he would fast track oil and gas. if you truly love the environment, if you really love the environment, you should root for natural gas.
democratic party but the fringe elements. i didn t realize i would run against a poster child of that movement. when they don t actually believe in our ability to get things done they start the adopt policies that don t make any sense. harris: bryan llenas is live in philly now. bryan. harris, before the president and john fetterman hold the fundraiser here in philadelphia tonight they will both be in pittsburgh today touting the economic message, the bipartisan infrastructure law. the democrats are trying to sell a positive message on the economy as the senate race here in pennsylvania tightens, a race that could come down to how voters feel about inflation and rising prices. look at the average gas, the average price of gasoline in the commonwealth, $3.94. that s higher than the national average, 43 cents higher than last year. this as the energy information administration estimates folks will spend more this winter to
wife, the second lady of pennsylvania, gisele. john, thanks very much for running. i appreciate it. and gisele, you re going to be a great lady in the senate. the laws about more than rebuilding our infrastructure, it s about rebuilding the middle class. something john knows a lot about and talks a lot about. fetterman s lead has dwindled to two points over dr. oz. the president and democrats are trying to sell a positive economic story amid concerns on inflation and rising prices. the average price of a gallon of gas is $3.94 in the commonwealth. that s higher than the national average and up 42 cents from last year, this has brought renewed focus on fetterman s fracking stance. he called fracking a stain on pennsylvania. in 2018, he said he did not