Thanks for joining me. Rishi Sunak has been handed a boost to his election campaign after official figures showed economic growth was better than first thought.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an even faster pace of 0.7pc from January to March, according to the Office for National Statistics, which was better than its initial estimate of 0.6pc.
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4) Ben Wright: The North Sea could be finished under Labour | Making life as difficult as possible for Britain’s oil and gas industry appears to have become party policy
5) Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Emmanuel Macron and the Weimar temptation | Forget Le Pen – the greatest danger comes from the opaque manoeuvres of the president himself
What happened overnight
Asian stocks were on track for a fifth straight month of gains as they are bolstered by a growing view that cooling inflation could prompt the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year.
Asian markets were little fazed by the first US presidential debate between Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump ahead of the November election.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4pc and was on track to gain more than 3pc for the month, its best performance since February.
US stock futures and the dollar rose as investors narrowed the odds on a Trump win, while the yen tumbled to a 38-year low against the dollar.
Andrew Lilley, chief interest rate strategist at Barrenjoey, said: “There’s a big debate on whether that would be good news or bad news for equity markets, but I can tell you that for bond markets, the consensus is clear. If Trump were to win the election, interest rates would likely increase.”
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 eked out a 0.1pc gain. The benchmark index has been hovering near the all-time high it set last week.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3pc and remains just below its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.1pc higher.
Gains in retailers and communications services companies helped outweigh losses in consumer goods makers, financial stocks and elsewhere in the market. Amazon rose 2.2pc and Meta added 1.3pc.
US Treasury yields fell in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, fell to 4.28pc from 4.33pc late Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury fell to 4.71pc from 4.75pc.
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
