Thanks for joining me. Britain is on track to exit recession after the economy expanded at the start of the year.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.2pc in January, according to the Office for National Statistics.
5 things to start your day
1) Morrisons posts £1bn loss as debt interest payments soar | Interest costs amounting to £735m help push the retailer further into the red
2) Britain’s worklessness crisis fuelled by young people, officials warn | Nearly three million under-25s are staying out of the jobs market, latest figures show
3) Millions of households face £200 jump in energy bills | Plans to boost UK’s energy security with gas-fired power stations to cost consumers £5bn
4) Porsche warns push into electric cars will hit profits | Carmaker faces ‘challenging year’ as EV sales remain below target
5) Ambrose Evans Pritchard: Nuclear fusion for the grid is coming much sooner than you think | Britain is on the brink of striking gold in the race for limitless energy
What happened overnight
Asian shares mostly rose as they were encouraged by a record rally on Wall Street that was led by technology companies.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2pc to 7,729.40. South Korea’s Kospi gained nearly 0.5pc to 2,694.60.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.5pc to 17,183.94, while the Shanghai Composite was virtually unchanged, down less than 0.1pc at 3,054.28.
Tokyo stocks trimmed earlier gains to close lower, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index losing 0.3pc, or 101.54 points, to end at 38,695.97, while the broader Topix index also fell 0.3pc, or 8.73 points, to 2,648.51.
Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, said: “The yen has been a notable gainer verses the greenback, with attention focused on the upcoming spring wage negotiations known as ‘shunto,’ as the outcome of this could impact the Bank of Japan’s preference for when to end their policy of negative interest rates.”
US shares hit records yesterday, led again by technology companies. The S&P 500 jumped 1.1pc to top its all-time high set last week, reaching 5,175.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6pc to 39,005.49, and the Nasdaq Composite index jumped 1.5pc to 16,265.64.
In the bond market, the yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury bonds rose to 4.15pc from 4.10pc late on Monday.
