Thanks for joining me. China’s car brands could command a fifith of the European electric vehicle market by 2027, according to industry figures.
A quarter of the electric cars sold in Europe are already expected to have been made this year in the world’s second largest economy, Transport & Environment (T&E) said.
5 things to start your day
1) Boss of British Gas owner handed £4m pay rise after admitting he ‘can’t justify’ wages | Centrica chief’s pay nearly doubles following ‘substantial share price growth’
2) We want Labour MPs to host shows but they don’t say yes, says GB News boss | Angelos Frangopoulos says politics of channel’s current presenters ‘not by design’
3) PwC lines up female candidates for UK boss for first time | Big Four firm has previously only nominated men for the top job
4) Boss of shipyard nationalised by SNP sacked amid ferry debacle | Ferguson Marine chief David Tydeman had warned of more delays to crucial island ferries
5) Swatch store mobbed by watch buyers after new tie-up with Omega | Thousands queued for ‘MoonSwatch’ timepieces at the retailer’s Covent Garden store
What happened overnight
The Japanese yen hit a 34-year low against the dollar, just over a week after the Bank of Japan announced a much-anticipated interest rate hike in a shift away from years of ultra-loose monetary policy.
The currency weakened to 151.97 per dollar, its softest since 1990, but Tokyo stocks ended higher with investors seeking to secure dividend rights as the current financial year draws to a close.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.9pc, or 364.70 points, to end at 40,762.73, while the broader Topix index added 0.7pc, or 18.48 points, to 2,799.28..
Asian shares were mixed after Wall Street slipped a bit further from its record highs.
Chinese shares slipped even as China’s central bank governor told a high-level business conference in Beijing that the ailing property industry was showing signs of recovery and that the impact from defaults of dozens of developers was limited.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.8pc to 16,485.26 and the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.5pc at 3,015.74.
The S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2pc to 7,799.10. In Bangkok, the SET was little changed. India’s Sensex was up 0.3pc and the Taiex in Taiwan also advanced 0.3pc.
US stocks fell even further from record heights on Tuesday.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3pc to 5,203.58 for its third straight modest drop since setting an all-time high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1pc to 39,282.33, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4pc to 16,315.70.
