HS2 construction expected to be delayed
Harbor Energy saw its $2.4bn (£2bn) pre-tax profit wiped out by unexpected taxes, leaving the company with an after-tax profit of just $8m (£6.7m). .
This comes after the North Sea oil producer raked in $5.4bn (£4.6bn) in revenue in the wake of soaring energy prices caused by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
5 things to start the day off right
1) Former Barclays boss Jes Staley has been sued over ties to Jeffrey Epstein | JP Morgan is suing its former chief executive as it faces two civil lawsuits over Staley’s communications with the disgraced financier
2) EY retires crucial breakup vote after backlash | The Big Four law firm is postponing the vote on separating audit and advisory branches
3) Hunt warned he would hurt Britain if crucial tax break was delayed | The chancellor pushed to offer permanent support for business investment in next week’s budget
4) China can use TikTok to divide West, FBI chief warns | Chinese app ‘screams’ over US national security concerns
5) Heathrow is considering legal action after being forced to cut passenger fees | The airport campaigned for charges to be increased to £40 following Covid losses
what happened overnight
Asian stocks faltered while the dollar hovered near a three-month high after an overnight spate of economic data appeared to support Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish outlook for further rate hikes.
On his second day on Capitol Hill, Powell stuck to his message of higher and possibly faster rate hikes, but stressed that the debate is still ongoing, with a decision pending on data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting in two weeks to be published.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan fell 0.1 percent after falling 1.4 percent in the previous session.
China’s blue chips slipped 0.4 percent and the yuan weakened 0.2 percent after weaker-than-expected February inflation data reignited doubts about the pace of the economic recovery. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.3 percent.
Japan’s stocks closed higher for the fifth straight day on Thursday, with investors taking heart from recent rallies.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6 percent to 28,623.15, while the broader Topix index rose 1 percent to 2,071.09.
Wall Street delivered mixed results as data showed job vacancies remain high, personal payrolls beat consensus estimates and demand for home loans rose despite higher mortgage rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.2 percentage points lower at 32,798.40. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 3,992.01, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to 11,576.00.
The two-year Treasury yield rose to 5.06 percent, while the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was little changed at 3.97 percent