Thanks for joining me. The pound is expected to surge for the rest of the year as Britain becomes a beacon of political and economic stability compared to the US and Europe, according to a French finance giant.
Amundi, which is Europe’s largest asset manager, expects sterling to rally to $1.35, having already gained 1.5pc to $1.293 so far this year.
5 things to start your day
1) Benefits fraud costs taxpayer record £7.3bn as society becomes more criminal | Offences jump 11pc in each of last two years amid changing attitudes since pandemic
2) Bosses urged to sack underperforming staff ahead of Labour’s workers’ rights overhaul | Businesses are already responding to plans to extend staff entitlements to day-one employees
3) Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi assembling £600m Telegraph takeover bid | Reuben family among investors approached to help finance potential deal
4) Heathrow is losing out to EU rivals, says boss of British Airways owner | High passenger costs and lack of investment ‘strangle growth’ of UK’s largest airport
5) Why Kamala Harris’s economic project would be the most Left-wing in decades | The Democrat’s track record gives some clear hints of how she would run the world’s biggest economy
What happened overnight
Shares were mostly higher in Asia after US stocks closed broadly higher, as Big Tech stocks took back some of their recent sharp declines.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 recovered from early losses, edging 0.1pc higher to 39,621.28.
Chinese markets declined, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong down 0.1pc to 17,620.16. The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.6pc to 2,946.63.
China’s central bank cut two key interest rates by 10 basis points on Monday, moving to ease credit and pep up the economy, following a major policymaking meeting of the ruling Communist Party that focused on longer-term reforms.
But both so far have done little to boost the markets, where investors are looking for more ambitious short-term action to spur faster growth.
South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.5pc to 2,777.98, while the S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.7pc to 7,987.90.
Taiwan’s Taiex surged 2.3pc as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. gained 3.4pc, rebounding from recent losses.
In Bangkok, the SET fell 0.7pc.
On Wall Street, all three major indexes finished higher, led by gains in technology and communication services stocks.
Nvidia ended up nearly 5pc, buoyed by news it is working on a new AI chip for the Chinese market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3pc to close at 40,415.44, the S&P 500 gained 1.1pc to 5,564.41 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.6pc to 18,007.57.
US Treasury bonds were little changed as markets assessed the uncertainty surrounding the race for the White House, with yields on benchmark US 10-year bonds adding 1.7 basis points to reach 4.26pc.
