Good morning. The FTSE 100 is set to lose some of Monday’s gains at the open after Chinese officials issued a warning about asset bubbles.
China is “very worried” about bubbles in overseas financial markets, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission Chairman Guo Shuqing said at a briefing.
5 things to start your day
1) Virgin Experience Days swoops on US rival Cloud 9 Living:Exclusive: Inflexion Capital has bankrolled Virgin’s takeover of Cloud 9 Living, a US competitor offering more than 2,000 gift experiences.
2) Two-thirds of self-employed lose out financially to Covid: Over half of Britain’s self-employed are now earning less than £1,000 per month, compared with just under one-third at the start of 2020.
3) Zoom predicts boom will continue even after virus subsides: The remote working boom is set to continue despite global re-openings after Zoom predicted its revenues will rise by 42pc over the next year.
4) Hedge fund chief nets one of Britain’s biggest ever paydays: Sir Chris Hohn has landed one of the biggest annual paydays ever recorded in Britain, of $479m (£344m) after profits soared at his firm.
5) Fleet St heavyweights chart fresh course for The New European: The paper’s reason for existing was to keep Britain in the EU, but its new owners believe it can find a fresh purpose.
What happened overnight
Asian stock markets were mixed on Tuesday after Wall Street rose as a wave of investor concern about possible higher interest rates receded.
Market benchmarks in Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong declined. Seoul and Sydney advanced.
Also on Tuesday, Japan reported employment rose despite a state of emergency to cope with renewed coronavirus outbreaks and South Korea reported higher factory output.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3pc to 3,539.91 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo sank 0.4pc to 29,554.75. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.2pc to 29,405.45.
The Kospi in Seoul advanced 1.6pc to 3,060.39 after the government reported factory production increased by a better-than-forecast 7.5pc in January over a year earlier, up from December’s 2.5pc.
The S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney was up less than 0.1pc at 6,792.50. New Zealand, Singapore and Jakarta also rose.
Coming up today
Corporate: Ashtead Group, Flutter, Fresnillo, Hotel Chocolat (Interim results); Apax Global Alpha, Croda International, Devro, Fisher (James) & Sons, Fresnillo, Intertek, Man Group, Robert Walters, Rotork, Signature Aviation, Taylor Wimpey, Travis Perkins, Weir, XP Power
Economics: Inflation (eurozone), unemployment (Germany)
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