Thanks for joining me. The French government is said to be demanding billions of pounds in grants from Britain to cover the budget for nuclear power projects being built in the UK by French energy giant EDF.
Paris is pressing for a “global solution” to solve financing problems at the Sizewell Sea plant and the new Hinkley Point site in Somerset, a French official told the Financial Times.
It comes after EDF admitted this week that the cost of construction at Hinkley Point had risen by as much as £10bn to £35bn.
She added that the reactors will start operating up to four years later than scheduled.
The government had already this week allocated an additional £1.3bn to fund the construction of Sizewell C, the planned nuclear plant in Sussex owned by EDF and the government.
Taxpayers own a stake in the plant after the government became uncomfortable with the company being partly owned by China General Nuclear.
“It is a Franco-British issue,” a French Economy Ministry official told the Financial Times.
“The UK government cannot simultaneously say EDF has to figure it out on its own at Hinkley Point and at the same time ask EDF to invest money in Sizewell.
“We are determined to find a global solution to implement these projects.”
5 things to start your day
1) Tesla has been hit by its first-ever decline in annual profits amid the electric vehicle price war | This decline comes after the automaker cut prices in the face of competition from legacy automakers and emerging Chinese companies
2) British households pay most of the price for energy | UK prices are rising fastest among developed nations as utilities make record payouts to shareholders
3) Why does the crisis at Royal Mail threaten to surreptitiously renationalise? | If cutting off deliveries is unlikely, something has to happen. It could be taxpayers
4) The IFS warns that the worst debt burden since the 1950s makes a huge tax raid inevitable | High interest costs and low economic growth will hamper efforts to tackle the UK’s debt pile
5) Tom Stephenson: Chinese stocks are very cheap, is this a good time to buy? | Despite Beijing’s economic problems, there are still some compelling arguments in favor of investment
What happened overnight
Asian shares rose to their highest levels in one week as Chinese government intervention supported a struggling Chinese stock market, while bonds came under pressure ahead of the European Central Bank meeting later in the day.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 2% and is on track for its biggest daily gain in six months.
The leading stock index rose more than 1%, and the Hang Seng Index rose for the third session in a row, reaching 9% above the lowest level recorded on Monday in 15 months.
All three indexes remain lower this year due to investor frustration with Beijing’s lack of a broad response to China’s economic slowdown, although a cut in bank reserve requirements on Wednesday again raised expectations for official aid.
Tokyo stocks closed slightly higher, supported in part by gains in Chinese markets amid uncertainty over when the Bank of Japan might shift from negative interest rates.
The Nikkei 225-share index added less than 0.1 percent, or 9.99 points, to 36,236.47, while the broader Topix index rose 0.1 percent, or 2.70 points, to 2,531.92.
Wall Street was mixed on Wednesday after strong gains in Netflix and some influential technology stocks helped offset losses in much of the U.S. stock market.
The S&P 500 added 0.1%, closing at 4,868.55 and setting a record for the fourth straight day. The strength in technology stocks pushed the Nasdaq Composite Index up 0.4% to 15,481.92. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 leading US companies fell 0.3%, closing at 37,806.39.
Stocks rose to record highs on hopes that lower inflation will convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates several times this year.
Bond traders have recently trimmed their bets on interest rate cuts in the wake of stronger-than-expected reports on the economy, which kept recession fears at bay but could also add upward pressure on inflation. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.17% from 4.14% late Tuesday.