Thanks for joining me. John Lewis has blamed “inflationary pressures” for delaying its five-year turnaround plan by two years.
It comes as the retailer reported another loss for the first six months of its financial year.
5 things to start your day
1) BP’s board is facing questions over the handling of Bernard Looney’s relationships with employees | The sudden resignation of the head of the oil giant prompts an investigation into the company’s culture
2) The arm is valued at $52 billion on the New York Stock Exchange list | A British microchip manufacturer is preparing for the largest flotation of 2023
3) The US data giant is helping build a new fleet of warships for the Royal Navy | Palantir, founded by Trump supporter Peter Thiel, signs deal with Babcock to develop Type 31 frigate
4) How did Lord Browne’s “turtles” gain control of BP? | The sudden passing of Bernard Looney marks the end of the Sun King legacy
5) The International Monetary Fund warns that China’s great debt wall is leading to an “unsustainable” increase in borrowing | The debt of the world’s second-largest economy rose by 7.3 percentage points to 272% of GDP in 2022.
What happened overnight
Stocks rose mostly in Asia on Thursday after a highly anticipated report showed inflation accelerated across the United States in August, but not by more than expected.
The weak increase in prices eased concerns about the possibility of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates again, sending the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo up 1.2% to 33,104.79.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.2% to 17,969.38 due to renewed concerns about China’s real estate sector. Hong Kong-traded shares of major real estate developer Country Garden fell 4.6% before the bond repayment deadline.
The Shanghai Composite Index was flat at 3,124.43, while the Kospi in Seoul rose 0.9% to 2,556.60. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.5% to 7,189.70.
Wall Street delivered a mixed performance on Wednesday after new data showed inflation accelerated last month but not by more than expected.
The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 4,467.44 after flipping between small gains and losses several times during the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 34,575.53, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% to 13,813.59.
In the bond market, the benchmark yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell to 4.26% from 4.27% late Tuesday. It fluctuated to 4.34% immediately after the inflation report.