China property crisis deepens as Moody’s withdraws credit ratings

Thanks for joining me. Ofgem has lowered its price cap on energy bills meaning households will save about £238 a year from April.

The energy regulator lowered its limit on what suppliers can charge from an average of £1,928 a year  to £1,690.

5 things to start your day 

1) Mercedes-Benz chief vows to build petrol cars ‘well into’ 2030s | German car giant waters down its targets for electric vehicle sales as demand slumps

2) Rolls-Royce will build first mini-nuclear reactor in Europe instead of UK, boss warns | Engineering giant’s boss warns of consequences to Britain’s slow decision making

3) How Japan shook off decades of stagnation – and beat stock market records | Benchmark boost fuels hopes of a much-anticipated economic comeback

4) Thames Water crisis prompts warning that fines could trigger collapse | Rising debt levels risk landing taxpayers with multi-billion pound bailout bill

5) Ben Marlow: Amoral Cadbury owner is giving cover to Putin’s war crimes | Mondelez’s flimsy stance on Russia has exposed the whole ESG edifice as an absurd, empty sham

What happened overnight 

Asian shares climbed following a day of record highs in Japanese, US and European markets fuelled by Nvidia’s mammoth results. 

Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Wellington and Mumbai, as well as Bangkok, Manila and Kuala Lumpur all rose. 

Jakarta and Singapore were down, while Hong Kong was flat. Tokyo is closed for a holiday.

All of Wall Street’s main stock indexes hit record highs following the huge earnings from Nvidia that prompted a fresh round of stock buying over artificial intelligence.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke 39,000 for the first time on Thursday, finishing up 1.2pc at a record 39,069.11.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 jumped 2.1pc to a record 5,087.03, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index surged 3pc to 16,041.62, leaving it about 15 points short of an all-time high.

Shares of Nvidia surged 16.4pc, lifting its market value to almost $2bn, after reporting that quarterly profits soared to $12.3bn amid record high revenue driven by demand for its technology to power artificial intelligence.

The yield on 10-year US Treasuries was little changed at 4.32pc, from 4.33pc late on Wednesday.