Over £14bn wiped off AstraZeneca amid China fears
Thanks for joining me. We begin the day with news from the US as Boeing workers have voted to end their seven-week strike and accept a 38pc pay rise.
The aerospace giant expects to resume production of its flagship 737 MAX aircraft within weeks after union members agreed to the deal which will see an average factory worker’s pay rise from $75,608 to $119,309.
5 things to start your day
1) House prices to rise twice as fast as inflation in blow to Starmer’s affordability drive | JLL says planned building blitz will fail to boost affordability for buyers
2) Millions more households to be asked to switch off to hit Ed Miliband’s net zero targets | Energy Secretary’s decarbonisation plans will require ‘Herculean effort’ on every front
3) Price of a pint to rise despite draught tax cut, says Timothy Taylor’s boss | Lower duties will be cancelled out by higher National Insurance and wage bills, warn brewers
4) Comment: The patient is weakening. Labour’s prescription? More leeches | The Chancellor is wasting her one shot at arresting the UK’s seemingly inevitable decline
5) The $1 trillion US debt bet hanging over Trump and Harris | Soaring US debt levels have inspired a risky trade that threatens a market meltdown if it goes wrong
What happened overnight
Asian markets were mostly higher even after Wall Street drifted lower as nervy investors fear a period of volatility following today’s US election.
This week will bring various potential flashpoints, among them Election Day in the United States. But the results may not be known for some time as officials count all the votes, and the uncertainty could roil markets.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.4pc to 38,571.64, reopening after a holiday on Monday.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.4pc to 2,578.50 after the country’s military said North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern sea, continuing its weapons demonstrations ahead of the US presidential election.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia dropped 0.4pc to 8,131.80 as the central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
Meanwhile, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress is meeting this week, and the government is expected to endorse major spending initiatives to boost economic growth amid troubles for the country’s real-estate industry.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 1.4pc to 20,853.45 and the Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.9pc to 3,373.30.
On Monday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3pc to 5,712.69, remaining near its record set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6pc to 41,794.60, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3pc to 18,179.98.
