Thanks for joining me. Today we begin with allegations made against Standard Chartered, which are detailed in new US court papers.
The British bank is accused of carrying out billions of dollars of transactions for funders of terrorist groups such as Hamas and al-Qaeda, in documents filed to a New York court.
5 things to start your day
1) Royal Mail warns Czech takeover risks sparking debt crunch | Parent company IDS admits nearly £2.4bn of loans could be called in as a result of the deal
2) Channel 5 owner Paramount agrees $8bn merger deal with billionaire tech heir | David Ellison’s Skydance awaits final sign off for takeover of TV and film studio
3) Labour warned of ‘unintended consequences’ of zero-hours ban | Hospitality bosses fear clampdown will harm investment and scare off workers
4) British universities should be pushed to develop military tech, says Labour draft policy | Secret document calls for coordinated approach to defence amid concerns over China
5) Andrew Orlowski: There’s a very good reason Dominic Cummings didn’t last long in Whitehall | The Civil Service preference for ‘generalists’ has led to a dearth of hard skills needed to run the country
What happened overnight
Asian shares retreated after a report showed that US manufacturing contracted in May, in the latest sign the economy is slowing.
India’s Sensex led the region’s losses, plunging 4.1pc to 73496.24 as the vote count for the country’s six-week-long national election appeared to show a lower than expected seat count for incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, although his National Democratic Alliance was comfortably leading its closest rival.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.2pc to 38,837.46 and the Kospi in Seoul was down 0.8pc at 2,660.69.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was the outlier, gaining 0.5pc to 18,494.28, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1pc lower to 3,076.96.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.3pc to 7,740.80. Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.8pc.
On Monday, US stocks drifted to a mixed finish.
The S&P 500 edged 0.1pc higher, to 5,283.40, even though the majority of stocks within the index fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3pc to 38,571.03, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6pc to 16,828.67.
Australian and New Zealand bonds rallied, tracking gains in Treasuries after the weak US data bolstered bets for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
Treasuries rose across the curve Monday after data showed factory activity shrank at a faster pace as output came close to stagnating, with 10-year yields sinking 11 basis points to 4.39pc. Australia’s equivalent yield fell six basis points in early Tuesday trading, while New Zealand’s slipped seven basis points.
Asian currencies such as the Malaysian ringgit and South Korean won strengthened.
