Thanks for joining me. Shell has revealed annual profits tumbled in 2023 after lower oil and gas prices knocked its bottom line.
The oil giant reported adjusted earnings of $28.3bn (£22.3bn) for 2023, down 29pc from the record $39.9bn (£32.2bn) on the record results seen in 2022, when soaring oil prices drove profits to an all-time high.
5 things to start your day
1) Banks at risk from 99pc mortgages, warns Santander chief | Mike Regnier expresses concerns as Chancellor mulls scheme for first-time buyers
2) Zuckerberg rejected Nick Clegg’s plea for more child protection on Facebook and Instagram | Meta founder turned down request for new staff because of ‘other pressures and priorities’
3) Tory rebels demand Hunt scrap tourist tax | British shops lose £1.5bn per year as visitors head to France and Italy, research finds
4) Andrew Orlowski: Why AI threatens a new age of fake news and disinformation | Artificial intelligence’s poisonous feedback loops threaten the destruction of the Information Age
5) Chris Hayward: Brexit hasn’t crushed the City – it’s thriving | Recent reforms are honing the Square Mile’s competitive edge
What happened overnight
Asian shares were mixed after Wall Street fell to its worst loss since September as the Federal Reserve indicated cuts to interest rates are not imminent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced, but ceded much of its early gains. It was up 0.8pc at 15,601.77 while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.4pc to 2,779.15.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 sank 0.9pc to 35,975.44 and the Kospi in Seoul climbed 1.7pc to 2,538.76.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 skidded 1.2pc to 7,588.20.
Bangkok’s SET rose 0.5pc while the Sensex in India edged 0.1pc higher.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.6pc to 4,845.65 for its worst day since September. It veered between more modest and sharper losses through a shaky afternoon as traders delayed bets for when the Fed would begin easing its main interest rate from its highest level since 2001.
Tech stocks dragged the Nasdaq Composite index down by 2.2pc to 15,164.01 as investors realised that expectations for growth had got out of hand. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has less of an emphasis on tech, fell a more modest 0.8pc to 38,150.30.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.92pc from 4.04pc late Tuesday. In October, it was above 5pc and at its highest level since 2007.
