Electric car demand plunges across Europe

Thanks for joining me. Electric vehicle sales plunged in Europe last month as demand particularly dried up in Germany.

Sales of battery-powered cars dropped by 11.3pc, with sales in Europe’s largest economy plummeting by 28.9pc, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

5 things to start your day 

1) Royal Mail faces foreign ownership threat after Czech billionaire’s takeover bid | Daniel Kretinsky is aiming to assume full control of postal service’s parent company IDS

2) Hunt vows to go ‘further and faster’ on bringing down benefits bill | Chancellor warns against unsustainable rise in welfare costs amid worklessness crisis

3) Newspaper state ownership rules to be watered down | Chancellor warns against unsustainable rise in welfare costs amid worklessness crisis

4) Bailey predicts ‘strong drop’ in inflation next month | Britain faces just one rate cut this year as price rises fail to cool quickly enough

5) Lord Mandelson nets £10m in deal with former Obama aide | Former minister rules out a return to politics after selling 20pc stake in lobbying firm

What happened overnight 

Asian shares advanced even after sinking technology stocks sent Wall Street lower in the S&P 500’s worse losing streak since the start of the year.

Oil prices have risen slightly, with global benchmark Brent trading above $87 a barrel after slumping by 3pc on Wednesday.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.3pc to 38,090.87 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 1.5pc to 16,489.59.

The Shanghai Composite index added 0.6pc to 3,089.93 but South Korea’s Kospi led the region’s gains, surging 1.8pc to 2,631.15.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 500 rose 0.6pc to 7,651.30.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1pc, to 37,753.31, the S&P 500 lost 0.6pc, to 5,022.21 and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 1.2pc, to 15,683.37.

The yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury bonds dropped to 4.58pc, from 4.66pc late on Tuesday.