Good morning
5 things to start your day
1) AstraZeneca hit by investor backlash over chief Pascal Soriot’s £19m pay deal | Vote to reject remuneration deepens concerns over London stock market exodus
2) BP draws takeover interest from UAE oil giant | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/04/11/bp-draws-takeover-interest-from-uae-oil-giant/
3) No evidence diverse management teams boost profits, says study | New research disputes claims diversity is a ‘business imperative’ that drives financial results
4) Fiat dynasty snubs Giorgia Meloni by building flagship car outside Italy for first time | Industry minister claims building new Alfa Romeo in Poland is ‘forbidden by Italian law’
5) Telegraph faces financial stability threat from Barclay family | Lloyds’ knowledge of suspicious transactions could prompt it to withdraw financing
What happened overnight
The S&P 500 rose 0.7pc, to 5,199.06. The Nasdaq Composite charged up by 1.7%, to a record 16,442.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has less of an emphasis on tech, was the laggard. It slipped by less than 0.1pc, to 38,459.08.
Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury bonds rose to 4.57pc from 4.55pc late on Wednesday.
Shares fell at the open of business in Hong Kong on Friday as tech firms suffered early selling, while traders shrugged off a positive lead from Wall Street.
The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.68pc, or 116.33 points, to 16,978.70, the Shanghai Composite Index was flat, nudging up 1.33 points to 3,035.58. And the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange also barely moved, inching down 0.60 points to 1,721.00.
Tokyo stocks opened higher, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index up 0.65pc, or 257.37 points, at 39,700.00 in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 0.50pc, or 13.77 points, to 2,760.73.