Thanks for joining me. House prices made a surprise increase last month, according to the closely-watched Nationwide house price index, amid low levels of enforced selling in the market.

It said the average property was worth £259,423 in October, which was up 0.9pc compared to the previous month, although it was down 3.3pc compared to the same month a year earlier.

5 things to start your day 

1) BP chief dismisses takeover speculation after string of oil megadeals | Comments come as energy giant announces sharp fall in profits following a turbulent quarter

2) Nick Clegg accuses governments of overreacting to the danger of AI | Former deputy prime minister spoke ahead of the Bletchley Park summit that will discuss the risks posed by the technology

3) Crispin Odey’s hedge fund to close after sexual assault claims | City tycoon was ousted from the fund in June as allegations emerged

4) Asda vows to cut prices as billionaire Issa brothers raise $500m to pay down debt |  Supermarket promises to make products available to ‘hundreds more’ after completing £2bn EG Group deal

5) WeWork poised to file for bankruptcy | WeWork shares have lost nearly 98pc of their value in the past 12 months

What happened overnight 

Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday after Wall Street advanced to claim back some of the ground it gave up in another losing month.

Investors are awaiting a decision later today by the Federal Reserve on interest rates and updates on the state of the US economy. 

The overwhelming expectation is that the Fed will keep its overnight interest rate steady. The bigger question is how long it will keep that main rate high.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index added 2.1pc to 31,515.94 a day after the Bank of Japan held back from any major changes to its near-zero interest rate policy, though it adjusted its controls on government bond yields.

The dollar weakened against the Japanese yen, trading at 151.27 yen. It jumped on Tuesday after the central bank’s decision.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng edged less than 0.1pc higher, to 17,119.12. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.2pc to 3,023.64.

South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1pc to 2,300.48 and the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.7pc at 6,826.50.

Wall Street stocks ended higher ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision due later today. 

The S&P 500 rose 26.98 points or 0.6pc to 4,193.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 123.91 points or 0.4pc to 33,052.87. The Nasdaq Composite rose 61.75 points or 0.5pc to 12,851.24.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields reached 4.875pc, as investors await the latest comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.