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It’s the start of a new work week, ambulance and border force staff are striking, and Wall Street is closed for a US holiday.
Meanwhile, experts are warning about a “brutal year” for retail, after data showed companies have already laid off 15,000 workers.
It follows the collapse of Paperchase and M&Co, plus major shake-ups at Tesco, Asda, Wilko and New Look.
5 things to start your day
1) Ethical investing is crushing Britain’s defence industry, ministers told | ‘Skin-deep’ arguments are hampering advancements in military technologies
2) Wealthy homeowners forced to dramatically cut asking prices | Six in ten sellers slash prices as housing market downturn deepens
3) Windfall taxes damaging Britain’s race to net zero, warn bosses | Levies are pushing up the cost of renewable projects by up to 50pc, industry leaders say
4) ChatGPT to be regulated under online safety laws | Tech companies could be punished when systems show harmful content to children
5) Facebook and Instagram to launch paid-for subscription services | Meta moves away from reliance on advertising
What happened overnight
Asian shares edged up as the US holiday made for slow trading ahead of minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting and a reading on core inflation that could add to the risk of interest rates heading higher for longer.
Geopolitical tensions were ever present with North Korea firing more missiles and talk of Russia ramping up attacks in Ukraine before Friday’s one-year anniversary of the invasion.
There were reports the White House planned new sanctions on Russia, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday warned Beijing of consequences should it provide material support, including weapons, to Moscow.
All of which made for a cautious start and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan nudged up 0.7pc, after sliding 2.2pc last week.
The bounce was led by Chinese blue chips which firmed 1.1pc as Beijing kept interest rates steady as expected, having already poured liquidity into the banking system in recent days.
Tokyo stocks ended marginally higher, recovering from earlier losses as investors sought fresh cues with the US market closed for a holiday.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.1pc to 27,531.94, while the broader Topix index rose 0.4pc to 1,999.71.
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