Live FTSE rises despite profit drops at BP and HSBC - latest updates - Telegraph.co.uk, Telegraph.co.uk

Agenda: More turmoil for oil

Good morning. US crude oil futures have slumped below $ a barrel once again, after America’s biggest exchange-traded oil fund shocked markets by dumping its holdings on the most active contract amid fears storage space is running out.

Also this morning, HSBC said its first-quarter pre-tax profits almost halved as it was battered by Covid – While undertaking a major restructuring.

5 things to start your day

1) Chancellor U-turn gives coronavirus loan hope to millions of small firms . Bounce Back Loans fully guaranteed by the taxpayer will be made available from next Monday

2) Tesco starts laying off army of temporary workers. Britain’s biggest supermarket hired , (0 extra workers at the height of the crisis but is letting some go earlier than planned.)

3) HMRC furlough figures called into question for double-counting workers . Four million jobs have been saved under the furlough scheme, but the real number of people is unclear as some have several jobs.

Teaching and transport unions could hinder plans to reopen economy . Businesses want to reopen safely but will struggle if employees cannot get to work and parents cannot send children to school.

Landlord applies to shut down Pizza Express over unpaid rent. Grainrent has filed a winding-up petition against the business in the courts as high street tensions grow amid a collapse in business during the lockdown. What happened overnight

Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday as government moves to ease lockdown measures around the world were offset by profit-taking from the previous day’s rally, while US oil prices suffered another collapse.

Focus this week is on policy decisions by the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, after the Bank of Japan said it would raise the limit on its bond-buying program to provide liquidity to financial markets.

Equities were broadly lower on Tuesday, though they were fluctuating throughout early business.

Tokyo ended the morning 0.6pc down and Shanghai fell one percent, while Seoul and Singapore were off around 0.4pc each.

Hong Kong, Sydney and Taipei each edged up 0.1pc, while Manila was more than one percent higher.

Jakarta also rose, while Wellington surged more than three percent as investors returned from a long weekend when the New Zealand government declared victory in its battle against the virus and considered lifting restrictions.