Stocks shrug off US unrest, China tensions amid easing of Covid-19 lockdowns - as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as tensions simmer across the US and Hong Kong

• George Floyd killing: widespread curfews fail to stop fresh wave of protests across US
• US may take in Hongkongers ahead of China security laws, Pompeo suggests

3.01pm BST

2.57pm BST

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, says the UK government's support schemes should be enough to help keep businesses from going bust...for now.

BoE/HMT schemes have now funnelled 49.6B to companies-equal to 2.5% of annual GDP-via state-guarenteed bank loans and commercial paper purchases. This wall of cash should keep a lid on insolvencies for now. Nonetheless, a moment of truth is coming for many firms in the autumn. pic.twitter.com/GU966oIu6s

2.40pm BST

Well, that was short-lived.

US stocks are now mixed, after the Nasdaq turned negative and fell 0.19%.

2.32pm BST

Gains are nowhere near what is being logged across Europe, but here's how Wall Street is trading at the open:

2.19pm BST

The chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Conservative MP Mel Stride, says he is concerned by the delay of the investigation into how collapsed mini-bond issuer London Capital & Finance was regulated by the FCA.

Chair @MelJStride has said that the delay in the investigation into London Capital and Finance is "particularly concerning", and that "we will want to get to the bottom of what role the FCA had in the delay".

Full story on our website here shortly:https://t.co/30t5Qe5EPr pic.twitter.com/rHjK89aguT

2.04pm BST

Futures are pointing to a positive start on Wall Street:

1.47pm BST

Lloyds Banking Group had confirmed that it will extend its freeze on job cuts until at least October due to the pandemic.

Lloyds originally halted plans for around 780 job cuts back in March, with the decision meant to be reviewed on a monthly basis from the end of May. But it's understood that a decision was taken last week to set a longer timeline.

We have made a number of commitments to our colleagues to address their concerns during the current crisis, including continuing to pay them in full regardless of their working circumstances.

We have also pledged that any colleague placed on notice of redundancy will not leave the group before October. We will continue to review these and other commitments to our colleagues on an ongoing basis.

1.37pm BST

Global oil prices climbed to three month highs on Tuesday ahead of talks between the Opec oil cartel and its allies over plans to extend an historic oil supply deal and shore up market prices, our energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose writes.

Oil ministers from the world's most powerful oil producing countries will join a video call on Thursday to discuss plans to keep cutting 9.7 million barrels of oil a day through the summer.

1.06pm BST

French flight crew have accused Ryanair of blackmailing them into taking pay cuts or losing their jobs.

The Irish airline, which has warned it may cut up to 3,000 jobs in Europe, told staff in France it was imposing 20% salary cuts for flight crew and 10% for attendants. Those who are already on legal minimum wages will have their hours reduced.

Related: Ryanair staff in France accuse airline of 'redundancy blackmail'

12.44pm BST

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey is set to be interviewed within weeks as part of the investigation into the potential regulatory shortfalls linked to the demise of London Capital & Finance.

12.07pm BST

Time for a quick market update. European stock markets have all extended their gains after a positive start at the open.

Germany is leading the pack, up 3.9% at around 12,030 points. That pushes it to levels not seen since early March, when stock markets started to react to the pandemic's migration to Europe.

11.44am BST

Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker has been speaking to Reuters and said that it will keep the airline's fleet of A380s grounded until mid to late 2021.

He also said that the airline may end up laying off around less than 20% of group staff and it wasn't clear when the airline would return to profitability due to the pandemic.

11.17am BST

Heavily indebted shopping centre owner Intu Properties is forecasting it will receive over a third (37%) less rental income this year than last from the retailers which rent space in its centres, my colleague Joanna Partridge writes.

The owner of Manchester's Trafford Centre and Lakeside in Essex thinks it will collect 310m in rent in 2020, compared with 492m in 2020.

11.02am BST

P&O Cruises has scrapped all sailings until 15 October due to coronavirus, writing off the summer season, our transport correspondent Gwyn Topham writes.

The leading British cruise line, part of the Carnival group, had previously announced a pause in operations until the end of July, as the battered industry looks to find ways of operating in a post-pandemic world.

As a business our operational focus is not when can we resume sailing?" but is instead how can we develop a comprehensive restart protocol that will keep everyone on board, our crew and guests, safe and well and still give our guests an amazing holiday?

10.53am BST

The Treasury has also released the latest figures around the job furlough scheme this morning, as succinctly summarised by BBC Scotland's business and economy editor:

Latest stats for 31 May for furlough/Job Retention Scheme:

8.7m UK people furloughed
1.1m employers
17.5bn cost so far

Self employed Income Support Scheme: 2.5m applicants
Paid out: 7.2bn
But only reaching half of self-employed people.

Blogged:https://t.co/5GfaNATHdH

10.44am BST

Global factory production fell for the fourth straight month, but PMI data showed there was a softer contraction in output in May compared to a month earlier.

That reading came in at 42.4 in May, up from 39.6 in April.

Global manufacturing output fell for a fourth successive months in May, according to #PMI. While further easing of lockdown measures should help producers globally, weak demand hints that recoveries could be frustratingly subdued in months ahead. Read more https://t.co/lyagXQGQup pic.twitter.com/Xe2P1h1vI3

10.23am BST

Despite the recent spike in business borrowing through government-backed loan schemes, we'll have to wait another month for that to be reflected in the Bank of England data.

Private businesses borrowed little extra" from banks in April, according to the BoE.

9.59am BST

Mortgage borrowing also tumbled April, according to the BoE data.

The number of approved home loans tumbled 80% compared to February, to just 15,800.

9.49am BST

Data flash: UK consumer borrowing fell and repayments rose during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Bank of England data shows credit card lending tumbled to -7.8% in April, compared to a year earlier. That is the second straight negative reading and compares to growth of 3.5% in February, before the pandemic hit the UK.

Did the UK consumer borrow in April? Yes they did to a total of 11.4 billion. But others repaid more leading to a net decline as below #BoE https://t.co/L4JP7KrL3N

9.30am BST

Heathrow Airport's holding company has been put on credit watch - meaning it will be monitored closely for any changes - by ratings agency Standard & Poor's.

It comes as the transport hub tries to offset the impact of coronavirus travel restrictions.

We continue taking decisive steps to protect Heathrow's financial resilience.

In addition to our strong liquidity position, we are reducing our operating costs by at least 300 million, cutting our capital expenditure by over 650 million and adapting our operating model to help us keep Britain's hub airport open safely and protect vital supply lines throughout this crisis.

8.57am BST

The pound is one of the best performing currencies today.

Cable is at one-month highs at around $1.25, but it has US dollar weakness to thank for its rise.

Sterling has been downbeat recently as there hasn't been much progress made in relation to the post-transition period [Brexit] agreement, but the pound has popped today.

The US dollar continues to decline. The currency lost ground in the latter half of last week, so now the minor worries about the trade situation with China, along with fears about civil unrest in a number of US cities has put even more pressure on the greenback.

8.22am BST

In other housing news, the FCA has announced that it is extending mortgage payment holidays for customers struggling due to the Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown.

FCA confirms support for customers who are struggling to pay their mortgage due to coronavirus #coronavirusuk #COVID19 #FCAupdate https://t.co/zcReisCLmB pic.twitter.com/kdIDvizCcZ

8.05am BST

Germany has opened for trading and the DAX has shot past its European peers, jumping 2.5% to its highest level since 5 March.

8.04am BST

Seems there's still appetite for equities this morning. Here's how Europe is looking at the open:

8.00am BST

Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, notes that this is the first time that the coronavirus restrictions would have been reflected in the Nationwide house price index.

Up until the sharp May drop, hit to #housing market activity from #coronavirus restrictions had not been reflected in #Nationwide's #house price data. Its index is constructed using mortgage approval data & there is a lag between mortgage applications being submitted & approved. https://t.co/nztgMxsBEW

7.56am BST

Nationwide data released this morning shows UK house prices fell at the fastest rate since the financial crisis, my colleague Julia Kollewe writes.

It came as would-be buyers said they would wait six months before returning to the housing market.

The raft of policies adopted to support the economy, including to protect businesses and jobs, to support peoples' incomes and keep borrowing costs down, should set the stage for a rebound once the shock passes, and help limit long-term damage to the economy.

7.44am BST

Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, eurozone and business

It's hard to believe that during a global pandemic, when protests are raging across the US over the killing of George Floyd and geopolitical tensions are simmering over China's control of Hong Kong, that investors would still be flocking to the equity market. But here we are.

The main focus once again appeared on the longer-term prospects of the easing of lockdowns across the world, though if the violence on US streets continues for much longer US investors might have to cope with a lockdown of a different kind, imposed by the National Guard.

This is something that President Trump hinted he might well do if the various states aren't able to contain the outbreaks of violence across US cities.