Business live: US and China reach deal to restore trade truce
Inditex, the owner of Zara, has reported worse-than-expected first-quarter revenue and a slower start to its summer sales.
Revenue in the three months to the end of April was €8.27 billion, below analysts' forecasts of €8.36 billion.
Inditex said revenue had risen 6 per cent at the start of the second quarter, compared to 12 per cent growth over the same period a year ago.
The board of Assura, a real estate investment trust which is one of the NHS's biggest landlords, is recommending shareholders accept a 'final' offer from KKR and Stonepeak, the American private equity firms, following a contested takeover battle for the group.
The consortium has raised its offer for the company to nearly £1.7 billion, or 52.1p a share, outbidding rival suitor Primary Health Properties. Assura owns hundreds of doctors' surgeries around the UK.
Bid interest has lifted the shares 24 per cent over the past year to 49p last night.
US and Chinese officials have agreed on a framework to put their trade truce back on track and remove China's export restrictions on rare earth metals and some of the recent US export restrictions.
However, market reaction in Asia was muted as there was little detail after the two days of talks concluded around midnight in London. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 and China's SSE Composite were both up around 0.6 per cent.
US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said: 'The idea is we're going to go back and speak to President Trump and make sure he approves it. They're going to go back and speak to President Xi and make sure he approves it, and if that is approved, we will then implement the framework.'
• Entrepreneur Davina Schonle was left feeling 'humiliated' after she and her eight-month-old baby were refused admission to London Tech Week, a gathering of global technology leaders taking place at London's Olympia.• AstraZeneca has been accused of 'turning a blind eye' to the Chinese government and putting 'profits before people' as it invests billions in the country amid the long-running detention of a key executive.• A battle between listed technology company Big Technologies and its former chief executive has escalated as it suspended the voting rights of shareholders holding 17 per cent of its stock.• Britain's listing rulebook is not to blame for the shrinking of the London stock market, Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, told MPs.
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