US Federal Reserve holds interest rates
Former BHS owner preparing bid
UK GDP slows to 0.4% in the first quarter
Barclays reports 25% slump in first quarter profits
Home Retail Group reports £804m annual loss
Brexit 'like a tax' says OECD
It's time for the livepage to take a rest until 6am. But with Facebook tripling profits to $1.5bn in the first three months of 2016, we'll leave you with the under-statement of the day from chief exec Mark Zuckerberg: "We had a great start to the year."
Goodnight.
Image source, reutersFacebook has tripled quarterly profits and seen revenues rise 51.9%, as growth in the use of its mobile app and a push into live video attracted more advertising.
Total revenue rose to $5.38bn (£3.7bn) from $3.54bn, with ad revenue increasing 56.8% to $5.20bn. The company's profits rose to $1.51bn in the first three months of this year, from $509m last year.
Federal Reserve holds interest rates
Wall Street's main markets ended slightly higher after fears eased that the Federal Reserve's latest policy statement would give a strong signal that it would raise interest rates in June. Just after the closing bell, the Dow Jones was up 52.74 points, or 0.29%, at 18,043.06, and the S&P 500 gained 3.62 points, or 0.17%, to 2,095.32.
The Nasdaq dropped 25.14 points, or 0.51%, to 4,863.14. A 6.4% fall in Apple shares after disappointing iPhone sales figures weighed on the index.
The FBI wil not publicly disclose how it accessed a locked iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, saying it does not have enough "technical information" about the software used.
FBI official Amy Hess said that although the bureau purchased the method to access the phone it did not "purchase the rights to technical details about how the method functions, or the nature and extent of any vulnerability upon which the method may rely in order to operate".
Last week the FBI's director James Comey hinted that the FBI paid well over $1m to a company to unlock the phone.
Ex-BBC man Robert Peston is still getting the big assignments over at ITV
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Fed leaves rates unchanged
For anyone wanting to read the Fed's statement on monetary policy, here it is, external.
Image source, AFMusic-streaming site Spotify has bought CrowdAlbum, a US start-up that aggregates photographs and videos from artists’ performances shared on social media, the Wall Street Journal reports.
San Francisco-based CrowdAlbum, founded in 2013, has been working with more than 1,000 artists and venues, collecting social posts at their events to create online photo and video albums, the WSJ says.
The US goods trade deficit narrowed sharply to a one-year low in March, as both imports and exports fell, suggesting economic growth in the first-quarter was probably not as weak as currently anticipated.
The Commerce Department said in its advance report on Wednesday that the goods trade gap fell 10.3% to $56.9bn last month, the smallest deficit since February 2015.
Fed holds interest rates
US stocks are mostly higher in afternoon trading after the Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged. But technology companies are sliding following weak results from Apple and Twitter. Energy companies, though, are rising with oil prices, and utility and telecoms companies are also moving higher.
The Dow Jones ticked up 62 points, or 0.3%, to 18,051, and the S&P 500 rose 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,093. The Nasdaq index fell 39 points, or 0.8%, to 4,849. Apple was down 6.1% on disappointment at its latest iPhone sales figures. Twitter tumbled 15.7% after posting earnings figures that underwhelmed investors.
Federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged
Quote MessageThe focus here is going to be the fact that they've removed the reference to global risks, but inserted that they are still closely monitoring them. It definitely leans somewhat hawkish, given the fact that they've removed those risks, but in order for the Fed to have kept alive the potential for another hike this year they had to do something like this... I think the initial knee-jerk will be hawkish, but once the dust settles and people realize what they inserted I think it will water down some of the hawkish reaction. Everything else was marking to market, in the face of a soft GDP print tomorrow and slightly weaker consumption data it's not a surprise that they marked down their growth assessment."
Fed holds US interest rates
It's been a pretty muted response on the markets. About 20 minutes after the Fed's announcement, the Dow Jones was up 0.37% and the S&P 500 was 0.09% higher.
Reaction to Fed news
Quote MessageIt was a marginally more optimistic statement than what we saw in March. The global situation is less of an imminent concern, though the Fed is still watching. The Fed didn't include a 'balance of risks' statement, nor did it include premonitory language like it included in October to telegraph a December rate hike. I think they are in 'wait-and-see' mode. June may be too early to hike unless we see a decent pickup in the inflation numbers. To me, that seems highly unlikely."
Brian Jacobsen, Chief Portfolio Strategist, Wells Fargo Funds Management
Fed holds rates
The Fed stuck to its stance that US monetary policy will tighten only gradually and that it "continues to closely monitor inflation indicators and global economic and financial developments" as it weighs its policy course.
Image source, ReutersThe US central bank's policy-setting committee said the jobs market had improved despite a recent economic slowdown and that it was keeping a close eye on inflation.
But it added that global economic headwinds remained on its radar. "The committee continues to closely monitor inflation indicators and global economic and financial developments," the Fed said in a statement following a two-day meeting.
US Federal Reserve keeps interest rates on hold at 0.25% to 0.5%. Although the jobs market had improved, global economic headwinds remained on its radar.
More follows.
US stocks were off their lows about 30 minutes before the Federal Reserve's interest rates announcement. Apple clawed back some of its steep losses, but was still down 6.2% after saying that iPhone sales had fallen.
The Dow Jones was up 22.23 points, or 0.12%, at 18,012.55, the S&P 500 was down 2.13 points, or 0.1%, at 2,089.57, and the Nasdaq was down 42.14 points, or 0.86%, at 4,846.14. Six of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher, with the energy index up 1.11%.
Scotland business editor Douglas Fraser tweets:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Billionaire space enthusiast Elon Musk tweets:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Having been in the red until early afternoon, London's top flight index finished 0.56% higher at 6,319.9 points. Miner Anglo American, up 4.45%, was the top performer. Tesco, down 4.7%, was the main faller. Commodity stocks were given a lift as Brent crude temporarily hit a high for 2016 at $46.77 a barrel amid reports by the American Petroleum Institute that US stockpiles of crude had declined.
Image source, Getty ImagesShares in the Hollywood film studio DreamWorks Animation continue to trade higher on unconfirmed reports that Comcast, the largest US cable operator, is in talks to buy the company for more than $3bn. The stock is up more than 17%.
