The UK’s media regulator has warned broadcasters to maintain due impartiality ahead of the general election later this year. Ofcom also published new strengthened rules on using politicians as presenters after repeated breaches of its guidance, but stopped short of an outright ban, saying this is not what people want. Cristina Nicolotti Squires, Ofcom’s broadcasting and media group director, said: "People are clear that they expect broadcasters to maintain the highest standards of due impartiality. It follows that, given politicians’ partial viewpoint, audiences don’t want to see or listen to politicians presenting news – full stop. But while many are instinctively uncomfortable with politicians presenting current affairs, there was no clear consensus for an outright ban." Just after the open, the FTSE 100 index hit a fresh record high, rising to 8,083. It is now trading at 8,076, up 0.4%. Shares have been lifted by hopes of interest rate cuts and easing geopolitical tensions. Asian stocks have rallied, led by tech stocks after Tesla, the US electric carmaker, surged in after-hours trading after its promise of new models. Japan’s Nikkei gained 2.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2.1% and the Singapore exchange added 0.8%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.6%. US stocks closed higher after companies such as General Motors reported strong results. The Nasdaq finished 1.6% higher, while the S&P 500 rose 1.2%. Tesla kicked off the earnings season for the US tech giants, known as the Magnificent 7, which last week had close to $1tn wiped off their combined market value in a boon to short sellers. Tesla shares surged almost 10% in after-hours trading, despite a revenue miss for the first quarter of 2024, a steep decline in profits, and a recall of its most recently released vehicle, the $100,000 Cybertruck. However, investors were cheered by previews of a ride-hailing app to be integrated into Tesla products, and the company’s promise to release new vehicle models sooner than previously announced (it referenced a robotaxi network in the works).
The agenda • 9am BST: Germany Ifo business climate for April • 11am BST: UK CBI industrial trends survey • 1.30pm BST: US durable goods orders for March We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ...
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