Good morning

Thanks for joining us. Shop prices have fallen for the first time in nearly three years as the inflation crisis fades.
Retailers are offering big discounts to try and lure shoppers back.
 

5 things to start your day 

1) Rayner’s rights watchdog risks ‘drowning’ law-abiding businesses | New laws risk saddling honest companies with thousands of pounds of compliance costs

2) Mike Lynch’s family at risk of $4bn lawsuit | HPE declines to rule out pursuing long-running case following tech tycoon’s death

3) The radical land tax proposal that has garnered support from both the Right and the Left | Property is in the crosshairs as Reeves scrambles to plug Britain’s £22bn ‘black hole’

4) Morrisons slashes night shifts in race to beat rivals | Change sparks anger amongst employees who were previously paid extra to work at night

5) Rachel Reeves ‘risks wrecking green investment with capital gains tax raid’ | Infrastructure investors ‘are stalling’ as industry anticipates Budget tax rises

What happened overnight 

Asian shares moved in narrow ranges after tech giants dragged down Wall Street, as focus shifted from the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook to Nvidia Corp.’s earnings later this week.

Japanese and South Korean stocks turned slightly higher after earlier losses, with mild gains in Australia. Hong Kong futures pointed to a weak opening, while contracts for US peers were steady after some of the world’s largest tech names pushed US stocks lower.

In China, the government urged Canada to immediately correct the “wrong practices” of new tariffs against the Asian nation. Canada, an export-driven economy that relies heavily on trade with the US, has been closely watching moves by the Biden administration to erect a much higher tariff wall against Chinese EVs, batteries, solar cells, steel and other products.

Geopolitical risks kept early currency moves subdued, though fears of an escalating conflict following Israel and Hezbollah’s major missile exchange over the weekend petered out.

The yen was last 0.2pc lower at 144.82 per dollar, giving up some of its safe haven gains from the previous session which saw it rise to a three-week high of 143.45 per dollar.

The Australian dollar eased 0.05pc to $0.6768, though remained not far from a one-month high of $0.67985 hit on Friday.

The New Zealand dollar edged 0.08pc lower to $0.6199, but similarly strayed not too far from Friday’s high of $0.6236, its strongest level in over seven months.