Taxpayer to fork out £85bn to cover Bank of England losses

Thanks for joining me. Banking giant HSBC has shocked markets with the news that its chief executive Noel Quinn will unexpectedly retire after five years in charge.

It comes as the lender reported that pre-tax profits in the first quarter fell by $200m (£160m) to $12.7bn (£10.1bn).

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What happened overnight 

HSBC said chief executive Noel Quinn will step down and the banking giant is already searching for a successor.

Mr Quinn will stay on during this process to ensure a smooth and orderly transition, the bank said, after which he is set to retire.

It came as HSBC on Tuesday said that its pre-tax profits in the first quarter fell by $200 million to $12.7 billion.

In early trade, Hong Kong rose for a seventh successive day, while Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta were also on the rise.

News that China’s April factory activity grew more than expected – even if at a slower pace than last month – also provided some support.

Tokyo piled on more than one percent as it played catch-up with Asia’s gains on Monday, which was a Japanese holiday.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.3pc, to 5,116.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4pc, to 38,386.09, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3pc, to 15,983.08.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 4.61pc from 4.67pc late on Friday.