Shell's annual profits crash but shares jump
Bank of England governor Mark Carney ' too aggressive' on rates threat
Halifax house prices jump 9.7% in three months to January
SSE to close coal-fired power unit
Sumner Redstone steps down as CBS chairman
That's it for another day. Tomorrow we have full year results from Daimler and third quarter results from Toyota. There is also a bit of economic data including the latest US employment report for January.
Tom and Russell will be with you from 06:00. Thanks for staying with me to the end.
File this under "unlikely to happen at best".
US President Barack Obama will propose a new $10 a barrel levy on oil in his budget next week.
The US government wants to boost investments in clean transport projects, the president's spokesman says.
The proposed fee, which would be paid by oil companies, is likely to fall flat in the Republican-controlled US Congress.
Professional social network Linkedin has reported a net loss of $166m for 2016 , externaland $8m for the three months to the end of December, hurt by higher costs.
It said revenue increased 34% year on year in its fourth quarter to $862m and rose 35% in the year as a whole to $3bn.
Shares have fallen 20% in after hours trading to $153.32.
News Corp has reported a fall in quarterly revenue for the fourth time in a row, hurt by a slump in its core news and information services business, which includes Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal.
The company, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, said total revenue fell 4.3%to $2.16bn in the three months to the end of December from $2.26bn a year earlier.
Net income fell to $62m, down from $142m a year earlier.
US shares have just about managed to close higher in choppy afternoon trade as volatile oil prices, a weak dollar and weaker economic data dominated the day.
Many investors now think a further interest rate rise by the US Federal Reserve is off the table in March given the current global market conditions.
US light crude oil rose 3% earlier in the day after hopes that Iranian support for an emergency Opec meeting to limit production might result in a meeting in March faded.
US oil fell into negative territory down 1.77% at $31.77. Brent crude fell 1.71% to $34 44.
The Dow Jones closed up nearly 0.5% at 16,416, the S&P 500 closed up 0.15% at 1,915 and the Nasdaq close up 0.12% at 4,509.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe European Union has called on China to cut overcapacity in its steel industry and promised new measures to support European mills threatened by a flood of Chinese imports, the Financial Times reports., external
EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told her Chinese opposite number she planned to open three new anti-dumping investigations into steel products originating from China.
Her letter to Gao Hucheng, Beijing’s commerce minister, comes at a time of deepening crisis for the European steel industry, which has lost more than a quarter of its workforce since 2009.
Earlier today Tata Steel reported a loss of 21.27bn rupees (£216m) in the three months to the end of December compared with a profit of 1.57bn rupees a year earlier. It laid the blame squarely on a 50% increase on Chinese steel shipments into Europe last year.
Iran has called on the United States to make a clear, public pledge that it will not penalise European banks who legitimately trade with the Islamic Republic following the lifting of sanctions.
Many foreign banks are cautious about resuming trade with Iran following January's nuclear deal because they fear being caught up in ongoing US sanctions.
Both HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have previously fallen foul of US authorities with regard to US sanctions against Iran.
HSBC paid $1.9bn (£1.3bn) in 2012 for violating US sanctions against Iran, North Korea and other states. RBS was fined $100m for violating US sanctions against Iran, Sudan, Burma, and Cuba in 2013.
Quote MessageRebuilding the confidence of the banks that the United States will not re-intervene in their relations with Iran may require some further assurance from the United States. We don't need any more legalese - we need clear precise assurances that banks can do business with Iran. I hope that is fast coming because if not it would be a problem of implementation.
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
A little more from the IMF's Christine Lagarde...
European Central Bank (ECB) officials want to see evidence that high-denomination euro banknotes promote criminal activity, executive board member, Yves Mersch, is reported as saying by Bloomberg, external.
“There are policemen who are having opinions on this matter, and also in the G-20,” Mr Mersch said
“I would be very happy if any substantiated evidence would be shipped to the ECB.”
Earlier this week, ECB president Mario Draghi said the bank was reviewing its policy on issuing €500 banknotes in response to concerns raised by law enforcement officials.
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BBC World Service
The short film 'Ave Maria' puts a comic twist on a tense situation - Israeli settlers become stranded when their car breaks down outside a Palestinian convent. The film's director, Basil Khalil talks to the BBC's Roger Hearing about his work and how he learned of his film's Oscar nomination whilst going through airport security.
Basil Khalil's short film 'Ave Maria' puts a comic twist on a tense situation.
Image source, Getty ImagesUS media giant Viacom has named chief executive Philippe Dauman as its new executive chairman, replacing 92-year-old billionaire Sumner Redstone.
Investors did not take kindly to the news - Viacom shares, which had been up 6% on the day, are now trading up 1%.
Mr Redstone's daughter Shari, who sits on the company's board, also opposed the appointment, saying Viacom needed an "independent voice" as chair who was not involved in her family's personal matters.
Image source, Getty ImagesChina's economy can avoid a "hard landing" and achieve a lower, more sustainable growth rate if the government in Beijing pursues reforms to state enterprises and sticks to a more market-driven and well-communicated exchange rate policy, the boss of the International Monetary Fund's chief has said.
Quote MessageChina is going through that massive, multi-faceted transition and we do not expect a hard landing of China as has been talked about for many years.
IMF, managing director, Christine Lagarde
But Ms Lagarde did say she anticipated increased demand from emerging markets for financial support from the IMF and other multilateral institutions as they struggle with slower global growth as part to China's economic transition.
Volkswagen has announced it has replaced the head of its US legal department.
David Detweiler, an attorney with law firm Clifford Chance, has been named executive vice president and general counsel at Volkswagen of America Group.
He replaces David Geanacopoulos, head of public affairs.
Mr Geanacopoulos will remain at VW, focusing on government relations with a new title as senior executive vice president for public affairs and public policy.
Off the back of that report both Mattel and Hasbro shares leapt higher. Mattel shares were at one stage up 8.2% to an 18-month high of $34.36, then settled down a little. But they remain 4.94% higher at $33.33 at the moment.
Meanwhile, Hasbro shares rose as much as 4.6% on the news before settling around 1.6% higher at $76.15.
Image source, Getty ImagesUS toy manufacturers Hasbro and Mattel have held merger talks according to Bloomberg., external
The newswire says Hasbro approached Mattel about a potential transaction late last year, and the companies have been holding on-off talks about a deal ever since.
Neither Hasbro nor Mattel has commented on the story.
Hasbro reports full-year earnings on 8 February with revenue forecast to increase to about $4.4bn from $4.3bn in 2014.
Revenue at Mattel is expected to be lower as the licensing rights to Disney’s Frozen and Princess brands has shifted to Hasbro.
Here's some video footage of Martin Shkreli endearing himself to Congressmen and the public alike earlier.
Shkreli refuses to answer questions in Congress
House committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, asked Mr Shkreli what he would tell a single, pregnant woman with AIDS who needed Daraprim to survive, and whether he thought he had done anything wrong.
Shkreli declined to answer.
When South Carolina Republican Representative Trey Gowdy suggested he could answer questions that were unrelated to pending fraud charges against him, Mr Shkreli said: "I intend to follow the advice of my counsel, not yours."
After the hearing, Mr Shkreli's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, attributed his client's behavior to "nervous energy".
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer drug executive Martin Shkreli laughed off questions about drug prices at an appearance at a US congressional hearing against his will.
Mr Shkreli, 32, sparked outrage last year among patients, medical societies and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton after his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, raised the price of 62-year-old Daraprim by more than 5,000% to $750 a pill.
The lifesaving medicine, used to treat a parasitic infection, once sold for $1 a pill.
At a hearing of the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Mr Shkreli repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution, which says no person shall be compelled in any criminal case "to be a witness against himself."
Image source, Getty ImagesPhilip Morris has reported higher costs and lower cigarette shipment volumes dented earnings in the three months to the end of December.
The cigarette maker of Marlboro and other brands outside the US also warned on its 2016 profits.
It said it earned $1.25bn in the quarter compared with $1.61bn a year earlier.
Marketing, administration and research costs were all higher.
Revenue for the New York-based company came to $6.39bn, when taking out excise taxes, down from $7.2bn in the same period a year ago.
Cigarette shipment volumes fell 2.4% to 209.8 billion units, it added.
