That's all for tonight from the Business Live page. Please join us again tomorrow from 06:00.

Image source, Getty Images

Wall Street stocks finished solidly higher for a second straight session following benign US inflation data viewed as reducing the odds of aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

The Dow Jones ended at 24,739.5, 0.8% up. The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.9% to close at 2,723, and the Nasdaq also rose 0.9% to 7,404.9.

The Consumer Price Index, which tracks costs for household goods and services, rose 0.2% in April compared with March, seasonally adjusted, below the 0.3% expected by analysts.

Analysts said higher oil prices continue to be a concern as a possible catalyst for inflation to speed up, but that the pricing pressure for now was unlikely to prompt the Fed to accelerate its pace of interest rate increases.

Gains were fairly broad-based with companies including Apple, ExxonMobil, IBM, Johnson and Johnson and Disney among the stronger performers in the Dow with increases above 1%.

Theo Leggett
BBC Business News Reporter

Image source, Rolls Royce

It may not be pretty, but Rolls Royce is hoping the new Cullinan will catch the eye of buyers in its most important markets.

In China in particular, sales of sports utility vehicles are soaring - and the company wants a piece of the action.

It might seem like a strange road for Rolls to go down. It is best known for its more traditional luxury saloons, after all. But its rivals are doing the same kind of thing.

Bentley already has its gargantuan Bentayga SUV on the market; there's also the Lamborghini Urus. Aston Martin is working on one, as is Ferrari.

All of them have realised that what many super-rich people want to buy is neither a sportscar nor a luxury sedan. They want an SUV.

So the Cullinan may not exactly exude old world charm, but it could well prove popular among a brash new breed of customers.

Dave Lee
North America technology reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Spotify is removing R Kelly from playlists the company creates, either manually or algorithmically, after various sexual misconduct allegations out there about him.

He’ll remain on the platform for users to listen to but it’s quite a statement - a modern day banning from the airwaves of sorts.

He denies any wrongdoing.

The US Federal Communications Commission has fined a man $120m "for malicious spoofing that was part of his massive robocalling operation aimed at selling timeshares and other travel packages."

Adrian Abramovich spoofed 96 million automated calls to make it appear as iff the calls were being made in a local vicinity to the recipient.

"The messages indicated that the calls came from well-known travel or hospitality companies such as Marriott, Expedia, Hilton, and TripAdvisor, and prompted consumers to 'Press 1' to hear about 'exclusive' vacation deals." the FCC said.

"Those who did were transferred to foreign call centers where live operators attempted to sell vacation packages - often involving timeshares - at destinations unrelated to the named travel or hospitality companies," the regulator added.

Image source, Getty Images

The foreign ministers of Germany and Russia have said they are working to preserve the Iran nuclear deal.

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the US would ditch the deal and reimpose sanctions.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (pictured) said it was crucial Iran sticks to its obligations under the international 2015 deal despite the sanctions.

"It is necessary that Iran stays in the agreement. It is in Iran's interest, too, to keep the agreement alive," Mr Maas said after meeting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

Mr Lavrov said it was crucial that any new US sanctions on Iran did not scuttle the deal.

Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Apple is working with US investment bank Goldman Sachs on a new credit card, with plans to scrap an existing partnership with Barclays, the Wall Street Journal reports, external.

The partnership comes as each of the firms is trying to carve out a space in the consumer banking space.

Apple is working to convert shoppers to its Apple Pay system.

Goldman, meanwhile, has started an online bank for everyday households called Marcus.

Corporate credit cards typically offer rewards. For example, the existing Barclays card provides financial incentives for Apple purchases.

Former Vote Leave campaign director Dominic Cummings has said he will not be attending a parliamentary committee hearing into the Facebook data scandal after being issued with a formal summons by MPs.

In a blog post, external Mr Cummings said "lawyers of multiple parties have told me to keep my trap shut" until an Electoral Commission inquiry into leave campaign funding has finished.

He said he had been "happy to give evidence once this snag was out of the way."

"I said that if they issued a summons instead of discussing possible dates like reasonable people, then it would be obvious they are not interested in friendly cooperation to uncover the truth. So I will not give evidence to this committee under any circumstances."

He accused the committee of "grandstanding".

Mr Cummings said in March that there were no links between Cambridge Analytica and the Vote Leave campaign.

Image source, g

A committee of MPs has issued formal summonses for former Cambridge Analytica chief executive Alexander Nix (pictured) and former Vote Leave campaign director Dominic Cummings to attend a hearing about the Facebook data scandal.

They had both said they didn't want to give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee while an Information Commissioner's Office investigation was ongoing.

"However, the ICO and the Electoral Commission have confirmed to the Committee that these witnesses’ appearances before the Committee will not hinder their investigations in any way," the committee said.

Failure to appear at the dates set for the hearing could result in the committee "seeking the support of the House of Commons in respect of any complaint of contempt" it said.

In theory, being found to be in contempt of parliament could lead to a fine or even imprisonment - but these powers are now used sparingly, if at all.

Sterling moved back towards $1.35 after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told the BBC that he expected a rate rise over the course of the next year if there are no shocks to the economy.

The pound had slid sharply earlier in the day after the BoE kept rates on hold and cut its economic growth and inflation forecasts.

Image source, Getty Images

Back in 2014, MP Pat McFadden said Bank of England governor had acted like an "unreliable boyfriend" in hints over interest rate rises, an epithet which seems to have stuck.

BBC economics editor Kamal Ahmed asks Mr Carney about giving mixed signals over rate rises.

Mr Carney said he thinks the Bank is "being consistent".

The Bank may think the economy will improve only for that improvement not to transpire due to a shock to the economy, he says.

The UK economy growing less than expected recently is "a little version" of that, he says. "We think it's largely to do with the weather," he adds.

The Bank of England expects a rate rise this year, Bank of England governor Mark Carney tells the BBC's economics editor Kamal Ahmed - although that depends on whether there are any shocks to the economy, Mr Carney says.

"It's likely over the course of the next year rates will go up... that's the most likely thing to happen," Mr Carney says.

However, there could be shocks to the UK economy from protectionist trade policies or from Brexit, Mr Carney says.

"If the economy slows... then we will adjust policy," he says.

Households should expect and prepare for "a few limited rate increases at a gradual pace over the next few years", Mr Carney adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Bank of England governor Mark Carney remains optimistic about the UK economy, he tells BBC economics editor Kamal Ahmed.

"We expect that the UK economy is going to pick back up," Mr Carney says.

This is largely going to be due to exporters and business investment rather than household spending, he says.

As a consequence, he expects a rate rise this year, if there are no shocks to the economy, Mr Carney adds.

"We will see some rate rises over time at a gentle pace," he says.

Victoria Fritz
BBC transport correspondent

Sterling has slipped against the dollar after rates were left unchanged.

Ranko Berich, head of market analysis at Monex Europe, has this to say about the Bank of England's decision to keep rates on hold after previously signaling they could be raised:

"Once again, Mark Carney and the MPC [Monetary Policy Commitee] have backed away from hiking interest rates mere months after hinting that a move was imminent.

"The MPC holding fire on hikes is not an issue in itself – the committee is data dependent, and recent UK data has been poor – but the dangers of making overly explicit statements on future policy moves have been made clear.

"Carney’s warnings from February about rates rising earlier and to a greater extent now once again look like the promises of an unreliable boyfriend – and sterling is again suffering from being jilted at the rate hike altar."

Joe Lynam
Business correspondent