In other news, Japan’s main stock index, the Nikkei, has hit an all-time closing high, driven by optimism about the AI boom. Lloyds and Rolls-Royce have also reported strong figures, with Lloyds' pre-tax profits jumping 57% to £7.5bn and Rolls-Royce's profits more than doubling to £1.6bn last year. US chipmaker Nvidia also reported strong sales, beating expectations and reporting a 265% increase from the same period the previous year.
Key takeaways:
- Lloyds Banking Group has set aside £450m for potential fines and compensation related to an investigation by the UK regulator into inflated prices for car loans. Despite this, the bank's annual pre-tax profits rose 57% to £7.5bn.
- Rolls-Royce is forecasting a further jump in 2024 profits, with cost cutting plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs well underway. The company made an underlying operating profit of £1.6bn for 2023, up from £652m in 2022.
- Japan’s main stock index, the Nikkei, has hit an all-time closing high, driven by optimism about the AI boom and strong results from US chipmaker Nvidia.
- Nvidia reported sales of $22.1bn for the fourth quarter of last year, up 22% from the previous quarter and 265% higher than the same period the previous year. The company expects to deliver $24bn in sales for the current quarter.