Countries with less strict environmental laws are expected to face taxes on their products sent to the UK under plans designed to protect British manufacturers.

Grant Shapps, the energy secretary, will on Thursday announce the "carbon border taxes" that will mirror a scheme in the European Union, according to The Times.

5 things to start your day 

1) Net zero ban on petrol cars in chaos after Brussels climbdown | Proposals to ditch internal combustion engines face crisis following 'e-fuels' exemption in EU

2) Royal Mail strikers given 48 hours to accept pay deal amid administration fears | Company races to seal pay offer following claims UK arm could go bust

3) Michael Gove approves solar farm the size of 75 football pitches despite local objections | Divisive Shropshire project will provide enough electricity to power over 8,500 homes

4) ECB staff complain of burnout after being forced back to the office | Survey shows the proportion of staff feeling the effects of burnout doubled in 6 months

5) Black Lives Matter logo ‘violates Adidas trademark’ | Sportwear retailer argues the design creates confusion with its own three-stripe mark

What happened overnight 

Asian shares jumped on Wednesday while the dollar was on the defensive as easing concerns over the banking sector revived risk appetite.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.82pc, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.49pc.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed over 2pc, buoyed by Alibaba after the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate announced its break-up plans. Alibaba's Hong Kong shares shot up 15pc, while the company's US-listed shares closed 14.3pc higher. Meanwhile, China's CSI 300 benchmark edged up 0.4pc.

Wall Street stocks ended lower on Tuesday as investors weighed comments from Federal Reserve vice chair Michael Barr, who described the downfall of Silicon Valley Bank as a "textbook case of mismangement".

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1pc to 32,394.25. The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2pc to 3,971.27, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.5pc at 11,716.08.

The KBW regional banking index declined 0.2pc as the Federal Reserve official proposed tougher liquidity and capital rules to avoid further collapses. 

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasuries rose 2.8 basis points to 3.56pc, up from 3.53pc on Monday. The interest rate sensitive two-year yield was up 9.5 basis points at 4.06pc.