Caroline Hepker

hitting new highs.

Some breaking news this hour.

Lloyds Bank has announced a share buyback of up to £1.75 billion.

That's as it reported pre-tax profits in the fourth quarter that beat estimates of almost £2 billion.

Lloyds sees its return on tangible equity for this year rising above 16%, an improvement on its last forecast.

US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that time is running out to make a nuclear deal with the US.

In a social media post, Trump said that the fleet of American ships ordered to the region is ready to fulfil its mission with speed and violence if necessary.

The latest remarks come after repeated threats from the White House to launch another attack on Iran over recent crackdowns on domestic protests rather than nuclear activities.

Iran's mission to the United Nations said that it's ready for dialogue but will respond like never before if pushed.

I'm Caroline Hepka and this is Bloomberg.

And I'm Caroline Hepker.

Despite those gains, doubts are persisting among some investors that firms can recoup their massive AI outlay.

Shares in Microsoft dropped in after hours trading as the software giant announced a 66% increase in capital expenditure for the second quarter.

The higher than expected spend of more than $37 billion came as the firm also announced a slowdown in cloud services growth.

But Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that he expects AI expenditure to deliver for the firm.

Satya Nadella was speaking as Microsoft's total sales increased by 17% to $81 billion during the quarter.

Meanwhile, the information is reporting that Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon are in discussions to invest as much as $60 billion in OpenAI as part of a major new funding round.

This as analysts are increasingly warning of a potential AI bubble forming in part because of the circular nature of some investments.

Now we have some breaking news this hour.

Deutsche Bank has announced a €1 billion share buyback as it reported pre-tax profits of just over €2 billion for the fourth quarter.