Good morning. Japanese stocks fall after the Bank of Japan surprises markets. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will talk today. And have a tip? Get in touch with MI6 on their new dark web portal. Listen to the day’s top stories.
— Lily Nonomiya
Bank of Japan surprise. The BOJ stunned markets by announcing a plan to offload its massive exchange-traded fund holdings accumulated as part of its monetary easing program that ended last year. Policymakers kept interest rates unchanged at 0.5% as expected, but two board members pushed for a hike, putting the October meeting in play. The Nikkei 225 slid. Check out our Markets Today live blog for all the latest news and analysis relevant to UK assets.
It’s a wrap. Trump’s state visit to the UK dazzled with royal pomp and helped smooth over policy differences with Prime Minister Keir Starmer. While no major diplomatic breakthroughs occurred, the leaders emphasized their “unique bond” and celebrated £250 billion in bilateral investments, despite lingering disagreements on Gaza and trade.
The EU plans to accelerate its phaseout of Russian liquefied natural gas imports, people familiar said. The US has called on Europe to quicken its wind-down of Russian fuel imports and has pressured allies to impose higher tariffs on India and China for their purchases of Russian oil.
It’s iPhone day. The time has finally come for Apple customers that have been waiting for a fresh design before buying a new phone. In a first since 2020, Apple is rolling out several new iPhone designs. Initial signs show that the Pro models are selling well. Apple’s been having a tough time in China, where iPhone sales fell 6% ahead of the iPhone 17 launch, outpacing the overall market’s decline.
Austrian Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer. Photographer: Michaela Nagyidaiova/Bloomberg
The EU is inching toward issuing joint debt to help fund investments needed to improve its economy, according to Austria’s finance minister.
Common borrowing by the EU’s 27 members was among the main recommendations put forward by former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi a year ago to help boost the bloc’s competitiveness. But it remains a controversial topic.
Austria—also often labeled as one of the EU’s fiscal hawks—is now acknowledging this may become a reality.
The BOE’s gilt relief is a day late and a pound short, Marcus Ashworth writes. In the future the central bank should avoid blithely ignoring its responsibilities to taxpayers and impairing the functioning of its government bond market.
The headquarters of MI6—the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service. Photographer: Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg
MI6 has launched a dark web portal called Silent Courier to recruit spies securely. Interested? The agency will post instructions on YouTube to help recruits pass on information about hostile intelligence activity or terrorism.
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