A look at the day ahead in European and global markets

By Gregor Stuart Hunter, Asia Finance & Markets Breaking News Correspondent

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If U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was hoping for a reprieve from his to-do list, this might be as good as it gets.

The Japanese currency weakened for the first time ‌in five sessions on Tuesday, as the dust settled from rare coordinated intervention in foreign exchange markets by officials in Tokyo and Washington.

A notepad in front of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent reads "To Do Buy Japanese Yen $5-10 bil" as he participates in a cabinet meeting at Camp David, Maryland, U.S., July 31, 2026.  REUTERS/Daniel Heuer

The yen was 0.3% softer against the U.S. dollar at 157.715 yen, and weaker by a similar amount versus the euro at 181.45 yen. It remains about 4% stronger against both compared with levels a week ago that prompted official ⁠support, marking the first U.S. foray into Japan's foreign exchange market in 15 years.

But an auction of 10-year Japanese government bonds on Tuesday also drew weaker demand than the previous sale of sovereign debt, prompting a fresh bout of jitters and a jump higher in yields.

Elsewhere, with few other catalysts, stocks drifted through the Asian trading session. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.5%, while the Nikkei 225 slumped 0.3%.

S&P 500 e-mini futures were 0.2% higher, inching closer towards reclaiming record highs, as investors focused on better-than-expected corporate earnings. With almost two-thirds of S&P 500 companies reporting, 84% ‌have ⁠beaten earnings estimates, according to LSEG data.

Graphics are produced by Reuters

Oil prices recovered a little after plunging on Monday, with Brent crude up 1.4% at $84.93 a barrel in the Asian session as traders looked through U.S. President Donald Trump's promises to refrain from attacking Iran to help peace talks that Tehran says are not taking place.

In any event, not much shipping traffic is ⁠passing through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb waterways.

In early European trades, pan-region futures were up 0.3% and German DAX futures were 0.2% higher, with both indexes on track to reach record highs, while FTSE futures ⁠nudged up 0.3%.

Meanwhile, after security breaches by AI agents gone rogue, developers Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI and Google have been invited to meet White House officials on Tuesday to discuss voluntary government safety testing for ⁠their most advanced models, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.