Good morning. Canada drops a tech tax to restart US trade talks. France believes the EU can clinch a deal with Washington by the July deadline. And robots play messy not Messi football. Listen to the day’s top stories.
Canada withdrew its digital services tax targeted at tech companies including Meta and Alphabet in a move to restart trade talks with the US. France is confident the EU can clinch some form of a trade deal with Washington before a July 9 deadline. And UK car manufacturers can export to the US under a 10% tariff starting today, a reduction from the 25% rate on other countries.
Keir Starmer is working to contain the rebellion in his Labour Party ahead of a vote tomorrow on his flagship welfare policy. Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC the government has addressed many of the backbenchers’ concerns and is in a better position than last week.
Big money takeovers of private companies helped drive mergers and acquisitions in the first half, with the value of all deals globally rising by almost a fifth to $1.8 trillion.
European stocks outperformed their US peers by the biggest margin on record in dollar terms during the first half, the most dramatic sign of how the region’s markets are staging a comeback after more than a decade in the doldrums.
European-focused equity funds have attracted $46 billion of fresh money since the start of 2025.
The rebound isn’t confined to stocks: the euro is up 13% against the dollar this year. Jupiter Asset Management’s Mark Nash sees the currency surging to $1.40 next year, a near 20% jump from current levels.
German bunds have outperformed Treasuries since April even as the government braces to issue more debt.
“It’s an exciting time to be in European markets,” said Erik Koenig, who runs the EMEA equity sales desk at Bank of America in London.
Shell has denied it’s pursuing an acquisition of BP, but that doesn’t preclude other deals, writes Javier Blas. What Shell lacks is a vision to sustain oil and gas production beyond the next five years.
Humanoid robots played a football match in Beijing on Saturday, but the results were more messy than Messi. The exhibition was held to demonstrate balance, agility and AI-powered decision-making ahead of the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games in August. Here’s a short video of the action.
