Long bonds set the agenda, and the UK pays most

A sell-off with several authors

The move in long-dated debt dominated Wednesday's coverage. This is Money reported gilt yields spiking amid a global bond market rout, taking UK long-term borrowing costs to a 28-year high. The Wall Street Journal had framed the same episode a day earlier as bond yields soaring around the world in a challenge to government borrowing, and reported US stocks falling as oil and yields spiked while the conflict between the United States and Iran heated up.

Explanations were plentiful. The Journal set out four forces pressuring bonds and put war first among them. A separate piece argued that borrowing is not the bond market's only concern, and that growth belongs in the account as well. At the BBC, Faisal Islam described the bond market as a wildfire keeping world leaders up at night.

Wednesday itself brought a pause rather than a turn. The Journal's live coverage recorded the Treasury sell-off stalling while stocks rose. In Frankfurt, the arithmetic pointed the other way: Euronews reported an ECB rate rise looming after an energy shock pushed euro-area inflation to 3.3%.

By Thursday morning the same anxiety had reached London equities. City A.M.'s FTSE 100 live blog opened with stocks set to drop as interest rate hike fears hit the City, published shortly after half past six UK time. In Tokyo, the Nikkei closed 0.1% higher, led by trading houses and financial stocks.

The bill arrives in Westminster

Higher yields translated quickly into domestic politics. The Guardian reported Andy Burnham attempting to calm bond market fears as the sell-off threatened a crucial first budget. Nils Pratley, writing in the same paper, warned that the bond markets will demand proper answers when that budget comes.

This is Money put a figure on the immediate damage, reporting that the gilt rout had blown a £6 billion hole in fiscal headroom, with middle earners facing a further tax squeeze as a result. Alex Brummer, in the same title, examined why the UK pays more to borrow than rival countries, and argued the explanation is not simply a "moron premium".

Spending demands did not pause for the yield curve. City A.M. reported Kemi Badenoch calling for benefits cuts to fund a £10 billion defence spending package. The same paper carried Andrew Griffith arguing that his FTSE 100 experience means he knows how to balance the books.

Elsewhere in the policy column inches, This is Money reported figures suggesting that reinstating tax-free shopping for tourists would add £11.5 billion to UK GDP, with Sadiq Khan throwing his weight behind the policy.

Flows, listings and a search for shelter

Away from sovereign debt, the South China Morning Post reported that China's national pension fund has doubled its offshore investments to US$86 billion, a new high, in a search for higher returns. Mainland investors, meanwhile, were buying Hong Kong technology stocks in an artificial-intelligence pivot and selling financials.

The corporate data pointed the same way. Chinese industrial profits grew at their fastest pace in four years on the back of the country's technology push, the SCMP reported, though the same figures showed signs of an economic divide. BYD posted a quarterly profit of US$1.2 billion, and Chinese carmakers were reported to be eyeing the full hybrid market. Jollibee, the Philippine fast-food group, chose Hong Kong over New York for the listing of a spin-off. Brussels was less accommodating: the EU trade chief told Euronews that China must deliver concrete results by October or face harsher measures.

The Journal reported that the hunt for AI-proof assets is leading investors towards sports, casinos and travel.

Company news in London ran to a familiar mix. Motorpoint shares rose after better than expected trading lifted its profit outlook. Alex Brummer called BP's appointment of Ian Tyler as chairman a tame choice. Sky News reported that a buyer for Spire Healthcare is squaring Circle as a £1 billion takeover looms, while This is Money reported Diageo scrapping responsible drinking and diversity targets as management concentrates on profits. On the regulatory side, the founder of a private-company investment firm was charged with defrauding investors.