Yields reach fresh highs as oil climbs past $107

Bonds and crude set the tone

Monday belonged to the bond market. The Wall Street Journal's live coverage reported Treasury yields climbing to fresh highs, with technology stocks dropping. By the evening its verdict was plain: US stocks slid as the Treasury selloff deepened. Oil moved the same way, and the Journal named rising crude and rising yields together as the damper on equities. It also ran a feature in which six investing professionals gave their views on the surge in yields and on how they approach it.

The pressure has carried into Tuesday. City A.M.'s FTSE 100 live blog describes stocks as jittery, with oil surging over $107 on supply concerns.

Asia opened on the back foot. The Nikkei fell 0.8%, dragged down by auto and steel stocks. Not every company is troubled by dear oil. Euronews reported that TotalEnergies raised its buybacks and pledged higher dividends, at a time when oil was trading around $100 a barrel. That figure was already out of date by this morning, with City A.M. putting crude above $107.

Threadneedle Street and the builders

In London the rate debate hardened. City A.M. reported that Ramsden of the Bank of England said interest rates will need to rise if pressures persist. A second City A.M. piece argued that the Monetary Policy Committee has changed its mindset, and asked what comes next for rates.

That backdrop sat awkwardly against Monday's liveliest trade. This is Money reported housebuilders' shares soaring as Burnham revamps Help to Buy, carrying the line that "Christmas has come early for Britain's builders". The same article put the obvious question in its headline: whether rising interest rates will snuff out the recovery. Buyers of new homes borrow, and borrowing costs are precisely what the Bank's speakers were discussing.

Prices on the high street were also in the news. Aldi vowed to keep cutting prices, according to This is Money, as fresh inflation spikes loom. The BBC, meanwhile, examined why the Prime Minister could finally drop the triple lock pension pledge.

One fund manager had a better story to tell. This is Money traced a 60% rise in Aberdeen's shares, crediting a data-centre bet and the restoration of the vowels to its name.

Tariffs, listings and a large buyback

Trade policy moved on several fronts. The Guardian reported that China and the United States have cut reciprocal tariffs on $30bn each of goods, a list running from foie gras and live dolphins to toasters. Euronews asked what the lists could mean for Europe, and separately reported that the EU is pushing China to accept import quotas in a bid to rebalance trade. Nike, Adidas and Puma, City A.M. said, have put historic differences aside to target tariffs and an inactivity crisis.

Chinese data offered little comfort. CNBC reported that industrial profits grew 4.2% in August, the weakest pace this year.

Hong Kong's listings market produced both extremes. Shein fell 14% to a record low, the South China Morning Post reported, after profits missed in its first results since its Hong Kong IPO. The same paper reported that chip foundry CanSemi's offering was oversubscribed 2,360 times as investors chase the AI boom. A Xiaomi-backed robotics chip designer has cleared its listing hearing and is eyeing a US$100m Hong Kong IPO, according to sources cited by the Post. On the mainland, fund managers warned of premium risks as fresh quotas failed to ease demand.

In America the largest corporate number of the day came from Nvidia. The Guardian reported that the company unveiled a security platform to rein in AI agents alongside a $150bn stock buyback, which City A.M. described as a record. It arrived on the same day technology stocks fell.