Gilts touch 6% as gold firms on softer inflation

Britain pays 6%

The weekend's British financial pages ran on one number. This is Money reported on Sunday that the UK had become the first major economy to pay 6% to borrow since the eurozone crisis. A rout in the bond market had pushed yields to their highest level since 1998. The comparison the paper chose carries weight of its own. The eurozone crisis was a period when government borrowing costs turned into a political matter across the single currency.

The cost does not stay in the market. A second This is Money report, published that afternoon, described a surging debt interest bill and alarm that the UK's bond payments were nearing a critical level. For a government, a higher yield is not an abstraction. Debt issued at these rates carries the higher cost until it matures. The report's headline set out the consequence plainly, as Budget pressure on Healey.

Hamish McRae, in the same paper, looked at the other side of the ledger. Bond vigilantes, he wrote, are punishing the UK but doing savers a favour.

Pensions sat close by in the coverage. City A.M. reported that Badenoch described the triple lock pension as the 'right policy' as a new Tory blueprint was announced. The paper also ran a comment piece this morning arguing that employers play a bigger role in pensions than is imagined. This is Money's investing pages, meanwhile, turned to the cost of dealing, with a guide to investing fee-free and the hidden costs that eat into profits.

Gold up, euro down

City A.M.'s live coverage, published before the London open, had stocks eyeing a recovery after the bond sell-off. Oil was holding above $100.

Gold rose overnight. The Wall Street Journal attributed the move to softer-than-expected inflation data, which tempered bets on rate rises. The same paper reported the euro falling amid concerns over France's fiscal and political situation. That makes a second European government's finances under scrutiny in as many days. Taiwan stocks, by contrast, rose amid better sentiment, according to the Journal.

Higher rates are showing up in company finance as well as in government accounts. The Journal said Paramount's $52 billion debt sale showed how higher rates are biting corporate America. It presented the deal as evidence of a broader pattern rather than a one-off. Equity investors have so far held their ground. The paper's quarterly review found stock funds clinging to a 10.3% gain for 2026. The verb in that headline was 'cling', not 'climb'.

CNBC took the longer view. It identified 2029 as a tipping point, the year Western populations are about to start shrinking, piling pressure on public finances. Bond markets price the cost of borrowing today. The demographic arithmetic arrives more slowly, and lands on the same balance sheets.

Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and a cup of coffee

In Asia, the South China Morning Post reported that Schroders plans to expand in Hong Kong following its merger with Nuveen. The plan came from the asset manager's chief executive. The same paper reported that DFI Retail, the operator of Wellcome, is seeking a buyer for a fully leased shopping centre on The Peak.

Two further SCMP pieces looked at where Chinese money and talent might go. One quoted an investor arguing that quant funds are 'necessary' to China's ascent as a financial powerhouse. Another examined how Malaysia offers Chinese investors the comfort of Singapore at prices lower than those in Thailand. Taken together with the Schroders interview, the paper's Monday business pages were largely about capital looking for a regional home.

Closer to home, the Guardian reported that Costa's coffee shops have returned to profit. The paper credited iced drinks and matcha on the menu.

In Washington, the BBC reported that Trump has unveiled a 'Super Intelligence Force' to oversee AI policy. The report was published shortly before 5am, UK time. And for those in need of a change of subject, City A.M. sent a correspondent to a UK renaissance faire, which offered jousting, goblins and furries.