Yields climb, a London debut disappoints and the Fed draws fire

Bond markets and the bill for borrowing

Bond markets ended the week a little calmer, though borrowing grew no cheaper. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that global bond yields edged higher as the selloff slowed. A separate Journal piece found that small-cap stocks were hit hard while yields surged. A third described a double whammy from borrowing costs that has raised the odds of recession.

In London, Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England's chief, warned that the UK must balance the books or face turmoil in the bond market. This is Money presented the remarks as a pre-Budget warning to the Chancellor. They came as UK borrowing costs touched a fresh 28-year high.

The strain shows in households as well as in government debt. CNBC reported that Americans' debt problems are flashing a warning not seen since the Great Recession, with delinquencies the measure in question. A day earlier, the same outlet carried a New York Fed finding that inflation on many everyday items was entirely due to tariffs. The Journal, for its part, ran two explanatory pieces on how buyers approach bonds when yields are rising, one of them organised around the question of why a buyer holds bonds in the first place.

Tariffs have left a mark in Britain too. Lotus halved its UK workforce last year after Trump tariffs hit its sports car sales.

A polite welcome in London

Airtel Money came to market on Friday in the biggest London flotation for five years. This is Money called the business 'Africa's Revolut'. The welcome was polite rather than warm.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the shares opened higher on the first day of trading, but that the $7 billion valuation missed the mark. City A.M. described the shares as muted. By the afternoon This is Money had the stock dipping, and wrote that the debut had fallen flat. City A.M. nonetheless carried a comment piece arguing that the listing shows London is still one of the best places to grow a company. On the same morning the paper reported Revolut's boss saying that a US primary listing was 'always the target'.

Earlier listings have served some insiders well. Bosses at Beauty Tech Group cashed in £6m after the shares surged following the company's London IPO.

Elsewhere, owners were looking for the exit. This is Money reported that Coca-Cola is looking to sell Costa Coffee eight years after its £4bn takeover. The BBC reported that Everton's owners are considering selling the club two years after buying it. SSP, owner of Upper Crust and Millie's Cookies, flagged lower profits; This is Money tied the shortfall to Middle East conflict disrupting travel, while City A.M. said the Iran war had hit tourism. The FTSE 100 rallied on Friday as oil fell back after Trump's Iran war pledge, according to City A.M.'s live coverage.

Washington, the courts and Asia

Christian Bittar, the former Deutsche Bank trader jailed for rigging interest rates, has had his conviction quashed. The Guardian noted that the case concerned Euribor.

The Federal Reserve was again a political subject. CNBC reported that Scott Bessent of the Treasury has hired Judy Shelton, Trump's controversial former pick for the Fed board, as an advisor. The Guardian reported that Trump has established a committee to investigate Fed governor Lisa Cook. In Hong Kong, analysts told the South China Morning Post that the city faces limited impact if the Fed curbs access to a US dollar funding facility. The city has also outlined new liquidity reforms as a rally in US markets pulls funds away.

In mainland China, the golden week holiday brought a spike in travel, yet hotel room rates disappointed. State funds doubled down on Hua Hong in a push into legacy chips.

Technology sent mixed signals. The BBC reported that an Nvidia-backed data centre firm scrapped its IPO as concerns over AI valuations deepen, and the Journal said the cancellation points to the limits of the AI boom. Samsung, by contrast, reported a record £6bn profit on surging demand for memory chips. US stocks rose on Friday as technology shook off Thursday's selloff. A record profit and a withdrawn flotation, from the same industry, within a single day.