Business news live: Bond yields drop further, electric car sales rise in June

More changes in the stock market are likely over the coming weeks, in both directions, Justin Onuekwusi, chief investment officer at St. James’s Place, believes.

That’s on account of the upcoming trade tariffs deadline set by Donald Trump, which is 9 July.

“Tariffs may be tempting for politicians as a way to trade imbalances, but they come with economic risks. The IMF estimates that Trump’s tariff policies could shave 0.5% off global economic growth next year. In the near term, higher import costs could drive up inflation and squeeze US consumers,” he said.

“With the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs nearing its end, further volatility seems likely. While the UK has made progress on trade deals, the outlook for a comprehensive EU-US agreement remains uncertain. Meanwhile, negotiations with China remain complex and unresolved.”

We’ve previously seen that Rachel Reeves is expected to talk about a Cash ISA limit cut at her Mansion House speech this month but now further details have emerged.

It seems a pensions overhaul is on the agenda too, with the FT reporting a review will be commissioned to look at auto-enrollment rates, state pension, self-employed retirement savings and more.

Company contributions could be on the line too.

Stock markets rose again in June – the S&P 500 is up just over 5 per cent in the last month and the FTSE 100 is just above flat over the same time.

Now, interactive investor, AJ Bell and Robinhood have published a list of the most popular stocks to have been bought on their platforms during June – with certain names overlapping on all three.

The top five in each case as are below.

The government are placing a pause on regulations which would have forced small businesses to file extra accounts.

A policy brought in by the Conservatives would have seen firms with fewer than 50 employees and turnover under £10m have to disclose more detail in company numbers, but this has been placed on hold by Jonathan Reynolds, business secretary, report the Guardian.

Groups had opposed the new rules saying it would be costly and time-consuming.

After the Rachel Reeves-related spike in gilt yields of a few days ago, there were real fears over borrowing costs…but only briefly.

A few statements later it started to subside and the sell off reversed, meaning the yield came back down accordingly.

This morning, the same again – the yield on 10-year bonds is now back down to 4.518 per cent.

For much of last week it was in the range of 4.49 to 4.51 per cent, so it’s certainly retraced back to expected levels.

BlackRock, Schroders and Fidelity International were among the big hedge funds to buy bonds during the sell-off in expectation it would be short-lived, reported the FT.

“We are ‘overweight’ the gilt market, we did add to that yesterday afternoon,” said Simon Blundell, co-head of European active fixed income at BlackRock.

Nvidia shares rose 1.3 per cent yesterday, closing at $159.34 – though they did briefly surpass the $160 mark.

Had they closed above that price, the total market capitalisation of the chip-maker would set a new all-time record as the world’s most valuable business ever, by market capitalisastion.

The current record is $3.915 trillion, set by Apple on December 26, 2024. Nvidia’s market cap is now $3.886tn (£2.842tn) – meaning it is more valuable than all the public listed companies in the UK combined.

Stock markets are closed in the US today for 4th July, but it appears a matter of time before Nvidia becomes the first $4tn company.

We’ve heard more than once about how EV sales have been declining of late, but the data doesn’t showcase that.

One in four cars sold in June in the UK were electric and total EV market share for the year is 21.6 per cent.

Colin Walker, head of transport at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said:

“EV sales for the month are up 46%, while petrol sales are down 11%, meaning more and more drivers are making the shift to cleaner and cheaper electric driving. And with the likes of Ford increasing their year-to-date EV sales by 333%, and Renault by 251%, we’re seeing more traditional manufacturers rising to the challenge of building and selling the electric vehicles that people increasingly demand.”

A third of small UK businesses fear losing up to £20,000 this year amid the uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s new trade tariffs, a new report shows.

Across April and May, the US President announced – and then called a pause for – levies being placed on all goods imported to the US from other nations, as part of a plan to readdress trade balances. While the UK has since arranged a trade deal with the nation, many other countries or blocs have not done so and there remains uncertainty within some industries.

A new report looking at more than 500 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the UK has now revealed three in ten (30 per cent) estimate the cost of tariff knock-on effects to be between £10,000 and £20,000 this year, while two per cent believe it will cost them over £1m.

Data from BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker suggests all is not well with UK retail.

The most recent information shows the ninth consecutive month that overall sales volume has fallen; while sales in-store grew 0.6 per cent, it’s way below the current rate of inflation (3.4 per cent in May) which means a real-term decline overall.

Online sales grew 4.3 per cent but more needs to be done, says Sophie Michael, head of retail at BDO.

“There is a growing gap between the performance of physical stores and online retail. Perhaps this is because online retailers have greater agility to adjust their inventory and promotional material to quickly align to consumer preferences, such as promoting summer outfits in extreme high temperatures and pivoting to waterproofs when the rain arrives,” Ms Michael said.

“Some retailers are making targeted investments to improve their store estates to attract more footfall, but we need to see this across the industry along with more support to revitalise our high streets. Store propositions need to be reinvented. Strategic and targeted investment is what is really required for retailers with a significant physical footprint to remain competitive. At the same time, retailers need to continue to invest in blending their physical and online offerings. Without this investment and local government support, we risk seeing further store closures which has a detrimental effect on our towns and communities.”

Expecting a return to the early April and May madness of the stock markets around the world might be the best mindset as we head into the next week.

That’s because the deadline for Trump’s tariff pause is 9 July and plenty of nations, or blocs, have not arranged agreements yet.

Not that investors should be panicking – but do be aware of the situation, Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said.

“There is the potential for a market wobble if we don’t get substantial progress with trade talks over the next few days. Only a handful of countries have struck framework deals so far, suggesting there isn’t enough time for everyone to reach an agreement before the 9 July deadline.

“Investors might want to sit tight and ride out any volatility as history suggests markets bounce back from selloffs.”