Optimism that US interest rates will be cut in September has given a boost to global markets. Mining heavyweights are among the beneficiaries in London amid an improved FTSE 100 session. A Vodafone network deal with VMO2 is in the corporate spotlight, while Topps Tiles has reported more tough trading conditions.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, said he believed a cross-party bid to deprive Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally of a majority in next Sunday's parliamentary run-off could succeed. Attal was speaking after more than 200 candidates across the political spectrum agreed to pull out of local contests to clear the path for whoever was best placed to defeat the RN runner in their voting district. "What these withdrawals show is that we can avoid an absolute majority for the far right," Attal told France Inter radio of the 289-seat tally the RN would require to control France's 577-seat National Assembly.
Vodafone’s blockbuster £15 billion merger with Three edged a step closer to completion today after the telecoms giant signed a fresh network deal with its biggest British rival, Virgin Media O2. The pact, which is set to last for more than a decade, extends the two firms’ existing network sharing arrangement while also allowing VMO2 to acquire more network spectrum in the event that the merger goes ahead.