At 3:53 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury was trading more than one basis point higher at 3.7808%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last down by less than one basis point to 4.7189%.

Yield and prices have an inverted relationship and one basis point equals 0.01%.

Investors awaited a slew of Fed speaker comments slated for this week which could provide fresh details about the outlook for interest rates.

At its latest monetary policy meeting last week, the central bank left rates unchanged for the first time since March 2022. However, in guidance issued alongside the rate decision, Fed officials indicated that they are expecting to hike rates twice more this year, by 25 basis points each time.

They also expect interest rates to be higher than previously anticipated throughout 2024 and 2025.

St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard and New York President John Williams are expected to speak on Tuesday, followed by other policymakers throughout the week. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is due to testify before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.

Investors will also be scanning their comments for clues about what could be next for the U.S. economy as concerns about how it could be affected by elevated rates continue.

On the data front, May’s building permit and housing starts data is expected Tuesday.

Outgoing Alibaba CEO and Chairman Daniel Zhang sent a memo to staff on Tuesday explaining his reasons for stepping down.

Zhang will bow out in September, while company veteran Eddie Wu will succeed him as CEO, and Joe Tsai will take over as chairman, Alibaba announced Tuesday.

The move comes nearly three months after Alibaba announced plans to split the company into six business groups, each with the ability to raise outside funding and go public.

Zhang will remain CEO of the cloud computing business, as it pushes towards a spin-off and eventual public listing.

“Cloud Intelligence Group is now full speed ahead on its spin-off plans and we are approaching a crucial stage of the process, so it is the right time for me to dedicate my full attention and time to the business,” Zhang said in a memo to staff obtained by CNBC.

“From a corporate governance perspective, we also need clear separation between the board and management team as Cloud Intelligence Group proceeds down the path to becoming an independent public company. It would be inappropriate for me to continue serving as Chairman and CEO of both companies at the same time during the spin-off process.”

Zhang said the decision to step down was part of his own plan.

Zhang’s intentions to only focus on cloud now have been some years in the making. In an interview with CNBC in 2018, Zhang said cloud computing will be the company’s “main business” in the future, underscoring his bullishness regarding the technology.

Read the full memo Zhang sent to Alibaba employees:

My fellow Aliren,

Since becoming CEO of Alibaba Group in May 2015, it has become my custom to send several letters to everyone every year. As many of you have come to expect when receiving such a letter, it often signals a significant organizational change. Today is no exception. This time, however, the news I’m sharing involves an important personal change.

I am pleased to report that our organizational transformation into the “1+6+N” model has been progressing as planned since we made the announcement. During our most recent earnings announcement, we introduced the board of directors for each of the six major business groups, and these entities are now all fully operational. We also announced plans for a series of significant transactions, which include Cloud Intelligence Group’s full spin-off and listing as an independent company, IPOs for Cainiao Smart Logistics and Freshippo, and external capital raising for AIDC. Alibaba will have a brand-new outlook for the future.

As everyone is well aware, the development of core technologies such as cloud computing, big data and AI will lead to a tremendous transformation of our society and is of utmost strategic significance. Cloud Intelligence Group is now full speed ahead on its spin-off plans and we are approaching a crucial stage of the process, so it is the right time for me to dedicate my full attention and time to the business. From a corporate governance perspective, we also need clear separation between the board and management team as Cloud Intelligence Group proceeds down the path to becoming an independent public company. It would be inappropriate for me to continue serving as Chairman and CEO of both companies at the same time during the spin-off process. Therefore, the Alibaba board of directors has discussed and accepted my plan to transition from the role of Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group to focus exclusively on my role as Chairman and CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group, effective September 10th 2023. In turn, the Alibaba board of directors has appointed Joseph C. Tsai to succeed me as Chairman and Eddie Yongming Wu to succeed me as Chief Executive Officer. As co-founders and partners of the company, Joe and Eddie have made significant contributions to the company’s development and possess a wealth of invaluable experience. I have every confidence that their leadership will guide Alibaba toward new heights.

This change signifies a new phase and new journey, not only for the company but also for me personally. Time flies, and this year marks my 16th year at Alibaba Group. My appointment as CEO and Chairman of Alibaba Group was beyond my imagination. Being able to fully dedicate myself to the roles for as long as I have is truly due to the trust, support, encouragement, and patience I have received from everyone. For this, I am forever deeply grateful. Due to the historical opportunities that emerged through social progress and market development over the past 16 years, I had the privilege of witnessing the rapid growth of Alibaba and participated alongside everyone in so many achievements from inception to maturation that has impacted people’s everyday lives, enabled the digital transformation of businesses, and made positive contributions to society. Together we withstood the challenges brought about by the pandemic and weathered the uncertainties of the macro environment over the past three years. Through prosperity and adversity, we grew stronger, shared unforgettable experiences, and persevered through it all together. I am grateful for the friendships and bonds forged during this journey that is more valuable and meaningful to me than anything else.

Over the past 24 years, we have initiated self-reinvention many times. Today, we are all standing together at a new starting point, hoping to unlock new growth through self-transformation. I know everyone will continue to support Joe, Eddie, and the new senior management team. I hope everyone will find the best path and platform for themselves. Your self-fulfilment will benefit society and the company, but more importantly, hopefuly will help you discover how to be the best version of yourself. The team at Cloud Intelligence Group and I are also standing on a brand new stage, and we will leverage the power of new technology in cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence to serve the digital transformation of enterprises of all sizes and industries and capture the massive potential brought about by AI. I am incredibly eager and excited.

My friends, the landscape may evolve, but the mountains remain and the rivers will continue to flow. Let’s start a new chapter. When we meet again, may we all be carefree!

Daniel Zhang

Alibaba Group Chairman and CEO
Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group Chairman and CEO
2023.6.20

Dyson is known for its consumer gadgets such as vacuum cleaners, hair styling products and air purifiers, but it is now breaking into a new generation of products.

Recently launched devices like its 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum boast “intelligent” features, which require more software development — and the company has ramped up hiring in order to support those functions.

“We’ve really seen a ten-fold increase in our engineers working in software over the last years,” Dyson’s Chief Technology Officer John Churchill said. “We’re hunting for the greatest talent, from graduates of colleges to experienced people, to join us to pivot Dyson into more of a software world.”

The company is trying to hire another 2,000 engineers globally, according to Dyson’s director of upstream robotics, Kashyap Chandrasekar.

“Robotics and software are the largest pools of people we’re trying to hire,” he said.

Another Dyson device that has garnered attention, due to its futuristic look, is the Dyson Zone — headphones that double as a wearable purifier.

While the Zone has been criticized for its $999.99 price tag and bulky appearance, Churchill remained optimistic.

“With new products, we have a high selling price because there’s so much investment in terms of that technology,” he told CNBC in an interview.

“The first generation of products is really the stepping stone, in terms of the journey, and the products are going to continue to evolve.”

When asked about public health and access, Churchill said “We’ll continue to look into how we can bring the cost down to make it available to more people.”

Dyson’s global investment plan

Since its inception in 1991, founder Sir James Dyson has been set on pioneering new technology. Dyson started in the United Kingdom, before launching into Australian, European, American and Asian markets.

While Dyson faced headwinds like rising costs and chip shortages like many other consumer technology companies, the privately owned company reported £6.5 billion ($8.15 billion) in revenue for 2022, up from £6 billion the year before.

The company currently has a £2.75 billion investment plan divided across Singapore, the U.K. and the Philippines. The company already has research and development focused campuses in U.K., Malaysia and Shanghai — and is now investing £166 million in a new tech campus in Batangas, Philippines.

A key part of Dyson’s global investment scheme is the 247,000-square-feet battery plant in Singapore. The company has estimated it will be up and running by 2025.

“Our new battery factory allows Dyson to have a much longer-term view because they’re supported by a very clear strategy from the government to allow us to make big investments, with the confidence that they’re going to be supported,” Churchill explained.

Singapore in focus

Dyson’s decision to build their battery plant in Singapore comes after the company relocated its global headquarters to the city-state from the U.K. The company was criticized for that 2019 decision, partly due to founder Sir James Dyson’s vocal support for Brexit.

Out of 14,000 employees globally, 1,400 are based in Singapore, including 600 engineers.

“If we’re going to have a manufacturing footprint in this part of the world, you need engineers to be closely located,” Chandrasekar said. “It does help that there’s a fair amount of government push as well in the field of robotics. There’s plenty of initiatives. There’s a lot of capable research groups. All this lends itself well to build a talent pool that can support this.”

Churchill added that Dyson sees itself as a global technology brand, rather than a purely British one.

“We want to really understand some of those cultures and diversities that will inspire us to create new ideas, to solve problems that are relevant to people in different countries.”

Air raids sounded across Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday morning amid Russian attacks on Kyiv and Lviv, a city in the western part of the country, and the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said preliminary information showed that Ukraine’s air defense systems had shot down 32 of 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia. Ukrainian military and infrastructure facilities were targeted, the military said. Missiles had targeted the southern Zaporizhzhia region, it added.

The Lviv Regional Military Administration wrote on Telegram that preliminary information suggested that a critical infrastructure object was hit in Lviv but that people were not injured in the attack.

In other news, a top Ukrainian defense official conceded Monday night that it is “quite difficult” for Ukrainian forces to advance in their counteroffensive amid strong Russian resistance and deep defenses.

Ukraine concedes it’s ‘quite difficult’ to advance in counteroffensive

Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces is increasingly intense as Ukraine conducts counteroffensive operations in at least three sectors of the front line spanning southern to eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced Monday that over the past week, Ukrainian troops in the Zaporizhzhia direction have advanced up to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) and liberated 113 square km of territory, including eight settlements.

But in later comments last night, Maliar conceded that it “is quite difficult for our defenders to advance, because the enemy threw all their forces to stop the offensive” and added that the fighting “is hot both in the east and in the south” of Ukraine.

“Despite the fact that our troops are advancing in several directions of the south, the enemy is concentrating a lot of his efforts in the east and continues to advance there,” she noted in comments translated by Google.

“The enemy will not give up positions easily and we must prepare for the fact that it will be a tough duel. Exactly what is happening now,” she said. Still, “the ongoing operation has several tasks and the military is carrying out these tasks. They move as they were supposed to move,” she said without elaborating.

Ukraine’s armed forces said it had “eliminated” 1,010 Russian troops in the past day alone amid fierce fighting as Ukraine’s counteroffensive continues, but with a reportedly high level of attrition for both sides.

CNBC was not able to verify the information in the report and both Ukraine and Russia have looked to minimize their own reported losses while looking to accentuate their opponent’s.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia launches overnight attacks on Ukraine

Air raids sounded across Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday morning amid reports of Russian attacks targeting cities Kyiv and Lviv, in the western part of the country, and the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said preliminary information showed that Ukraine’s air defense systems had shot down 32 of 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia. Ukrainian military and infrastructure facilities were targeted, the military said. Missiles had targeted the southern Zaporizhzhia region, it added.

Ukraine’s capital Kyiv was spared a drone attack the last 18 days, with last night’s attack being only the second since the start of June, Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

“According to the usual tactics for mass UAV [unmanned aerial vehicles] attacks, drones entered the capital in waves, coming from different directions. The air alert lasted more than three hours. About two dozen enemy targets were detected and destroyed by the forces and means of our air defense in the airspace around Kyiv,” he said. Information about casualties and damage is still being gathered.

The Lviv Regional Military Administration wrote on Telegram that preliminary information suggested that a critical infrastructure object was hit in Lviv but that people weren’t injured in the attack.

In Zaporizhzhia, the military administration said, it recorded 72 attacks on 19 cities and villages in the region using drones and artillery. “So far, 50 reports of destruction have been recorded: apartments, houses, cars, administrative and commercial buildings,” the administration said, with at least one person reported to have been injured. CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information.

— Holly Ellyatt

Macron says first-of-its-kind European missile defense system has launched in Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday that Europe’s first medium-range anti-missile system, jointly developed by France and Italy, has been delivered and is operational in Ukraine, according to a report from French newspaper Le Monde.

The SAMP/T system, known as Mamba, is the only European-made technology that can handle ballistic missiles, Reuters reported in February. It is intended to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian drones, missiles and planes. Le Monde compared it to the Patriot, an American missile defense system.

Macron delivered the news at a meeting of defense ministers in Paris.

The announcement comes four months after France and Italy said the technology was ready. In February, the two countries said they would deliver the missile system to Ukraine this spring, according to Reuters.

“It really is Europe protecting Europe,” Macron said at the meeting, according to The Associated Press.

— Rebecca Picciotto

Blinken says China spy balloon ‘chapter should be closed’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News on Monday that his visit to Beijing was an “important start” to repairing U.S.-China relations, especially after the strain brought by an alleged Chinese spy balloon reported in February.

He had postponed the trip after the U.S. military discovered the spy balloon over the U.S. So long as no more spy balloons are found in the skies above the U.S., Blinken wants to leave the incident in the past so that the two economic superpowers can strengthen ties.

“That chapter should be closed,” Blinken said in an NBC interview before leaving Beijing. During his trip, he spent two days in meetings with senior Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping.

The two countries have yet to reestablish military communication channels, though Blinken says it is necessary and is “not something we’re going to drop.”

China cut those lines of military communication last year after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which is self-governing though Beijing claims it as its own territory. President Joe Biden said that a deal to reopen the communication had stalled due to the spy balloon.

Though military communication between the U.S. and China is currently on pause, Blinken said that he was assured in the meeting with Jinping that China had no intentions of providing aid{=null} to Russia in the war against Ukraine.

Blinken said he brought up the surveillance issue multiple times in his meetings with Chinese officials and is something that the U.S. government “will continue to watch.”

Read more on the story here: Xi tells Blinken in high-stakes meeting: World needs stable U.S.-China relations

— Rebecca Picciotto

Russia says it is too dangerous for UN to send aid to stranded civilians

The Kremlin said Monday it is too unsafe to send the United Nations’ humanitarian aid workers into areas impacted by the recent Kakhova Dam collapse where civilians are stranded.

Dmitry Peskov, press secretary for the Kremlin, said in a call with reporters that the war has made humanitarian visits too risky, though he did not say outright that Russia had obstructed the U.N.’s aid, according to The Associated Press.

The Kremlin’s comments come a day after the U.N. condemned Russia for interfering with its humanitarian efforts.

On Sunday, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement that Russia has denied the U.N.’s request to send aid to the Kakhova Dam area, which is located in southern Ukraine and is currently under Russian military control.

“We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law,” Brown said in the statement.

Survivors of the dam flood have faced a shortage of food, water and electricity, all while attacks continue in the area. Some rescuers from Ukraine have endured the risk of Russian snipers to evacuate stranded Ukrainians.

—Rebecca Picciotto

China looks to reassure U.S. over its relationship with Russia

After a high-profile meeting with the Chinese president on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had received assurances that Beijing was not providing lethal aid to Russia, nor had any intentions to do so in future.

There have been long-standing concerns that Beijing could provide weapons to its ally Moscow that could be used in the war against Ukraine. China has repeatedly insisted it has no plans to do so.

“With regard to lethal aid to to Russia for use in Ukraine, we and other countries have received assurances from China, that it is not and will not provide legal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine,” Blinken told a press conference Monday after meeting Chinese President Xi in Beijing.

Blinken said the U.S. had not “seen any evidence that contradicts that.”

“What we do have ongoing concerns about though are Chinese firms, companies, that may be providing technology that Russia can use to advance its aggression in Ukraine. And we have asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about that,” Blinken said.

Blinken and Xi Jinping’s meeting comes at a low point in Sino-U.S. relations, with tensions rife over trade, tech and geopolitics, including Beijing’s close relationship with Moscow.

At this latest high-stakes meeting, China’s president stressed the importance of steady relations between China and the U.S.

Read more on the story here: Xi tells Blinken in high-stakes meeting: World needs stable U.S.-China relations

— Holly Ellyatt

British prime minister speaks to Zelenskyy ahead of recovery conference in London

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday as London prepares to host the Ukraine Recovery Conference this week.

During the call, Sunak “paid tribute to the bravery of the Ukrainian soldiers on the front line of the counteroffensive and said it was clear they were making good progress,” a statement from Downing Street noted.

“Looking ahead to the NATO summit next month, the Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy that he believed NATO members would demonstrate a strong signal of support for Ukraine at the Vilnius meeting,” the statement added.

The conference, which begins Wednesday, is “a unique opportunity to underline the strong public and private sector support for Ukraine, and demonstrate the country’s transformation and ongoing reform,” the leaders agreed, Downing Street said.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference will focus on mobilizing international support for Ukraine’s economic and social stabilization and recovery from the effects of war, organizers say, “including through emergency assistance for immediate needs and financing private sector participation in the reconstruction process.”

— Holly Ellyatt

‘Step by step,’ Ukraine’s troops are advancing, Zelenskyy says

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country’s armed forces are making gains in their counteroffensive.

“Our troops are advancing, position by position, step by step, we are moving forward,” he said in his nightly address Sunday.

Zelenskyy’s comments come as Ukraine’s counteroffensive continues into its third week. Unlike several previous counteroffensives that saw Ukraine recapture an impressive amount of territory relatively quickly, this counteroffensive has been different, with Ukraine recapturing just a handful of settlements and progress expected to be limited by deep Russian defenses.

Ukraine met with its international allies last week to discuss Kyiv’s military progress and ongoing needs but Zelenskyy said Sunday that “the main thing is the speed of supply” of weaponry after a series of delays in decision-making over weapons, and their supply to Ukraine.

“Next week, we will have new important communications with our partners, for the sake of our movement, for the sake of weapons, for the sake of our warriors having everything they need,” he said Sunday.

— Holly Ellyatt

Read CNBC’s previous live coverage here:

Ukraine says it’s recaptured 8 villages during counteroffensive; China looks to reassure U.S. over Russia

U.S. President Joe Biden said Secretary of State Antony Blinken “did a hell of a job” in Beijing.

His comments came after Blinken’s high-profile diplomatic mission to China, aimed at soothing strained ties with Beijing.

“We’re on the right trail here,” Biden said Monday.

In a surprise meeting, Blinken met Chinese President Xi Jinping for a 35-minute meeting toward the end of his two-day visit. He is the highest-level American official to visit China in nearly five years.

Asked if he felt progress had been made in the Blinken-Xi meeting, the U.S. president responded: “You don’t have to ask that. You can ask how much progress was made.”

Blinken also met China’s top diplomat Wang Yi as well as Foreign Minister Qin Gang during the visit.

Here are other takeaways from Blinken’s trip to China:

Progress made

Biden wasn’t the only one who saw progress in the talks.

“The two sides have agreed to follow through the common understanding President Biden and I had reached in Bali,” Xi said in a video carried by Chinese state-owned media CCTV.

Both sides also “made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues,” he said without disclosing further details. “This is very good.”

Xi called for stable relations with the U.S., saying the world needs the relationship of the two economic giants to be “generally stable.”

The U.S. State Department described the talks as “candid, substantive, and constructive.”

Door to future talks

Blinken’s meeting could pave the way for Biden to meet Xi in November.

“Both sides agreed on follow-on senior engagements in Washington and Beijing to continue open lines of communication,” according to the State Department.

The secretary of State invited Qin to visit the U.S. and they agreed to schedule a reciprocal visit at a mutually suitable time, according to the statement.

While no date was announced, they agreed to maintain high-level interactions, according to the Chinese government.

The conversations between Qin and Blinken have been “largely positive” based on the readouts from both nations, said Mark Hannah, senior fellow at the Eurasia Group Foundation.

“While much gets left out of these official accounts, the language each side chooses to characterize the meetings is an indication of the tone which was struck,” Hannah told CNBC. 

Rivalry

Chinese state media quoted Xi as saying: “Competition among major powers does not conform to the trend of the times, let alone solve America’s own problems and the challenges facing the world.”

Bonnie Gasler, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at German Marshall Fund, said this point in Xi’s speech was “problematic.”

“In my view, it will not be possible to stabilize bilateral ties unless Beijing accepts that competition is now the dominant feature of U.S.-China relations and requires active and effective management,” Gasler told CNBC.

The Biden administration has been trying to convince the Chinese to accept competition as the mainstay of the relationship, and recognize that it is essential to work together to manage the competition and “prevent competition from veering into conflict,” Gasler tweeted.

Tech rivalry between the U.S. and China also intensified in recent months, with the U.S. blocking China’s access to advanced chip tech and China banning key infrastructure operators from buying U.S. tech giant Micron’s products.

According to a People’s Daily statement, Wang asked the U.S. to give up its so-called “China threat theory,” and to lift sanctions against China and to stop suppressing China’s technological development. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on China’s statement.

Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the U.S., acknowledged that the likelihood of war is low, but said the rivalry will go on.

“There’s a joint decision, a joint realization that we mustn’t go to war, but both countries are going to keep competing in every index of power all over the world, by all means short of war,” Daly told CNBC before Xi’s meeting with Blinken.

Status quo on Taiwan

Blinken also said he raised concerns about China’s “provocative actions in the Taiwan Strait, as well as in the South and East China Seas.”

But he sought to assure Beijing: “On Taiwan, I reiterated the longstanding U.S. ‘one China’ policy. That policy has not changed.”

China considers Taiwan part of its territory that needs to be reunified with the mainland. Beijing has never renounced the use of force against Taiwan and has been using increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward the island.

“We do not support Taiwan independence. We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences,” said Blinken adding that Washington remains committed to the Taiwan Relations Act, including making sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself.

In his meeting with Blinken on Monday, Wang emphasized that “safeguarding national unity will always be the core of China’s core interests.” He added that the U.S. must “respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and clearly oppose ‘Taiwan independence.'”

Tensions may still remain

Geopolitical tensions could still remain high, however.

“Neither country’s threat assessments are going down. They haven’t changed their threat assessments. We haven’t changed our intentions. We haven’t changed our tactics,” Daly told CNBC prior to the Xi-Blinken meeting.

“These dialogues are terrific, the more of them we have, the better — but there is no sign to date that either side is really changing any of its assessments of itself of the other,” Daly told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” Monday.

The State Department said Blinken emphasized that the U.S. will always stand up for Americans’ values, and addressed China’s “unfair and nonmarket economic practices and recent actions against U.S. firms.”

Xi maintained his stance that the U.S. must respect China and “not harm China’s legitimate rights and interests,” adding that Beijing will also respect the interests of the U.S. “and will not challenge or replace the U.S.”

“Neither party can shape the other according to its own wishes, let alone deprive the other of its legitimate right to development,” said Xi.

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What you need to know today

Blinken unexpectedly meets Xi
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his China visit by meeting with Xi Jinping, the country’s president. The meeting was initially unconfirmed, suggesting that it’s a small step in repairing frayed U.S.-China ties. Blinken’s meeting could pave the way for U.S. President Joe Biden to meet Xi in November.

Markets wanted more
U.S. markets were closed Monday to commemorate Juneteenth, the day when slavery in America ended, but stock futures slipped slightly. Asia-Pacific stocks traded mixed Tuesday. China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.18% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index sank 1.53% on the back of shallower-than-expected interest rate cuts by the Chinese central bank — more on that below.

Just cosmetic cuts
The People’s Bank of China lowered its one-year and five-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points each; the former is now 3.55% and the latter 4.2%. Economists think the cuts are too minor to affect monetary conditions. Nonetheless, they signal to markets that Chinese officials are ready to step in and support economic growth.

Succession, Alibaba style
Eddie Wu, one of Alibaba’s co-founders and current chairman of Taobao and Tmall Group, will succeed Daniel Zhang as chief executive of Alibaba. Joe Tsai, the present executive vice chairman, will rise to the position of chairman. Those appointments are effective Sept. 10. Zhang will remain chairman and CEO of Alibaba’s Cloud Intelligence Group.

[PRO] Crossing the dots
A “golden cross” is when a stock’s 50-day moving average rises above its 200-day trend line. Analysts think the event’s a bullish sign that will usher in further rallies. CNBC Pro combed through FactSet data and found six stocks that are on the verge of forming the golden cross.

The bottom line

Since U.S markets were closed yesterday, let’s take a quick look at the second-largest economy of the world: China. Spoiler alert: it isn’t a pretty picture.

Back in January, when China abruptly abandoned its “zero-Covid” policy, analysts were by equal measures worried and excited. Worried, because a massive economic engine suddenly roaring back to life could stoke the flames of inflation even higher. Analysts braced for higher commodities and oil prices. On the other hand, many saw China as a potential driver of a global economy that had lost its way. To quote Standard Chartered Chairman José Viñals: “The Chinese economy is going to be on fire and that’s going to be very, very important for the rest of the world.”

At approximately the halfway mark of the year, here’s how China’s stacking up against those expectations. In short: It seems everyone’s wrong about China. Instead of turning up the heat of inflation, China’s combating a potential deflationary problem domestically. The country’s consumer price index rose only 0.2% year over year, while its producer price index plummeted 4.6%. Recent economic data’s been so disappointing that Wall Street banks have started to cut their expectations of China’s economic growth this year — though their projections are, optimistically, still higher than the country’s own target of “around 5%.” Meanwhile, oil prices have been sliding despite Saudi Arabia announcing surprise cuts to production, and iron ore prices aren’t doing so hot either because China’s demand for steel is projected to fall.

China’s economy, to put it plainly, isn’t doing so well. It’s true things might turn around: The country’s central bank has started cutting rates, and analysts think fiscal stimulus is on its way. But for now, the Chinese dragon’s still dozy — and things are starting to feel a little too chilly.

Many firms are still struggling to fill roles, and the way they currently approach hiring might be making this even more challenging, Sue Duke, vice president and head of global public policy at LinkedIn, told CNBC Make It.

“The difficulties we face as we struggle to fill roles, weather economic shifts, and create a diverse and resilient workforce will only grow unless we change our approach to finding and nurturing talent,” Duke said.

One way companies are changing their approach is by focusing more on skills, rather than qualifications like college degrees or previous work experience. According to LinkedIn data shared with CNBC Make It, 45% of companies are now explicitly using skills-related metrics to find candidates, 12% more than a year ago.

Daniel Pell, vice president and country manager for the U.K. and Ireland at HR tool Workday, has also noticed a shift.

“HR has shifted to a skills-based economy,” Pell told CNBC Make It.

How skills-based hiring works

Hiring based on skills can have a wide range of benefits both for workers and employers, Duke said.

“Our research showed a skills-first approach could increase the global talent pool by nearly ten-fold. And a larger talent pool means less competition with other companies over the same candidates,” she said.

But the benefits are thought to go beyond expanding the number of available candidates.

According to Workday’s Pell, skills-based organizations are “far more likely to outperform their traditional counterparts” when it comes to innovation, efficiency, and adaptability.

The trend has been boosted by new artificial intelligence and machine learning products, Pell said, as those can help companies identify the right candidates.

Another major benefit for both workers and employers is that skills-based hiring can be vital for building a more diverse workforce.

“It levels the playing field for workers who may have been overlooked,” Duke said. This includes people who have not attended or completed university, women, and younger generations.

“For example, in jobs where women are underrepresented, the proportion of women in the talent pool could increase 24% more than it would for men, which leads to more women being hired,” she said.

This also increases opportunities for job-seekers, as well as making the job application process more transparent, according to Duke.

Companies that focus on skills also often provide development opportunities to their employees, Pell said. That means workers have more opportunities to grow and add to their existing skillset, helping them be successful long term, he said.

Tailoring your resume

As skills come into focus, the way job applications are assessed may change — a shift that can be difficult for job-seekers to navigate. However, they can also use it to their advantage, recruitment specialists said.

“Applicants can optimize skills-based hiring by making sure their CVs are tailored to this type of hiring,” Gaelle Blake, director of permanent appointment at recruitment company Hays, Told CNBC Make It.

This does not, Blake said, mean turning your application into a long list of skills.

“Candidates should make sure their CV showcases their individual skills and abilities; rather than listing the generic, in-demand skills,” Blake said. Tangible examples or data points that demonstrate these skills are also crucial, she added.

Amanda Augustine, a career expert at TopResume and certified career coach and resume writer, agreed.

“When crafting a skills-based resume, it’s important to follow one simple rule: ‘show, don’t tell,'” Augustine told CNBC Make It.

Evidence of candidates having suitable skills can then be woven into the application, for example by adding it to bullet points outlining previous job experience, Augustine said.

Job-seekers might also want to change the structure of their resumes by adding slightly unconventional sections like “Core Skills” or “Areas of Expertise” to them, Augustine said. This could mean listing a skill, followed by proof of it through a brief anecdote or data.

Candidates can show their personality and why they would be a good fit for the company through their skills, Blake said.

“Candidates who connect the relevant skills to who they are as a person are likely to catch the attention of the employer,” she said.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Blake and Augustine both said there is one thing candidates should never overlook before tailoring a resume: the job description.

“Checking the job description for key words is a useful way of identifying the most relevant skills an employer is looking for,” Blake said. And that information is crucial for candidates trying to make sure their resume fits the bill — and gets them an interview.

LONDON — The Bank of England is “caught between a rock and a hard place” as it prepares for a key monetary policy decision against a backdrop of sticky inflation and a tight labor market, economists say.

May’s consumer price index figure will be published Wednesday morning, the day before the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announces its next move on interest rates.

Data points since the last meeting have indicated persistent tightness in the labor market and strong underlying inflationary pressures, alongside mixed but surprisingly resilient growth momentum.

Economists therefore now expect the Bank to prolong its tightening cycle and lift interest rates to a higher level than previously anticipated.

British 2-year government bond yields rose to a 15-year high of 5% on Monday ahead of the expected announcement of yet another 25 basis point rate increase on Thursday.

Since November 2021, the the central bank has embarked on a series of hikes to take its base rate from 0.1% to 4.5%, and market pricing now suggests it may eventually top out at 5.75%.

Headline CPI inflation came in at 8.7% year-on-year in April, down from 10.1% in March, but core CPI (which excludes volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices) increased by 6.8% compared to 6.2% the previous month.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development projected earlier this month that the U.K. will post annual headline inflation of 6.9% this year, the highest level among all advanced economies.

Adding to policymakers’ collective headache, labor market data last week came in far stronger than expected. Unemployment defied expectations to fall back to 3.8% while the inactivity rate also fell by 0.4 percentage points.

Regular pay growth (excluding bonuses) was 7.2% in the three months to the end of April compared to the previous year, also exceeding consensus forecasts. Growth in regular private sector pay, the Bank’s key metric, hit 7.6% year-on-year.

In terms of economic activity, May PMIs moderated slightly below consensus but remained in expansionary territory, and U.K. gross domestic product unexpectedly contracted by 0.3% month-on-month in March before rebounding partially with 0.2% growth in April.

Terminal rate forecasts raised

In a research note Thursday, Goldman Sachs Chief European Economist Sven Jari Stehn said that although some uncertainty remains over Wednesday’s CPI release, there is a “high hurdle” for the Bank of England to deem it necessary to step up its hiking increments to 50 basis points.

Stehn highlighted that “inflation expectations have remained anchored, recent comments have signalled no appetite for stepping up the pace and the meeting will have no press conference or new projections.”

“We look for the MPC to retain its modal assessment that underlying inflation pressures will cool as headline inflation declines but acknowledge the firmer recent data and note that risks to the inflation outlook remain skewed significantly to the upside. We also expect the MPC to keep its loose forward guidance unchanged,” Stehn added.

Goldman Sachs expects the MPC to retain its relatively dovish position given resilient growth, sticky wage pressures and high core inflation, and to continue being pushed into more 25 basis point hikes by stronger-than-expected data, eventually reaching a terminal rate of 5.25% with risks skewed upside.

BNP Paribas economists also expect a 25 basis point hike on Thursday, as inflation expectations remain lower than they were when the Bank was lifting rates in 50 basis point increments last year.

The French lender also upgraded its terminal rate forecast to 5.5% in a note last week, from 5% previously, in response to “clear evidence of more persistent inflation.”

Though the tightening cycle is expected to be longer than higher in order to reel in inflation, BNP Paribas suggested the MPC would be “wary of over-tightening” and will be looking to gauge how rate rises to date affect households, particularly as fixed-rate mortgage renewals roll in through the second and third quarter.

U.K. mortgage borrowers are being pushed to the brink as rising borrowing costs hit deal renewals and products are pulled from the market.

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, said the MPC is “caught between a rock and a hard place” as it chooses between pushing more mortgage borrowers to a cliff edge and allowing inflation to run riot.

“Current interest rate pricing reflects alarm bells ringing in the market, but some moderation in inflationary pressures over the summer would pour balm on the situation. The Bank of England will also be cognisant of the fact the full force of its tightening to date is still working its way through the economy,” Khalaf said.

“Having said that, should inflation data remain ugly, the Bank will be under pressure to take action, and so will the Treasury, if it looks like the Prime Minister’s pledge to halve inflation is at risk of falling short.”

Alibaba Group said in a surprise announcement Tuesday Eddie Wu will succeed Daniel Zhang as its chief executive.

This succession plan comes after China’s largest ecommerce company said in March it will split its company into six business groups. The company explained at that time this will allow each business group to raise outside funding and go public in the most significant reorganization in its history.

“As everyone is well aware, the development of core technologies such as cloud computing, big data and AI will lead to a tremendous transformation of our society and is of utmost strategic significance,” Zhang said in an internal memo to Alibaba staff.

“Cloud Intelligence Group is now full speed ahead on its spin-off plans and we are approaching a crucial stage of the process, so it is the right time for me to dedicate my full attention and time to the business,” he added.

Alibaba shares pared losses after the announcement and is trading down 1% in Hong Kong.

The company also announced Joe Tsai will take Zhang’s place as the group’s chairman. Zhang will continue to lead the Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group as chairman and chief executive after this change, which the company said will take effect Sept. 10.

Alibaba shake-up

Other than cloud intelligence, the other five business units include its Taobao Tmall business; its local services arm focusing on food delivery and mapping; Cainiao Smart logistics business; its global e-commerce business including AliExpress and Lazada; and its digital media and entertainment business.

“From a corporate governance perspective, we also need clear separation between the board and management team as Cloud Intelligence Group proceeds down the path to becoming an independent public company,” Zhang added in the internal memo.

Zhang’s successor Wu is one of Alibaba’s co-founders and currently chairman of Taobao and Tmall Group. Brooklyn Nets owner Tsai is currently Alibaba’s executive vice chairman.

Wu has held a multitude of roles in his time at the company, including heading technology at Alibaba’s inception, as well as chief technology officer at Alipay and Taobao. He was also director of Alibaba Health Information Technology and founded Vision Plus Capital, a venture capital firm focused on investing in advanced technologies, enterprise services and digital healthcare.

Zhang has been Alibaba Group’s chief executive since 2015 and chairman since 2019, taking over both roles from founder Jack Ma.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

European stock markets dipped at Tuesday’s open before trimming losses as investors remained cautious.

The Stoxx 600 index was 0.09% lower at 9 a.m. London time, with most sectors negative. Autos led losses, down 0.8%, and tech stocks were down 0.6%. Defensive sectors utilities and healthcare rose 0.7% and 0.4%, respectively.

Markets fell at the start of the new trading week amid jitters over the economic outlook. The benchmark Stoxx 600 index closed 1% lower Monday, with almost all sectors in negative territory.

Investors will be monitoring the U.K. this week, with inflation data due Wednesday and a monetary policy announcement Thursday. A 25 basis point hike is widely expected, after the European Central Bank hiked and the Federal Reserve paused last week.

Sunil Krishnan, head of multi-asset funds at Aviva Investors, said people are underestimating the current rally in European stocks, which came off a low more than eight months ago.

“In that time, I think investors have really struggled to build any love for the rally. The concerns have moved seamlessly from one thing to the next, firstly it was about rates moving too quickly, then we moved on to the banking crisis and a potential credit crunch, and then back to interest rates,” Krishnan told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.“

That’s despite first-quarter earnings showing resilient company margins and potential for profit growth, he said.

Rather than further nudges higher in interest rates, he added, “what Is going to change that, and this is where the bond market has moved to, is at what stage do we see a meaningful drop off in growth? And I think if that’s postponed for equities, the rally continues.”

Asia-Pacific markets traded lower as investors digested China’s central bank decision to cut its one-year and five-year loan prime rate.

U.S. markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday on Monday, but stock futures ticked lower overnight as investors looked ahead to a shortened week of trading.

Stocks on the move: Lanxess down 17%

German chemicals company Lanxess fell 17% in morning trade, pulling down the blue chip DAX index, after it issued profit warnings for the second quarter and full year.

The Cologne-based company hit an almost 14-year low after it said it was experiencing “very weak” demand and an ongoing hit from customers reducing stock.

“The demand recovery we originally expected in the second half is not yet visible – neither in China nor in other meaningful end markets,” CEO Matthias Zachert said in a statement.

“This impacts us especially in Germany: Here we are massively impacted by the disadvantageous conditions such as the high energy prices and massive bureaucracy. In times of weak demand Germany as an industrial location is just not competitive.”

— Jenni Reid

Europe stocks open lower

European stock markets fell in early trade, with the Stoxx 600 index down 0.4%.

Germany’s DAX declined 0.53%, with France’s CAC 40 down 0.2% and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 0.14% lower.

— Jenni Reid

UK economic strength remains a problem for Bank of England, strategist says

Niall O’Sullivan, chief investment of multi-asset strategies EMEA at Neuberger Berman, discusses the upcoming Bank of England rate decision and the housing market, among other things.

China cuts loan prime rates by 10 basis points

China has cut its key one-year and five-year loan prime rates by 10 basis points each, the first cut since August.

The one-year LPR stands at 3.55%, down from 3.65%, while the five-year LPR was reduced to 4.20% from 4.30%. The moves mirror cuts that China made last week to its short-term and medium-term loan rates.

After the announcement, the offshore yuan weakened 0.13% to trade at 7.172 against the greenback.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: Analyst says this automaker could be next in line for a Tesla supercharger deal

A global auto giant may be the next company to sign a deal with Tesla to use its supercharger stations, according to RBC analyst Tom Narayan.

If the agreement comes to pass, the deal will be in the wake of similar partnerships Tesla has agreed with Ford and General Motors.

Investors have rewarded all parties to the deal in the past. The day following the agreement, Tesla and Ford’s shares popped by 4.7% and 6.2%, respectively. Both automakers’ stock prices have rallied by more than 25% since.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

CNBC Pro: This veteran investor’s funds have been outperforming since 2006. Here are his top strategies

Outperforming portfolio manager Jordan Cvetanovski has looked for certain attributes in the companies he picked in the past nearly 20 years.

And the results have proven to be consistent throughout the global financial crisis, the era of zero interest rates — and now, high interest rates.

One fund that Cvetanovski of Pella Funds Management managed beat its benchmark by a whopping 27% in a four-year period.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are heading for a flat open Tuesday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 5 points lower at 7,580, Germany’s DAX 3 points lower at 16,190, France’s CAC 3 points lower at 7,301 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 37 points lower at 27,835 according to data from IG.

Data releases include euro zone current account figures for April.

— Holly Ellyatt

The People’s Bank of China cut two more key lending rates on Tuesday for the first time in 10 months to prop up growth in the world’s second largest economy.

The Chinese central bank cut the one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points from 3.65% to 3.55%, and trimmed the five-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points from 4.3% to 4.2% — for the first time since August.

“On their own, 10bps cuts are too small to make a great deal of difference to monetary conditions, especially since market interbank rates are already below policy rates,” Capital Economics’ Julian Evans-Pritchard and Zichun Huang wrote in a note.

“But the PBOC tends to use changes in policy rates as signaling tool, with the heavy lifting being done by other tools such as adjustments to reserve requirements and bank loan quotas,” they added. “The latest round of rate cuts suggests that these tools will be deployed too.”

A gauge of Hong Kong-listed Chinese developers, the Hang Seng mainland properties index, fell more than 3%, with Country Garden slumping by about 5%. About half the participants in a Reuters poll had forecast a deeper cut of at least 15 bps to the five-year rate.

Losses in the property sector weighed on stock benchmarks in the mainland and Hong Kong, while the onshore and offshore Chinese yuan traded at their lowest since late November.

The latest rate cut come on the heels of two monetary easing moves last week. Last Thursday, the PBOC cut its one-year medium-term loan facility for the first time in 10 months, and lowered its seven-day reverse repurchase rate on Monday last week.

Most household and corporate loans in China are based on the PBOC’s one-year loan prime rate, while mortgages are pegged to the five-year rate.

Tuesday’s move was widely expected after a slew of economic data in the last few weeks — from industrial production and fixed asset investment to retail sales and trade in May — fell short of expectations. China appears to be teetering on the brink of deflation as reopening optimism fizzles.

Top investment banks, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, recently cut their full-year GDP estimates for China and warned of headwinds ahead.

On Friday, China’s State Council pledged to roll out “more forceful measures” in a timely manner to “enhance the momentum of economic development, optimize the economic structure, and promote the sustained recovery of the economy.”

“Wider policy statements, including the readout from Friday’s State Council meeting, make it clear that officials are increasingly concerned about the economy and that supporting growth is now taking precedence over other concerns, including those about bank profitability,” Evans-Pritchard and Huang added.

What you need to know today

Blinken unexpectedly meets Xi
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his China visit by meeting with Xi Jinping, the country’s president. The meeting was initially unconfirmed, suggesting that it’s a small step in repairing frayed U.S.-China ties. Blinken’s meeting could pave the way for U.S. President Joe Biden to meet Xi in November.

Falling in tandem
U.S. markets were closed Monday to commemorate Juneteenth, the day when slavery in America ended, but stock futures slipped slightly. European stocks traded lower yesterday. In a worrying sign, both stocks and bonds simultaneously fell in the U.K. The FTSE 100 lost 0.71% even as the yield on the country’s 2-year government bond hit a 15-year high of 5.077%.

Buffett bets on the house(s)
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in five Japanese trading houses. The company now owns more than 8.5%, on average, of Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Sumitomo. Berkshire really believes in Japan: Those stocks, in aggregate, are the most valuable Berkshire holds in any country outside the U.S.

UK mortgage meltdown
Two-year fixed mortgage rates in the U.K. spiked to 6.01%, the highest since November 2008 — discounting an anomalous jump in December just months after the U.K. government announced its disastrous “mini-budget.” The country’s mortgage market’s so volatile that HSBC temporarily stopped offering some home loans earlier this month.

[PRO] Riding the Asian wave
The MSCI Asia Pacific equities index has risen more than 25% from its low last October amid investor enthusiasm in the region. Morgan Stanley picks five of its favorite Asian stocks and thinks all could rise by at least 50% over the next 12 months — with one having a 67% upside.

The bottom line

Since U.S markets were closed yesterday, let’s take a quick look at the second-largest economy of the world: China. Spoiler alert: it isn’t a pretty picture.

Back in January, when China abruptly abandoned its “zero-Covid” policy, analysts were by equal measures worried and excited. Worried, because a massive economic engine suddenly roaring back to life could stoke the flames of inflation even higher. Analysts braced for higher commodities and oil prices. On the other hand, many saw China as a potential driver of a global economy that had lost its way. To quote Standard Chartered Chairman José Viñals: “The Chinese economy is going to be on fire and that’s going to be very, very important for the rest of the world.”

At approximately the halfway mark of the year, here’s how China’s stacking up against those expectations. In short: It seems everyone’s wrong about China. Instead of turning up the heat of inflation, China’s combating a potential deflationary problem domestically. The country’s consumer price index rose only 0.2% year over year, while its producer price index plummeted 4.6%. Recent economic data’s been so disappointing that Wall Street banks have started to cut their expectations of China’s economic growth this year — though their projections are, optimistically, still higher than the country’s own target of “around 5%.” Meanwhile, oil prices have been sliding despite Saudi Arabia announcing surprise cuts to production, and iron ore prices aren’t doing so hot either because China’s demand for steel is projected to fall.

China’s economy, to put it plainly, isn’t doing so well. It’s true things might turn around: The country’s central bank has started cutting rates, and analysts think fiscal stimulus is on its way. But for now, the Chinese dragon’s still dozy — and things are starting to feel a little too chilly.

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Tuesday as investors digested China’s central bank decision to cut its one-year and five-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points each to 3.55% and 4.20%, respectively. The move comes after the People’s Bank of China cut some of its key lending rates last week.

Mainland Chinese markets were mixed following the announcement, with the Shanghai Composite down 0.47% to end at 3,240.46, its second-straight day of losses. In contrast, the Shenzhen Component rebounded from its Monday loss and was up 0.28%, closing at 11,305.35.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid 1.57%, dragged by health-care and technology stocks.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.86% and closed at 7,357, leading gains in the region and marking a seven day winning streak.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 reversed earlier losses and ended the day marginally up at 33,388.91, while the Topix lost 0.29% to close at 2,283.85.

South Korea’s Kospi also continued its slide from Monday, falling 0.18% and ending at 2,604.91, along with the Kosdaq which saw a 0.22% loss and ended at 886.41.

U.S. markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday on Monday, but stock futures started the week lower as investors looked ahead to a holiday-shortened week of trading.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.26%, while S&P 500 futures pulled back 0.16%. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.15%.

— CNBC’s Brian Evans contributed to this report

Hang Seng index falls, led by health-care and tech stocks

Hong Kong stocks saw a further sell-off in Tuesday’s afternoon session, led by health-care and technology stocks.

Shares of EC Healthcare plunged by more than 8% on weak earnings estimates, marking their lowest point since June 2.

Alibaba group companies also fell sharply, with Alibaba Health Information Technology dropping 3% and Alibaba Group Holdings shedding nearly 2% following the announcement of its executive reshuffle.

Health-care stocks fell 8%, and technology stocks shed 2%, while property and energy stocks fell about 1.9%.

— Jihye Lee

Shares of Alibaba fall after announcing new leadership

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group fell further and traded 1.9% lower after it announced that co-founder Eddie Wu will succeed Daniel Zhang as chief executive of Alibaba Group.

Wu is currently chairman of Taobao and Tmall Group, and current executive vice chairman Joesph Tsai will take Zhang’s place as the group’s chairman.

Zhang will continue to lead the Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group as chairman and chief executive after this change, which the company said will take effect Sept. 10.

— Lim Hui Jie, Clement Tan

Port congestion is mostly back to normal, HSBC says

Port congestion has mostly reverted to normal and disruption related to the Covid consumption boom “is certainly behind us,” said Parash Jain, HSBC’s head of transport research in Asia-Pacific.

“What we are witnessing now is a massive destocking going on in the U.S.,” Jain told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday.

U.S. port import data is down about 20% year-on-year but, Jain said, it is “still holding up better” than in 2019. Normalization is happening in air cargo as well, he added.

Overall cargo volume is back to pre-Covid trends, Jain said.

— Audrey Wan

Australia’s central bank cites sticky domestic inflation as reason for raising rates in June

The Reserve Bank of Australia said it made the decision to raise its benchmark interest rate to 4.1% after seeing that inflation data had “shifted to the upside” and that domestic inflation will take longer to return to its target.

In minutes released for the RBA’s June meeting, the central bank revealed that members were deliberating between raising rates or holding it to assess additional data.

However, the case for raising rates won out, with the argument being that inflation was already projected to be above target for a number of years and was expected to take somewhat longer to return to target in Australia than in some other countries.

The RBA cited the rise in Australia’s inflation rate in April, and that the decline in goods inflation was less than observed in other countries.

“Services price inflation had not yet shown signs of moderating and the evidence from abroad suggested that it may prove to be persistent,” the minutes add.

— Lim Hui Jie

Shares of mainland Chinese developers slide in Hong Kong after China cuts rates

Shares of mainland Chinese developers slid over 3% after China cut its five-year loan prime rates less than some economists expected.

Reuters said that according to a survey it conducted before the announcement, 16 of the 32 analysts polled expected a deeper cut of at least 15 basis points to the five-year loan prime rate.

The five-year LPR, which serves as mortgage reference rate, was cut by 10 basis points to 4.2%.

Real estate stocks on the Hang Seng index led losses, with the the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index falling more than 3.5%.

Property developer Country Garden Holdings was the largest loser on the HSI and tumbled 5.65%, while property investment firm Longfor Group slid 4.94%.

— Lim Hui Jie

Port congestion is mostly back to normal, HSBC says

Port congestion has mostly reverted to normal and disruption related to the Covid consumption boom “is certainly behind us,” said Parash Jain, HSBC’s head of transport research in Asia-Pacific.

“What we are witnessing now is a massive destocking going on in the U.S.,” Jain told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday.

U.S. port import data is down about 20% year-on-year but, Jain said, it is “still holding up better” than in 2019. Normalization is happening in air cargo as well, he added.

Overall cargo volume is back to pre-Covid trends, Jain said.

— Audrey Wan

China cuts loan prime rates by 10 basis points

China has cut its key one-year and five-year loan prime rates by 10 basis points each, the first cut since August.

The one-year LPR stands at 3.55%, down from 3.65%, while the five-year LPR was reduced to 4.20% from 4.30%. The moves mirror cuts that China made last week to its short-term and medium-term loan rates.

After the announcement, the offshore yuan weakened 0.13% to trade at 7.172 against the greenback.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japanese trading houses rise after Buffett raises stakes

Japanese trading houses jumped at the open on Tuesday after Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in five Japanese trading firms to average more than 8.5%.

Mitsui jumped 4.55%, Marubeni gained 3.44%, and Mitsubishi rose by nearly 4% while Itochu and Sumitomo rose nearly 3% each.

Japan’s top five trading houses saw renewed momentum thanks to Warren Buffett, bucking the trend as Japanese equities continued to drop a second day.

The firm noted that the aggregate value of these interests surpasses that of Berkshire-held stock in any country outside of the U.S., the firm said.

— Jihye Lee, Elliot Smith, Ruxandra Iordache

China expected to deliver cuts to its loan prime rates

The People’s Bank of China is expected to deliver rate cuts to its 1-year and 5-year loan prime rates later today.

Economists polled by Reuters forecast a 10 basis point cut to its 1-year loan prime rate and a 15 basis point cut to the 5-year loan prime rate, according to Factset.

China last delivered cuts to its LPRs in August 2022. Investors will eye today’s decision closely after the central bank lowered its medium term lending facility and its seven-day reverse repurchase rate.

— Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: Analyst says this automaker could be next in line for a Tesla supercharger deal

A global auto giant may be the next company to sign a deal with Tesla to use its supercharger stations, according to RBC analyst Tom Narayan.

If the agreement comes to pass, the deal will be in the wake of similar partnerships Tesla has agreed with Ford and General Motors.

Investors have rewarded all parties to the deal in the past. The day following the agreement, Tesla and Ford’s shares popped by 4.7% and 6.2%, respectively. Both automakers’ stock prices have rallied by more than 25% since.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

CNBC Pro: This veteran investor’s funds have been outperforming since 2006. Here are his top strategies

Outperforming portfolio manager Jordan Cvetanovski has looked for certain attributes in the companies he picked in the past nearly 20 years.

And the results have proven to be consistent throughout the global financial crisis, the era of zero interest rates — and now, high interest rates.

One fund that Cvetanovski of Pella Funds Management managed beat its benchmark by a whopping 27% in a four-year period.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

A strong week — even with Friday’s weak finish

The three major averages hit notable milestones with last week’s wins, even though Friday ended on a down beat.

While the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended Friday’s session in the red, the three indexes were up for the week.

The S&P 500 leapt 2.6% for the week, its strongest weekly performance since March and the fifth positive week in a row — a first since it ended a streak of the same length in November 2021. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 3.25% on the week, its best since March and the eighth positive week in a row for the first time since it ended a 10-week streak in March 2019.

The Dow also cruised to a modest weekly win, adding 1.25% and notching its third positive week in a row since April of this year.

—Darla Mercado, Chris Hayes

Stock futures open lower

Stock futures ticked down Monday as investors gear up for a shortened trading week.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 65 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures traded 0.2% lower while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.15%.

Last week saw the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite post their best weekly performances since March.

— Brian Evans

Japan is gearing up to be a larger player in the EV space by signing a critical minerals trade deal with the U.S., but it has a lot of catching up to do and resource restraints could slow its progress.

Tokyo in March signed the U.S.-Japan Critical Minerals Agreement, securing both countries’ commitment to strengthen supply chains and promote EV battery technologies.

Notably, the deal allows minerals from Japan to meet sourcing requirements for U.S. electric vehicle tax credits, unlocking up to $7,500 per vehicle. The U.S. signed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which subsidizes the domestic production of electric vehicles and batteries.

The critical minerals agreement was “negotiated in warp-speed time” when similar deals “usually take years,” David Boling, Eurasia Group director for Japan and Asian trade, told CNBC.

Japan urgently desires to meet these requirements, but “Japanese auto firms have a lot of catching up to do on electric vehicles, if they want to be major players,” said Boling, who previously served as a trade negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, working on Japan-related deals.

Playing catch-up

Japan has lagged behind in electric vehicles. While Western and Chinese automakers controlled approximately 90% of the global EV market in 2022, their Japanese peers accounted for less than 5%, Nikkei Asia reported.

But the country’s automakers like Toyota have been making moves to close that gap. New CEO Sato Koji announced at his first press conference that Toyota plans to release 10 new battery electric vehicle models amounting to 1.5 million in annual sales by 2026.

That’s a marked shift from just last September, when his predecessor Akio Toyoda said the automaker would continue investing in a variety of electrified vehicles — rather than going all-in on all-electric or battery electric vehicles. His remarks essentially doubled down on Toyota’s EV strategy at the time, which some investors and environmentalist groups had criticized as being too conservative.

Sato replaced Toyoda as CEO in April with the aim of “accelerating [Toyota’s] shift to electrification,” according to an official transcript. Toyoda now serves as the company’s chairman.

Honda also announced in April plans to produce more than 2 million EVs annually by 2030, with an ultimate goal of selling only BEVs or hydrogen-powered EVs globally by 2040.

Up until now, Japanese automakers have focused more on hybrids and hydrogen, said Eurasia’s Boling. Similar to Toyota, automakers like Honda and Nissan only recently announced significant expansions of their all-electric vehicle lineups. Hybrid EVs still account for 96.8% of new EV sales in the country, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

But BEVs are the main drivers of growth for the number of EVs on roads worldwide, accounting for over 70% of total annual growth in 2022, the International Energy Agency reported. Just over 730,000 BEVs were sold in the U.S. in 2022, representing 43.5% of all EV sales that year, data from Argonne National Laboratory showed.

BEV sales are also growing rapidly in China, increasing by 60% relative to 2021 to reach 4.4 million, the IEA added. The world’s largest EV market has implemented a wide array of EV promotion policies in its major cities, the IEA said, such as subsidies for each purchase of a pure EV.

“Japanese firms were slow out of the starting blocks and may not be able to compete now in this EV mad dash,” Boling said.

EV supply chain strain

Japan depends on China for critical minerals essential to the production of EV components. Over 90% of EVs marketed today contain permanent-magnet synchronous motors, which use rare earth elements that are geographically concentrated in China, according to the International Energy Agency.

China refines 90% of these elements as well as 60% to 70% of lithium and cobalt, which are needed to make EV batteries, an IEA report found. Japan is the largest consumer of rare earth elements, such as dysprosium, outside of China.

“I don’t see any short- or medium-term future where China’s not the key global player in the supply chain,” said Kristin Vekasi, a political science associate professor at the University of Maine.

As part of efforts to diversify away from China in its EV supply network, Japan’s government and top manufacturers are pursuing new technologies to reduce reliance on China-sourced materials.

Proterial, previously known as Hitachi Metals, is working to develop EV motors that use fewer rare earth metals, Nikkei Asia reported. In 2022, the Japanese government also allocated 6 billion yen ($42.9 million) toward a project that explores extracting rare earths from deep sea mud, Nikkei Asia reported.

But finding alternatives to current rare earth sources will take a lot of time and money, said Boling. “In the meantime, Japan must come to grips with its dependency on China and do all it can to mitigate that risk,” he said.

Developing economic relations

For now, Japan has emphasized economic cooperation as a counterweight to its dependence on China’s EV supply chains. A top government official said Japan will promote critical mineral resources development with the G-7 and other “like-minded countries,” reported S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has focused on Southeast Asia as a part of his foreign policy strategy, inviting Singapore to an outreach meeting of G-7 finance leaders as well as inviting Indonesia to join the G-7 meetings in Hiroshima.

Boling, the former trade negotiator, said the latter “stands out” as “a sign of Japan’s aim to develop stronger economic relations with Indonesia across many fronts, including critical minerals.” Indonesia has one of largest nickel reserves in the world and is expected to contribute 46% of global primary nickel production by 2027, reported S&P Global Commodity Insights. Nickel is a critical component in the lithium-ion battery cells most EVs use.

The government will also continue to provide direct funding for Japan-led projects, as state agencies like the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry or the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security have historically done. METI will subsidize up to half the cost of smelting and mine development projects by Japanese companies, Nikkei Asia reported in April.

In a sector where “success rates are low,” “state intervention is necessary at least in the short term,” said Vekasi.

Government assistance and investment can mitigate risks like the “long time horizon” of mining projects, price volatility of minerals and lack of expertise in junior mining companies, Vekasi added.

Japan’s EV hopes were the “catalyst” for the critical minerals trade agreement with the U.S., said Boling. It remains to be seen whether recent initiatives from automakers and state agencies will realize those ambitions.

Some companies are getting strict about their return-to-office policies, and it’s not as easy to slip away for a workcation without notifying the boss.

In the past year, nearly one in 10 workers embarked on a hush trip, according to a survey of 1,010 full-time workers by the vehicle rental website Price 4 Limo. And 27% said they did so to avoid having to use paid vacation days while they were gone.

Many workers keep mum about these trips to fend off productivity concerns and tax ramification questions from their employers.

But others told CNBC Travel they stay quiet for different reasons. Each asked CNBC to refrain from publishing their full names to prevent being identified by their employers.

Avoiding the ‘hassle’ of company approval

A Singaporean named Alicia said she’s taken several trips without telling her employer.

“It’s easy for me since I don’t have to go to the office, and my manager isn’t even based in the same region,” she said.

Her employer, a tech company in Singapore, also has a 30-day remote working policy, she said. But she hasn’t applied for it because “I’d rather not go through the hassle of applying and getting approvals, which can take weeks.”

She spoke to CNBC Travel during a one-month trip to Thailand, her longest covert trip yet, she said. For other trips, she extended her time away without telling her employer “so as to not burn though … PTO days.”

So far, her trips have all been in Asia, so she can stay on similar time zones to easily attend meetings. To hide her location, she blurs her video call backgrounds, or uses a virtual background, and keeps small talk to a minimum to prevent unwanted questions, she said.

“I don’t like to lie blatantly, and that won’t happen when the questions don’t come,” she said.

Alicia said before traveling she slowly reduced how often she went into the office and joined colleagues for after-work drinks, which has made it easier to slip away for short stints.  

But not everybody has been so lucky.

“I know people who have done [hush trips], and their manager calls for an in-person meeting with a client the day before,” she said. “They would have to book a ticket back ASAP.”

Alicia said one reason she’s not worried about getting discovered by her employer is that she recently resigned from her position.

“I’m serving my notice period this month,” she said. “If I get caught, it doesn’t really matter to me.”

Neither traveling nor her resignation has affected her work ethic, she said.

“At the end of the day, I’m still delivering on my job.”

Concerns about coworkers

Maryland resident Ellie said she’s taken two hush trips to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in the past year.

“My employer would not mind, however I don’t want in-office co-workers to be envious or feel like I’m not working to the same capacity,” she said.

She works in the office two to three days per week for her job in digital marketing, she said. When she leaves, she travels outside of work hours, she said, departing after work on Wednesdays and working remotely for the rest of the week.

Like Alicia, Ellie relies on background filters for Zoom calls and recommends checking Wi-Fi and mobile phone service before booking a trip. So far, the only hiccups she’s encountered on her trips relate to internet connectivity.

“I am a big camper and love the outdoors,” she said. “If I can be in nature before and after my work hours, I am always happier — as long as there is Wi-Fi!” 

Companies in the dark

While hush trips are working for some workers, it’s not ideal for companies to be in the dark about their their employees’ locations, said Amy Zimmerman, chief people officer at the digital payments company Relay Payments.

“It’s important to foster an environment where the team member is honest about their travel and [it] doesn’t turn it into a ‘hush trip,'” she said.

At the same time, employees who are given leeway to take workcations should follow common sense guidelines while away, Zimmerman said.

“For example, it’s not good judgment to take a Zoom meeting from the pool while in your bathing suit,” she said. And for trips where workers are “missing important meetings or having others pick up your slack … it’s best to take PTO rather than trying to work during your travel.”

An account executive at a public relations agency in Singapore, who asked to remain anonymous, told CNBC Travel that he occasionally traveled without informing his superiors at his previous job because he rarely had physical meetings and worked mostly from home. He said he switched off his webcam during meetings and avoided talking about the weather to mask his location.

But he doesn’t need to do that anymore, he said, because his new employer has a flexible work policy that allows him to travel while staying on the clock.

“Thankfully with my current company, we’re very open with work from overseas arrangements,” he said. “Several of my colleagues have homes in Malaysia … and they travel between Singapore and Malaysia on a weekly basis.”

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 152 points, or 0.44%, while S&P 500 futures pulled back 0.29%. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.29%.

Markets were closed for the regular trading session Monday due to the Juneteenth holiday.

Investors are coming off of a strong week, even as the major averages had slipped on Friday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posted their best weekly performances since March, with the broad-market benchmark rising 2.6% and the tech-heavy index adding 3.25%. It was also the S&P 500’s fifth positive week in a row — a first since November 2021 — and the Nasdaq’s eighth consecutive positive week, a feat it previously accomplished in 2019.

Investors were seemingly receptive toward the central bank’s decision to skip a June rate hike last week. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told a press conference on Wednesday that the central bank has yet to make a decision on policy ahead of the July meeting. However, policymakers are forecasting two more quarter-point rate increases later this year. The decision to skip a hike in June broke the Fed’s streak of ten consecutive interest rate increases.

Despite Powell’s insistence that future Fed policy will remain data dependent, stocks have been on an upswing. Investors are trying to gauge how last week’s strong market sentiment will hold up in a shortened trading week that is light on economic data. Housing starts data will be out on Tuesday morning.

New York Fed President John Williams will appear with Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr at a corporate governance event in New York City on Tuesday. Fed Chair Powell is set to testify in front of Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.

In earnings, investors will look toward a quarterly report from shipping giant FedEx on Tuesday after the the closing bell.

U.S. Treasury yields mixed as investors await Fed speaker comments

U.S. Treasury yields were mixed Tuesday as trading resumed after Monday’s Juneteenth holiday. In a week that is light on the data front, investors awaited comments from Federal Reserve officials that could provide fresh details about the outlook for interest rates.

At 3:59 a.m. ET the 10-year Treasury was trading more than one basis point higher at 3.7828%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last down by less than one basis point to 4.7211%.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Europe stocks open lower

European stock markets fell in early trade, with the Stoxx 600 index down 0.4%.

Germany’s DAX declined 0.53%, with France’s CAC 40 down 0.2% and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 0.14% lower.

— Jenni Reid

Shares of Alibaba fall after announcing new leadership

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group fell further and traded 1.9% lower after it announced that co-founder Eddie Wu will succeed Daniel Zhang as chief executive of Alibaba Group.

Wu is currently chairman of Taobao and Tmall Group, and current executive vice chairman Joesph Tsai will take Zhang’s place as the group’s chairman.

Zhang will continue to lead the Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group as chairman and chief executive after this change, which the company said will take effect Sept. 10.

— Lim Hui Jie, Clement Tan

Japanese trading houses rise after Buffett raises stakes

Japanese trading houses jumped at the open on Tuesday after Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in five Japanese trading firms to average more than 8.5%.

Mitsui jumped 4.55%, Marubeni gained 3.44%, and Mitsubishi rose by nearly 4% while Itochu and Sumitomo rose nearly 3% each.

Japan’s top five trading houses saw renewed momentum thanks to Warren Buffett, bucking the trend as Japanese equities continued to drop a second day.

The firm noted that the aggregate value of these interests surpasses that of Berkshire-held stock in any country outside of the U.S., the firm said.

— Jihye Lee, Elliot Smith, Ruxandra Iordache

China cuts loan prime rates by 10 basis points

China has cut its key one-year and five-year loan prime rates by 10 basis points each, the first cut since August.

The one-year LPR stands at 3.55%, down from 3.65%, while the five-year LPR was reduced to 4.20% from 4.30%. The moves mirror cuts that China made last week to its short-term and medium-term loan rates.

After the announcement, the offshore yuan weakened 0.13% to trade at 7.172 against the greenback.

— Lim Hui Jie

Three things investors will need to believe in order for this rally to continue, according to UBS

UBS says investors need to digest three crucial points in order to sustain the current market rally.

First, investors need to believe that the Federal Reserve won’t raise interest rates beyond the two increases implied by the most recent dot plot, according to UBS chief investment officer Americas Solita Marcelli.

Second, investors need to remain confident that the U.S. will avoid a recession. lastly, Marcelli added, the rise of artificial intelligence stocks needs to prove itself “justified,” as a the bulk of AI stocks – Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Tesla, Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft – make up 80% of the S&P 500’s climb so far in 2023.

— Brian Evans

A strong week — even with Friday’s weak finish

The three major averages hit notable milestones with last week’s wins, even though Friday ended on a down beat.

While the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended Friday’s session in the red, the three indexes were up for the week.

The S&P 500 leapt 2.6% for the week, its strongest weekly performance since March and the fifth positive week in a row — a first since it ended a streak of the same length in November 2021. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 3.25% on the week, its best since March and the eighth positive week in a row for the first time since it ended a 10-week streak in March 2019.

The Dow also cruised to a modest weekly win, adding 1.25% and notching its third positive week in a row since April of this year.

—Darla Mercado, Chris Hayes

Stock futures open lower

Stock futures ticked down Monday as investors gear up for a shortened trading week.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 65 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures traded 0.2% lower while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.15%.

Last week saw the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite post their best weekly performances since March.

— Brian Evans

At work, toxic bosses, co-workers or clients can drive your brain into a stressed-out state, hurting your productivity and eroding your confidence, says Juliette Han, a Harvard-trained neuroscientist. 

“Toxic behavior isn’t limited to people who are intentionally hurtful or lashing out at you,” she adds. “People who gravitate towards drama or have a bad attitude about work can be just as bad for you.” 

Han, who is also a faculty member at Columbia Business School and an academic advisor at Harvard Medical School, says the key to dealing with such toxic people is to learn how to spot them early on.

Here are the three different types of toxic co-workers you should “avoid at all costs,” and how to handle them, according to Han: 

The paranoid performer

We all have our insecurities — but working with someone who is constantly self-critical and paranoid about their performance can be exhausting and distracting.

The signs: “If you’re surrounded by people who are constantly talking to you about their shortcomings and performance anxiety, those conversations are only going to make you paranoid about your own performance,” she says. The more time you spend with someone who is constantly worried about falling short or getting fired, Han warns, the more at-risk you are for absorbing their toxic behavior.

How to handle it: It’s important to remember that your co-worker’s victimhood mindset has nothing to do with you, Han says. Find time to decompress after spending time with them, whether it’s by taking a short walk or talking to encouraging, optimistic colleagues who counteract the difficult one.

The pot-stirrer

You might be getting roped into office drama without even realizing it. 

The signs: Pot-stirrers will try to quietly instigate drama, egging you on to talk negatively about your boss or other colleagues by acting like they’re coming from a place of “genuine care and concern,” says Han. “For example, after a meeting, they might approach you and say, ‘Hey, weren’t you offended by that person’s comment?'” explains Han. “They want to cause issues between you and another person, but act like they’re on your side.” 

How to handle it: Resist the urge to feed into their negativity, either by changing the subject or deflecting the gossip with a positive remark, says Han. “You can say, ‘I appreciate your concern, but I’d prefer to focus on the positive,’ she suggests. Or, a simple “That’s not something I’m worried about, but thank you for looking out for me” should suffice.

The naysayer

Naysayers at work aren’t just people who disagree with you on everything or weigh in on every plan. They might frame their doubts as an attempt to shield you from a bad situation when, in reality, it’s a good opportunity.

The signs: “This person is only going to support you to a restricted limit,” says Han. “They need you to stay within a short leash, and might discourage you from meeting new people in the company or going after new projects if it doesn’t benefit them directly.” If someone constantly dissuades you from taking on stretch assignments or learning about new roles at your company, especially without explaining their concerns, they could be a naysayer. 

How to handle it: Never take advice about an important career decision from one person — always seek out multiple perspectives. Also, consider using their negativity as motivation. As Han points out, “The desire to prove someone wrong can really light a fire under you.”

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“Longevity, both through lifespan and healthspan, is impacted more through exercise than any of the other variables we have,” said Attia on wellness podcast, “Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris.”

But how often you should work out each week varies, depending on factors like age and time constraints. “You don’t have to be exercising 14 to 16 hours per week,” if doing so isn’t feasible, Attia added.

Still, there is one specific way that people should structure their workouts to achieve optimal health, Attia said, regardless of how much time you have.

The ideal exercise ratio for a long life

50% strength-training

Half of the exercises you do weekly should be strength-training, Attia said on the podcast. This means if you’re working out eight hours a week, you should devote four hours to developing your strength and stability.

Strength-training focuses on “increasing muscular strength, endurance, and bone density,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can also be referred to as resistance training, and the exercises can improve your insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism, the CDC states.

Strength-training exercises include:

• Weight-lifting
• Push-ups
• Deadlifts
• Lunges
• Planks
• Bodyweight squats
• Burpees

50% cardio

The other half of your time should prioritize cardio exercises, Attia said in the episode. And for your cardio workouts specifically, 80% of your workout should be low-intensity, and the remaining 20% should be high-intensity, he added.

Low-intensity is when “you can still speak, [but] you just don’t want to,” he explained. If you can’t speak anymore, you’ve officially entered high-intensity mode.

Cardio, or aerobic, exercise “gets you breathing harder and your heart beating faster,” which is very beneficial for cardiovascular health, according to the CDC.

Low-intensity cardio exercises that you can do are:

• Speed-walking
• Riding a bike at a moderate pace
• Mowing your lawn
• Swimming laps in a pool

High-intensity aerobic exercises to try are:

• Running
• Jumping jacks
• Riding a bike on a hill
• Jumping rope

Remember not to get too wrapped up in how many hours you’re exercising each week because even a little bit of exercise is better than none at all, Attia noted on the podcast.

“If you take a person who is doing zero exercise, and you just get them to the point where they’re doing three hours a week,” he said, “you will still give them a 50% reduction in all-cause mortality.”

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Get CNBC’s free Warren Buffett Guide to Investing, which distills the billionaire’s No. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do’s and don’ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook.

• Japan is home to the world’s longest-living people—here’s the 5-minute exercise they do every single day
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One misconception many people have is that happy couples argue less. But that’s not the case; they just argue more effectively.

When we work with couples who seem to be making no progress in their disagreements, we often suggest they declare a truce and make a plan to communicate better. They each write down what has been bothering them about the other person (and about the relationship itself).

In order for this to be effective, couples must establish certain rules of engagement about how these problems will be shared and discussed. 

Communication rules of the most successful relationships

If you already use these rules of engagement when you argue, your relationship is more successful than most:

1. We will be honest but not cruel.
2. There will be no name-calling or shaming.
3. Our goal will be to resolve this so we can move forward.
4. We will not leave the conversation, but it’s okay to ask for a 20-minute break.
5. We will assume that we both want the same things — to connect and to improve our relationship.
6. We will take the stance of “it’s you and me against the problem, not you against me.”
7. We will try to use “I feel” statements instead of blaming each other.
8. We will state positive needs (e.g., “I need to feel closer to you.”).

It’s critical for you and your partner to agree that the rules of engagement include tact as well as truth. This will help the both of you get to the root of your problems without severing your emotional connection.

When couples can give each other the space for their opinions to be fully stated, and then ask questions about those opinions, as opposed to just insisting on their own opinions (or leaving the scene), softer feelings have time to surface.

These warm feelings are the glue that hold successful couples together.

Jessica Griffin, PsyD, is a professor of psy­chiatry and pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. She is also the co-author of “Relationship Rx: Prescriptions for Lasting Love and Deeper Connection.” Follow Jessica on Twitter and Instagram.

Pepper Schwartz, PhD, is a sexuality expert and co-author of “Relationship Rx: Prescriptions for Lasting Love and Deeper Connection.” She is a professor of sociology at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she created the Pepper Schwartz Fellowship on Intimate Relationships and Sexuality. Follow Pepper on Twitter and Instagram.

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• Harvard-trained psychologist: If you use any of these 9 phrases every day, ‘your relationship is more successful’ than most
• Here’s the No. 1 thing that makes relationships successful, say psychologists who studied 40,000 couples
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Get CNBC’s free report, 11 Ways to Tell if We’re in a Recession, where Kelly Evans reviews the top indicators that a recession is coming or has already begun.

*This is an adapted excerpt from “Relationship Rx: Prescriptions for Lasting Love and Deeper Connection″ by Jessica Griffin and Pepper Schwartz, published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Copyright © 2023 by Jessica Griffin and Pepper Schwartz.

Black people in America won their personal freedom 158 years ago. Economic freedom, though, has been far more elusive.

Veteran portfolio manager Jim Casselberry is trying to do something about that, using his four decades of investing experience to help bridge the gap for people of color and the Indigenous population.

“We have to do better and we have to do better by getting the capital in the right people’s hands,” Casselberry said in a recent interview. “What we want to do is be able to help them stand up and use the talent and the opportunity and the skills that they have.”

Celebrated Monday in the U.S., Juneteenth has been considered a national holiday for two years. It marks the day that Major General Gordon Granger proclaimed freedom for slaves in Texas.

While the holiday marks a terrible wrong that finally was put right, it does not signal the end of racial inequality in the U.S. Nowhere is that clearer than in the distribution of wealth.

By now the numbers are painfully familiar: Black people constitute 13% of the population but hold just 4% of the wealth. The richest 400 Americans have wealth equal to that of the entire Black populace. The racial gap between whites and Black people is 6 to 1 — better than the 23 to 1 in 1870 after emancipation, but still a massive divide. These statistics are from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve as of 2019.

Bridging that chasm is part of the mission for Known, an organization that Casselberry co-founded in 2021 with a team of Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and Asian-American co-founders. Its premise is listed as “a finance and asset management firm that works with founders, family offices, and large asset owners who value competitive returns as well as powerful long-term racial, social, and climate impact.”

Casselberry said the goal, though, is right in the name.

“Why we even use the term ‘Known,’ particularly within the Black and Brown and Indigenous population, is we want them to feel like they’re known, that they’re seeing we have the abilities to be able to do this,” he said. “So many of the programs and so many of the opportunities … don’t work, but they haven’t necessarily been given the chance to work.”

Programs like affirmative action have helped make progress, he said, but he believes wider reforms are necessary.

“Given the polarized and dysfunctional government we have, it’s unlikely at best that we’ll see reparations at any meaningful scale. Philanthropy has tried many approaches, but those are also not on a scale where they can impact the problem,” he said.

“The real solution lies in the capital markets, where the real money is found and managed, but where more than 98% of funds under management are controlled by old majority white firms,” Casselberry added.

Treasury Department data indicates that the wealth disparity between white and Black families has changed little over the past 20 years.

Casselberry is hoping efforts by organizations like this can help change that.

“Known was formed to to be the to be the solution for asset holders that want to be able to invest for better outcomes,” he said. “And it’s formed to be the resource capital access for the [Black, Indigenous and People of Color] community to be able to access and be able to grow and to be able to create opportunities.”

Eight of the warmest years in history have all come since 2015.

With an El Niño weather pattern developing, it could be another hot one because the last time that phenomenon occurred — in 2016 — it was the hottest year on record. 

What a warming world means is heating, ventilation and air-conditioning companies and other firms that provide climate technologies that make buildings more efficient have a multidecade opportunity for growth.   

The data tells the story

Of the three billion people living in the hottest places on earth, including Africa and the Middle East, only about 8% have air conditioning. Further, not only are incomes expanding in many of these same areas, but their populations are growing faster than much of the rest of the world. Historically, a strong link has existed between HVAC demand and these two data points. 

While the multiplier effect could be more modest in the developed world, including the U.S., demand will still rise as temperatures trend higher. Think about places such as Seattle. At one time, it was the least air-conditioned big city in the country, but recent heat waves in the Pacific Northwest have moved the needle there.

Ongoing decarbonization efforts are another consideration. A growing number of governments, corporations and individuals are searching for ways to reduce their footprints, whether it’s adding solar energy, battery storage or heat pumps, or retrofitting buildings in other ways to make them more efficient.

Add it all together and there will be ample HVAC-related market opportunities to play these trends. 

Stocks for a warming world

Carrier Global Corporation is the North American residential and unitary commercial HVAC systems market leader. In April, it announced plans to divest its fire and security businesses and said it would acquire the HVAC and renewable energy business of the German industrial firm Viessmann Group. Those moves will help transform Carrier into a pure-play HVAC company with a large global footprint. Its shares currently trade under 19 times 2023 consensus earnings, a discount relative to industry peers, not to mention a broader set of industrial companies.  

Johnson Controls International provides a range of fire, security and HVAC-related tech, software and other products to make buildings more energy-efficient and reduce costs. The company’s smart building platform, OpenBlue, is helping drive double-digit growth in its service business, while orders also benefit from ongoing decarbonization and healthy building trends. 

Meanwhile, Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital doesn’t provide HVAC services or products but supplies capital to companies within this market that do. Its earnings per share have grown at a 14% compound growth rate over the last three years, while the company’s 12-month investment pipeline currently exceeds $5 billion. The stock now trades at 11 times consensus 2023 earnings. 

The signs that the world is warming are inescapable. Look no further than the layers of thick smoke that have recently blanketed New York and other parts of the Northeast corridor.

Unfortunately, not much scientific evidence suggests that current trends will let up. 

This has far-reaching implications, touching on everything from food production to clean drinking water and other serious health concerns. Beyond that, the conversation surrounding cooler and more efficient workspaces and homes will soon be less about luxury and more a matter of necessity, driving up demand for the products, services and equipment that will help to solve that challenge.

— Noah Kaye is managing director and senior analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. He covers sustainable growth and resource optimization.

The killing of George Floyd and the social justice movement that emerged was an eye-opening moment for many in the U.S., including the nation’s top companies. The tragedy sparked more awareness and positive change in corporate America, according to a new survey of Black executives conducted by CNBC, but the results from the survey show that there remains much work to be done.

The survey, conducted by CNBC in partnership with the Executive Leadership Council, found 74% of Black executives saying they saw a positive change in hiring, retention and promotion of Black employees since Floyd was killed in May 2020. Even more (80%) said their company has provided more support and attention to employee resource groups.

But the need for greater attention to diversity issues is also evident in the results. As many Black executives say organizational treatment of Black employees has remained the same (43%) or worsened (9%) since 2020, as those who say it has improved (48%). And exactly half say there are still less opportunities for Black employees than other employees at their organizations.

“The findings of CNBC’s survey suggest that in the post-Floyd era, businesses are demonstrating an increased awareness of the significant opportunity gap faced by Black professionals,” said Shundrawn Thomas, founder of investment firm The Copia Group. “While pockets of improvement are noted, the results reflect the sobering reality that translating pronouncements into progress demands a greater and sustained effort going forward.”

The vast majority of respondents (88%) indicate their companies did make a commitment to DEI in 2020 after George Floyd’s murder, and that commitment is starting to be reflected at the executive level.

Many companies (41%) increased representation of Black executives on the senior leadership team since 2020; 40% of respondents say performance on diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) goals are part of the compensation structure for members of the senior leadership team.

But even at the highest levels of management, nearly one-quarter (23%) of these leaders say they do not feel that they are equitably compensated relative to peers. And nearly two-thirds of respondents said Black employees were underrepresented in upper management at their organization, with only about one-quarter describing equal representation, and about 10% indicating Black representation is higher. More than 20% of respondents said there was no Black representation in leadership.

“The survey results are an accurate reflection of the current state of diversity in corporate America and reinforces the fact that there is still so much work to be done,” said Judy Smith, founder of crisis management firm Smith & Company.

Smith and Thomas are among the panelists at CNBC’s upcoming inaugural Equity & Opportunity: Exec Connect event on June 28 in New Orleans focused on Black leadership, where they will be joined by Rashida Jones, president of MSNBC, and Priscilla Sims Brown, CEO of Amalgamated Bank.

Among Black leaders who said they left organizations since 2020 (almost one-third of survey respondents), the majority said the level of commitment by their employers to DEI was a factor. More Black executives said that prior to 2020 their firms were “checking the DEI box” rather than taking a comprehensive approach.

“This is not the time to rest on our laurels nor lose our pace.” Melonie Parker, Chief Diversity Officer of Google told CNBC. Parker who is attending the event added: “The survey findings show there is much work to be done to ensure African Americans at all levels are experiencing the workplace at parity. We must double down on our DEI commitments and stay the course to further the transformative work needed to build a more representative and inclusive workplace.”

The survey was conducted June 1-June 14, including members of the ELC, with the majority from organizations of 10,000 employees or larger. Sixty percent of respondents are in the C-suite or at the executive vice president level of their organization.

This week, Amazon formally opened the doors of the first part of its new East Coast headquarters, dubbed HQ2, in northern Virginia. The first phase, called Metropolitan Park, includes two 22-story office towers, which can accommodate 14,000 of the 25,000 employees Amazon plans to bring on in Arlington. About 2,900 employees have already moved in, and Met Park will be occupied by 8,000 employees in the fall.

Amazon built its headquarters in Seattle in 1994 partly because of the area’s deep pool of tech talent and the presence of Microsoft in nearby Redmond, Washington. The company’s Seattle campus now spans tens of millions of square feet across more than 40 office buildings, and the greater Puget Sound area has 65,000 corporate and technical Amazon employees.

It raises the question why Amazon, with its sprawling campus in Seattle and a growing real estate footprint globally, needed to build a second headquarters.

Around 2005, as Amazon’s business grew and its campus ballooned in Seattle, founder and then-CEO Jeff Bezos began to consider where the company should expand next.

At all-hands meetings, employees would ask Bezos “if we would ever be in one location at one time,” said John Schoettler, Amazon’s real estate chief, in an interview.

“I think that there was a romantic notion that we as a company would only be so big that we’d all fit inside one building,” Schoettler said. “[Bezos] had said, well, we have long-term leases and when those leases come up, I’ll work with John and the real estate team and we’ll figure out what to do next.”

Originally, Bezos suggested Amazon stay around the Puget Sound area, but the conversation then shifted to recreating the “neighborhood” feel of its Seattle campus elsewhere, Schoettler said.

“We could have gone out to the suburbs and we could have taken some farmland and knocked some trees down, and we would’ve built a campus that would have been very inward-looking,” he said. “They generally have a north or south entrance and exit east or west. When you put yourself in the middle of the urban fabric and create a walkable neighborhood, an 18-hour district, you become very outward, and you become very part of the community, and that’s what we wanted.”

Holly Sullivan, Amazon’s vice president of economic development, said it would have been harder for Amazon to create that kind of environment had it “sprinkled these employees around 15 other tech hubs or 17 other tech hubs around North America.”

“So what HQ2 has provided is the opportunity for that more in-depth collaboration and being part of a neighborhood,” Sullivan said.

‘I don’t see us getting bigger in Seattle whatsoever’

Amazon’s highly publicized search for a second headquarters has faced some challenges. In 2018, Amazon announced it would split HQ2 between New York’s Long Island City neighborhood, and the Crystal City area of Arlington, Virginia. But after public and political outcry, Amazon canceled its plans to build a corporate campus in Long Island City.

The company’s arrival in Arlington has generated concerns of rising housing costs and displacement. The company said it has committed more than $1 billion to build and preserve affordable homes in the region.

Schoettler said Amazon intends to focus much of its future growth in Arlington and in Nashville, Tennessee, where the company’s logistics hub is based. It also plans to hire as many as 12,000 people in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, he added.

“I don’t see us getting bigger in Seattle whatsoever,” Schoettler said. “I think that we’re pretty much tapped out there.”

HQ2 has some of the same quirks as Amazon’s Seattle campus. There’s a community banana stand staffed by “banistas” and white boards on the walls of building elevators. Amazon has a dog-friendly vibe at its Seattle office, which carried over to Metropolitan Park, where there’s a public dog park, and a gallery wall of the dogs of Amazon employees. The towers feature plant-filled terraces and a rooftop urban farm that echoes the feel of the “Spheres,” botanical gardenlike workspaces that anchor Amazon’s Seattle office.

Amazon is opening HQ2 at an uncertain time for the company and the broader tech sector. Many of the biggest companies in the industry, including Amazon, have eliminated thousands of jobs and reined in spending following periods of slowing revenue growth and fears of a recession ahead.

Companies have also been confronting questions about what work looks like in a post-pandemic environment. Many employees have grown accustomed to working from home and have been reluctant to return to the office. Amazon last month began requiring corporate employees to work from the office at least three days a week, which generated pushback from some workers who prefer greater flexibility.

Amazon tweaked the design of HQ2 around the expectation that employees wouldn’t be coming into the office every day.

Communal work spaces are more common, and there’s less assigned seating, Schoettler said. Employees may only be at a desk 30% of the day, with the rest of their time spent in conference rooms, or having casual coffee meetings with coworkers, he said.

“If we don’t come in that day, no one else will utilize the space,” Schoettler said. “And so that way, you can come in, the desk is open and it’s not been personalized with family photos and that type of thing. You can sit down and absolutely utilize the space, and then go off about your day.”

The shift to a hybrid working environment has also influenced the further development of HQ2. Amazon in March said it had pushed out the groundbreaking of PenPlace, the second phase of its Arlington campus. PenPlace is expected to include three 22-story office buildings, more than 100,000 square feet of retail space and a 350-foot-tall tower, called “The Helix,” that features outdoor walkways and inside meeting areas for employees surrounded by vegetation.

Amazon will observe how employees work in the two new Metropolitan Park buildings to inform how it designs the offices at PenPlace, Schoettler said.

Amazon didn’t say when it expects to begin development of PenPlace, but it is continuing to move forward with the permitting and preconstruction process, Schoettler said.

“We just want to be really mindful, since we’re just opening these buildings, to make sure we’re doing it right,” Sullivan said. “These are large investments for us. We own these buildings, and we want to give them a long shelf life.”

The real purchasing power of a $250,000 salary depends on a city’s overall economy, taxes and cost of living. Across the United States, $250,000 is worth as much as $203,664 in Memphis, Tennessee, but as little as $83,000 in New York City. 

That’s according to a recent report by SmartAsset, which investigated where high earners lose the most to taxes and cost of living. The study compares the after-tax income in 76 of the largest U.S. cities and adjusts the figures for the cost of living.

The data was compiled using SmartAsset’s paycheck calculator, which calculates take-home pay after taking into account local, state and federal taxes. Cost of living expenses include housing, groceries, utilities, transportation and other goods and services. 

For the privileged few earning $250,000 per year, here are the seven cities where your money has the least purchasing power, as well as how much it’s actually worth. 

1. New York: $82,421
2. Honolulu: $82,672
3. San Francisco: $82,776
4. Los Angeles: $101,635
5. Long Beach, California: $101,635
6. Washington, D.C.: $101,865
7. San Diego: $105,151

Unsurprisingly, $250,000 goes the least far in cities such as New York and Washington, D.C., due to the high costs of living. In New York, the average monthly rent for a studio apartment is $3,500, according to data from RentHop.

In Washington, D.C., the average monthly rent for a studio apartment is also high, at just over $2,300, according to data from RentHop. Last year, the nation’s capital ranked as the third-most expensive major U.S. city based on monthly household spending. New York ranked No. 5.

Several cities in California also make the cut for places where $250,000 has the least purchasing power, largely due to the state’s high income tax. In San Francisco, for example, residents are taxed roughly six percentage points more in taxes at $250,000 salaries, as compared with a $100,000 salary, SmartAsset reports.

On top of that, the cost of living in San Francisco is 82.8% higher than the national average, according to the study. Similarly, Long Beach, California, professionals are taxed at a rate of 38%, with a cost of living 52.5% higher than the national average.

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Since ChatGPT started gaining popularity last winter, tech icons from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban have admitted they’re worried that AI will replace human workers in just about every industry.

But they’re forgetting something, Chesky recently told the “This Week in Startups” podcast: We don’t even know what kinds of jobs it’ll create.

“It’s easier to imagine what jobs will be displaced than what jobs would be created,” Chesky said. “That [would] require us to conceive of what doesn’t exist.”

AI is already making Airbnb’s software engineers more efficient, Chesky said, with 30% of day-to-day tasks that could be handled by ChatGPT-like tools within the next six months. This doesn’t mean those engineers’ jobs necessarily are at risk, he said, arguing the saved time could allow them to focus on harder, more personalized projects.

Computer scientists aren’t the only potential beneficiaries, he said. As AI evolves, you’ll be able to tell chatbots in plain English what you want in a website and technology will build it for you, no coding languages required, the Airbnb CEO said.

“I think this is going to create millions of startups … entrepreneurship is going to be a boon,” Chesky said. “Anyone can essentially do the equivalent of what software engineering only allowed you to do five years ago.”

Chesky isn’t alone in thinking this way. AI is already helping people to earn more money in less time, RSE Ventures CEO Matt Higgins wrote for CNBC Make It last week. “AI can be a great tool for making money, and it sure as hell beats selling flowers on street corners,” he wrote.

This isn’t the first time people have worried about technology replacing human beings. The rise of computers and the internet certainly eliminated jobs, like typists and phone operators. It made other roles easier and created new opportunities, like website designers and content creators.

But the expansion of AI could still be a double-edged sword, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk told CNBC’s David Faber last month. For example, it might be hard to find your work fulfilling “if AI can do your job better than you can.”

Part of the trouble is that AI is moving too quickly for anyone to accurately forecast what its future may look like. If companies don’t adapt at a similar pace, they risk getting left behind, said Chesky.

“I’m concerned about how fast it’s going, and is society prepared for the speed,” he said. “But I think from a creative standpoint … you only have to be worried if you don’t want to be a part of it, because this is a creative tool for you. Computers are tools.”

Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to “Shark Tank,” which features Mark Cuban as a panelist.

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LONDON — U.K. borrowers are facing a cliff edge that could damage the economy as rising mortgage costs hit deal renewals and the number of products available shrinks, experts warned Monday.

New figures from financial information company Moneyfacts showed the average two-year fixed rate mortgage on a residential property in Britain rose from 5.98% Friday to 6.01%, its highest level since Dec 1.

The spike in late 2022 came in the wake of the government’s market-rattling mini-budget. Prior to this, Moneyfacts said two-year fixed rates were last above 6% in November 2008.

The number of residential mortgage products available has also fallen, from 5,264 on May 1 to 4,683.

Martin Stewart, director of mortgage advisory London Money, said the last nine months had been “seismic” for the mortgage and housing sector, “on a par with the financial crisis,” although with different causes.

“The market is dysfunctional and arguably broken. We have seen evidence where advisers are in queues alongside 2,000 others all trying to secure something that might not actually exist by the time they get to the front of the queue,” Stewart told CNBC.

“Pretty much everything is starting with a 5 now … for context, two years ago everything started with a 1 or lower.”

The average rate for a five-year mortgage is currently 5.67%, according to Moneyfacts.

Asked about support for struggling households, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday told ITV’s Good Morning Britain program that the government’s priority was halving inflation and it needed to “stick to the plan.”

Banks including HSBC and Santander have temporarily pulled mortgage products in recent weeks amid market uncertainty.

It comes as short-term U.K. government bond yields climb, with the 2-year yield hitting a fresh 15-year high Monday.

Markets are pricing in peak interest rates of almost 6%, up from the current 4.5%. A strong labor market report on June 13 sent rate expectations higher, with the Bank of England set to announce its latest interest rate decision on Thursday after enacting its 12th consecutive hike in May.

U.K. inflation, meanwhile, remains among the highest of all developed economies at 8.7%, with central bank officials warning that second-round effects, including price setting and higher wages, could keep it higher for longer.

“I think the worst of the mortgage crunch is ahead of us,” said Viraj Patel, senior strategist at Vanda Research. He noted that more than 50% of households are still to remortgage at higher rates and this will add stress to the housing market and wider economy.

Patel said he expected the “bulk of the consumer slowdown coming from higher mortgage costs” to hit home in the second half of 2023.

“The BoE, and markets, need to be aware of the long and variable lags of monetary policy – with the effects of past rate hikes still yet to fully work its way through,” he told CNBC.

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority in January warned more than 750,000 households were at risk of default as rates rise.

Patel said he believed there was a “genuine risk of defaults.” “But it’s remembering the BoE have much better oversight. I’m worried more about the second-round effects, consumers spending less and perhaps over-extending in non-housing credit,” he added.

London Money’s Martin Stewart said borrowers were approaching advisers up to a year earlier than they normally would, with attitudes ranging from “despair” to pragmatism.

“We are now in the unenviable position of staring over the abyss where the bodies of the over-leveraged, under-saved, landlords, renters and owners of discretionary spend businesses are beginning to pile up,” he said.

While forecasts for the U.K. economy have turned more positive in recent months, Stewart said he expected the personal finance decisions made by so many borrowers to have a macro impact.

“Many borrowers are telling us that they will need to give something up in order to accommodate their new higher payment,” he said. “Unfortunately that is how recessions start.”

— CNBC’s Ganesh Rao contributed to this report

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday ended a high-stakes visit to Beijing with an unexpected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The latter stressed the importance of steady relations between the two nations after a period of simmering tensions.

During the meeting at the Diaoyutai state guest house — which lasted 35 minutes, according to the U.S. State Department — Xi said that the world needed a “generally stable” China-U.S. relationship, according to a translated readout from China’s foreign ministry.

Xi added that whether the two countries “can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity.”

“I hope that, through this visit, Mr. Secretary, you will make more positive contributions to stabilizing China-U.S. relations,” the Chinese leader said in a video carried by Chinese state television outlet CCTV, following “candid and in-depth discussions” between the two officials that led to progress and agreement on some undetailed “specific issues.”

Blinken said both sides agreed on the need for the U.S. and China to stabilize bilateral ties, before adding that Washington had “no illusions” about the challenges of managing the relationship. Blinken said the U.S. was an advocate for “de-risking and diversifying” economic engagement with China, echoing an approach recently adopted by the G7.

Blinken’s trip — which had not initially confirmed a meeting with Xi on the agenda — makes him the highest-level American official to visit China since U.S. President Joe Biden assumed leadership, as well as the first U.S. secretary of State to make the trip in nearly five years.

His original travel plans for February were disrupted by news of an alleged Chinese spy balloon flying over U.S. airspace, in an incident that stoked tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

The visit could pave the way for a November meeting between Biden and Xi, after the two world leaders last met in person on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali late last year.

‘Open channels of communication’

Blinken’s encounter with Xi echoed the optimistic, communication-geared tone of the state secretary’s other meetings with senior Chinese officials in recent days.

On Sunday, he undertook “candid, substantive, and constructive talks” with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, before speaking with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Monday.

Upon seeing Wang, Blinken “underscored the importance of responsibly managing the competition between the United States and the PRC through open channels of communication to ensure competition does not veer into conflict,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Wang stressed that the Blinken visit came at a critical juncture in Sino-U.S. relations, in a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry translated via Google. He said that the difficulties in the countries’ ties are rooted in the U.S.’ “erroneous perception of China, which leads to wrong policies towards China.”

Wang further urged Washington to give up its so-called “China threat theory,” to lift sanctions against Beijing and to no longer suppress China’s technological development.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wang’s characterization of the nature of U.S.-China difficulties.

Getting down to business

The high-level diplomatic engagements between Washington and Beijing come as several business leaders have embarked on visits to China in recent months, including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

China’s Xi held talks with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates last week, saying he hoped the friendship between the people of China and the U.S. would continue.

“I often say that the foundation of China-U.S. relations lies in the people. We always place our hopes on the American people and hope that the friendship between the two peoples will continue,” Xi said on Friday, according to CCTV.

Xi also told Gates he is the “first American friend” that he’d met in Beijing this year.

— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country’s armed forces are making gains in their counteroffensive, saying in his nightly address Sunday that “our troops are advancing, position by position, step by step, we are moving forward.”

Zelenskyy’s comments come as Ukraine’s counteroffensive enters its third week. Unlike several previous counteroffensives that saw Ukraine recapture an impressive amount of territory relatively quickly, this counteroffensive has been different, with Ukraine recapturing only a handful of settlements and progress expected to be limited by deep Russian defenses.

Ukraine met with its international allies last week to discuss Kyiv’s military progress and ongoing needs, but Zelenskyy said Sunday that “the main thing is the speed of supply” of weaponry after a series of delays in decision-making over weapons, and their supply to Ukraine.

In other news, Russia’s security service said on Monday it had thwarted a series of Ukrainian “sabotage and terrorist plots” targeting Russian-backed officials in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. Kyiv has not responded to the claims.

Macron says first-of-its-kind European missile defense system has launched in Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday that Europe’s first medium-range anti-missile system, jointly developed by France and Italy, has been delivered and is operational in Ukraine, according to a report from French newspaper Le Monde.

The SAMP/T system, known as Mamba, is the only European-made technology that can handle ballistic missiles, Reuters reported in February. It is intended to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian drones, missiles and planes. Le Monde compared it to the Patriot, an American missile defense system.

Macron delivered the news at a meeting of defense ministers in Paris.

The announcement comes four months after France and Italy said the technology was ready. In February, the two countries said they would deliver the missile system to Ukraine this spring, according to Reuters.

“It really is Europe protecting Europe,” Macron said at the meeting, according to The Associated Press.

— Rebecca Picciotto

Denmark more than doubles funding for Ukrainian military

Denmark has pledged to more than double its budget for Ukrainian military support, the Danish Ministry of Defence announced on Monday.

The country first established funding of about $1 billion for Ukraine in March, according to Reuters, which would provide resources for Ukraine’s military, as well as civilian and business aid, while the country fights back in the war against Russia.

That fund will increase to more than $3 billion over the next five years, Reuters reported. The country has promised to provide $2.6 billion more for Ukraine’s military, most of which will be available in 2023 and 2024, Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Monday statement.

“Denmark shows solidarity with Ukraine through multifaceted and long-term support provided bilaterally and in concert with our partners and allies,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry said, in a statement.

— Rebecca Picciotto

Blinken says China spy balloon ‘chapter should be closed’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News on Monday that his visit to Beijing was an “important start” to repairing U.S.-China relations, especially after the strain brought by an alleged Chinese spy balloon reported in February.

He had postponed the trip after the U.S. military discovered the spy balloon over the U.S. So long as no more spy balloons are found in the skies above the U.S., Blinken wants to leave the incident in the past so that the two economic superpowers can strengthen ties.

“That chapter should be closed,” Blinken said in an NBC interview before leaving Beijing. During his trip, he spent two days in meetings with senior Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping.

The two countries have yet to reestablish military communication channels, though Blinken says it is necessary and is “not something we’re going to drop.”

China cut those lines of military communication last year after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which is self-governing though Beijing claims it as its own territory. President Joe Biden said that a deal to reopen the communication had stalled due to the spy balloon.

Though military communication between the U.S. and China is currently on pause, Blinken said that he was assured in the meeting with Jinping that China had no intentions of providing aid{=null} to Russia in the war against Ukraine.

Blinken said he brought up the surveillance issue multiple times in his meetings with Chinese officials and is something that the U.S. government “will continue to watch.”

Read more on the story here: Xi tells Blinken in high-stakes meeting: World needs stable U.S.-China relations

— Rebecca Picciotto

Russia says it is too dangerous for UN to send aid to stranded civilians

The Kremlin said Monday it is too unsafe to send the United Nations’ humanitarian aid workers into areas impacted by the recent Kakhova Dam collapse where civilians are stranded.

Dmitry Peskov, press secretary for the Kremlin, said in a call with reporters that the war has made humanitarian visits too risky, though he did not say outright that Russia had obstructed the U.N.’s aid, according to The Associated Press.

The Kremlin’s comments come a day after the U.N. condemned Russia for interfering with its humanitarian efforts.

On Sunday, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement that Russia has denied the U.N.’s request to send aid to the Kakhova Dam area, which is located in southern Ukraine and is currently under Russian military control.

“We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law,” Brown said in the statement.

Survivors of the dam flood have faced a shortage of food, water and electricity, all while attacks continue in the area. Some rescuers from Ukraine have endured the risk of Russian snipers to evacuate stranded Ukrainians.

—Rebecca Picciotto

China looks to reassure U.S. over its relationship with Russia

After a high-profile meeting with the Chinese president on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had received assurances that Beijing was not providing lethal aid to Russia, nor had any intentions to do so in future.

There have been long-standing concerns that Beijing could provide weapons to its ally Moscow that could be used in the war against Ukraine. China has repeatedly insisted it has no plans to do so.

“With regard to lethal aid to to Russia for use in Ukraine, we and other countries have received assurances from China, that it is not and will not provide legal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine,” Blinken told a press conference Monday after meeting Chinese President Xi in Beijing.

Blinken said the U.S. had not “seen any evidence that contradicts that.”

“What we do have ongoing concerns about though are Chinese firms, companies, that may be providing technology that Russia can use to advance its aggression in Ukraine. And we have asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about that,” Blinken said.

Blinken and Xi Jinping’s meeting comes at a low point in Sino-U.S. relations, with tensions rife over trade, tech and geopolitics, including Beijing’s close relationship with Moscow.

At this latest high-stakes meeting, China’s president stressed the importance of steady relations between China and the U.S.

Read more on the story here: Xi tells Blinken in high-stakes meeting: World needs stable U.S.-China relations

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine will not be invited to join NATO at next month’s summit

Ukraine will not be invited to join NATO when the alliance meets for a high-profile summit in Lithuania next month, the defense alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. 

“At the Vilnius summit and in the preparations for the summit, we are not discussing to issue a formal invitation,” he told reporters after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Reuters reported.

Stoltenberg also warned against accepting a “frozen” conflict in Ukraine, saying: “We all want this war to end, but a just peace cannot mean freezing the conflict and accepting a deal dictated by Russia.”

Meanwhile, Scholz told the press conference that Germany is prepared for the possibility that the war in Ukraine could still last for a while and that Berlin is “preparing for that and adjusting our policies based on that.”

Ukraine has repeatedly expressed a desire to join NATO and while the alliance has fully backed Kyiv’s attempts to repel Russia’s invasion, including with billions of dollars’ worth of military aid, NATO membership for Ukraine is seen as a very distant prospect given Russia’s staunch opposition to such a move, and a reluctance among a few NATO members to antagonize Moscow further.

— Holly Ellyatt

British prime minister speaks to Zelenskyy ahead of recovery conference in London

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday as London prepares to host the Ukraine Recovery Conference this week.

During the call, Sunak “paid tribute to the bravery of the Ukrainian soldiers on the front line of the counteroffensive and said it was clear they were making good progress,” a statement from Downing Street noted.

“Looking ahead to the NATO summit next month, the Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy that he believed NATO members would demonstrate a strong signal of support for Ukraine at the Vilnius meeting,” the statement added.

The conference, which begins Wednesday, is “a unique opportunity to underline the strong public and private sector support for Ukraine, and demonstrate the country’s transformation and ongoing reform,” the leaders agreed, Downing Street said.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference will focus on mobilizing international support for Ukraine’s economic and social stabilization and recovery from the effects of war, organizers say, “including through emergency assistance for immediate needs and financing private sector participation in the reconstruction process.”

— Holly Ellyatt

No peace talks with Russia while its troops are in Ukraine, top official says

While there are Russian troops in Ukraine, there will be no negotiations with Russia, a top
Ukrainian official reiterated Monday.

Andriy Yermak, the head of the President’s Office, said on Telegram that “there will be no negotiations with Russia while their troops are in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s peace formula provides for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire territory of Ukraine,” the head of the presidential administration said.

Both Zelenskyy and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have met with African leaders in the last few days, with the possibility of peace talks high on the agenda.

On Friday, Zelenskyy said at a press conference with leaders of a number of African countries that Russia is considering negotiations as a way to freeze the conflict and accumulate forces and expand its aggression, news agency Ukrinform reported.

Diplomatic negotiations, he said, are therefore impossible as long as Russians are on Ukrainian territory.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia’s Navalny in court to face extremism charges

Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared before a Russian court on Monday to face new charges of extremism that could extend his prison term by decades.

The hearing took place at the IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, about 235 km (145 miles) east of Moscow, where Navalny is already serving sentences totalling 11-1/2 years.

His supporters accuse Russian authorities of trying to break him in prison to silence his criticism of President Vladimir Putin, something the Kremlin denies.

An entry in the court record last month showed the new charges relate to six different articles of the Russian criminal code, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organisation.

Russia has outlawed Navalny’s campaign organisation as part of a crackdown on dissent that started well before the conflict in Ukraine and has intensified in the nearly 16 months since it started. Last week one of his regional campaign leaders was jailed for 7-1/2 years.

In a tweet posted on his account by his supporters last month, Navalny responded with typical irony to the new charges.

“Well, Alexei, you’re in some real trouble now … The Prosecutor General’s Office has officially provided me with 3,828 pages describing all the crimes I’ve committed while already imprisoned.”

He said he had not been allowed to read the material to find out what exactly he was accused of because he was once again in solitary confinement and allowed only a mug and one book.

Navalny, 46, earned admiration from the disparate opposition for voluntarily returning to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated for what Western laboratory tests showed was an attempt to poison him with a Soviet-era nerve agent.

The Kremlin denied trying to kill him and said there was no evidence he had been poisoned with such a toxin.

It was not immediately clear which specific actions or incidents the new charges referred to. One relates to “rehabilitation of Nazism” – a possible reference to Navalny’s declarations of support for Ukraine, whose government Russia accuses of embodying Nazi ideology. Ukraine and its Western allies dismiss that charge as baseless.

— Reuters

Ukraine has liberated 8 settlements in southern Ukraine, official says

Ukraine has liberated eight settlements in southern Ukraine over the past two weeks as its counteroffensive continues, the country’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday.

Maliar noted on Telegram that Ukrainian troops “were both on the offensive and on the defensive” last week.

“In the east, the enemy made a lot of efforts to stop the advance of our troops in the direction of Bakhmut. Transferred additional units there and increased the number of shelling,” she said, saying that while the overall intensity of fighting in this direction decreased, 41 clashes took place. Ukrainian troops “advanced deep into the enemy in several areas,” she said.

“Over the past week in the east, the enemy has fired more than 5,800 rounds and used 277,022 rounds of ammunition,” she added.

In southern Ukraine, meanwhile, there was an offensive in several directions in the past week, she said.

“Units of missile troops and artillery of the Defence Forces of the Tavria direction performed 10,125 fire missions during the week,” she said, with eight “settlements liberated by units of the “Tavria” OSUV [Tavria operational-strategic group]: Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blagodatne, Lobkovo, Neskuchne, Pyatikhatky” the latter being the latest village to have been purportedly recaptured.

In general, the units in the Tavria direction (in southern Ukraine) advanced to the depth of the enemy up to 7 km (4.3 miles), she said, with the liberated area in the south amounting to 113 square km.

“Over the past week, the enemy suffered significant losses. In particular, last week the losses of the enemy in all directions amounted to more than 4,600 killed and wounded, in addition, our defenders captured more than 80 fighters of the aggressor,” Maliar said. CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information in the post.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia says it thwarted ‘Ukrainian terrorist plots’ against Russian-backed officials

Russia’s FSB security service said on Monday it had thwarted a series of Ukrainian “sabotage and terrorist plots” targeting Russian-backed officials on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine and had arrested one woman as part of its investigation.

The FSB said in a statement that the attacks had targeted Russian law enforcement officials and Russian-installed government officials in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, one of four areas in Ukraine that Moscow says it has annexed since the start of what it calls its “special military operation.”

Kyiv is currently mounting a counteroffensive to retake what it and the West say was illegally seized territory. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the Russian allegations.

The FSB said it had opened criminal cases against an unnamed woman it described as “an accomplice” on charges related to terrorism and the illegal possession of explosives.

— Reuters

Russia likely redeploying forces to shore up war hot spots, UK says

Russia has highly likely started, over the last 10 days, to relocate elements of its Dnipro Group of Forces (DGF) from the eastern bank of the Dnipro River to reinforce the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut areas, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Monday.

“This potentially involves several thousand troops from the 49th Army, including its 34th Separate Motorised Brigade, as well as Airborne Forces (VDV) and Naval Infantry units,” the ministry said in its latest intelligence update on Twitter.

“The DGF redeployment likely reflects Russia’s perception that a major Ukrainian attack across the Dnipro is now less likely following the collapse of Kakhovka Dam and the resulting flooding,” the U.K. said.

Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam in early June, saying it did so to thwart Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the southern Kherson region. Russia denied any involvement in the incident, although preliminary evidence suggests it was involved in undermining the dam.

Floodwaters in the Kherson region are subsiding but thousands of people aren’t able to return to their homes yet, and those that are remain without power.

— Holly Ellyatt

‘Step by step,’ Ukraine’s troops are advancing, Zelenskyy says

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country’s armed forces are making gains in their counteroffensive.

“Our troops are advancing, position by position, step by step, we are moving forward,” he said in his nightly address Sunday.

Zelenskyy’s comments come as Ukraine’s counteroffensive continues into its third week. Unlike several previous counteroffensives that saw Ukraine recapture an impressive amount of territory relatively quickly, this counteroffensive has been different, with Ukraine recapturing just a handful of settlements and progress expected to be limited by deep Russian defenses.

Ukraine met with its international allies last week to discuss Kyiv’s military progress and ongoing needs but Zelenskyy said Sunday that “the main thing is the speed of supply” of weaponry after a series of delays in decision-making over weapons, and their supply to Ukraine.

“Next week, we will have new important communications with our partners, for the sake of our movement, for the sake of weapons, for the sake of our warriors having everything they need,” he said Sunday.

— Holly Ellyatt

Read CNBC’s previous live coverage here:

Putin says nuclear weapons transferred to Belarus; Ukraine ‘will be equal to NATO allies’

Berkshire Hathaway on Monday said its wholly-owned subsidiary National Indemnity Company has increased its stake in five Japanese trading firms to average more than 8.5%.

The companies involved are Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Sumitomo. The aggregate value of these interests surpasses that of Berkshire-held stock in any country outside of the U.S., the firm said.

Berkshire Hathaway said it intends to hold its Japanese investments for the long term, with CEO Warren Buffett pledging the company will only purchase up to 9.9% of any of the five firms.

Buffett visited Japan in April to announce that Berkshire Hathaway would boost its investment in the various Japanese trading houses to 7.4%, after identifying the five businesses as comparable entities to his Omaha-based conglomerate.

The five firms are the largest of Japan’s so-called sogo-shosha, or general trading companies, and focus on diversified long-term investments that prioritize value and cash flow. Traditionally, they have been central to imports of energy, minerals and food into Japan and exporters of finished products.

Berkshire Hathaway owns no other investments in Japan.

From hawkish pauses to rate hikes and dovish tones, the world’s biggest central banks last week struck very different tones on monetary policy.

The European Central Bank on Thursday hiked rates and surprised markets with a worsening inflation outlook, which led investors to price in even more rate increases in the euro zone.

This followed a Federal Reserve meeting where the central bank decided to pause rate hikes. Just days before that, China’s central bank lowered its key medium-term lending rates to stimulate the economy. In Japan, where inflation is above target, the central bank has left its ultra-loose policy unchanged.

“Taking all these different approaches together shows that not only seems there to be a new divergence on the right approach for monetary policy but it also illustrates that the global economy is no longer synchronized but rather a collection of very different cycles,” Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING Germany, told CNBC via email.

In Europe, inflation has come down in the bloc which uses the euro but remains well above the ECB target. This is also the case in the U.K., where the Bank of England is expected to raise rates Thursday after very strong labor data.

The Fed, which started its hiking cycle before the ECB, decided to take a break in June — but said there would be another two rate increases later this year, meaning its hiking cycle is not yet complete.

The picture is different in Asia, however. China’s economic recovery is stalling, with falls in both domestic and external demand leading policymakers to step up support measures in an effort to revive activity.

In Japan — which has battled a deflationary environment for many years — the central bank said it expects inflation to come down later this year and opted not to normalize policy yet.

“Each central bank [tries] to solve for its own economy, which obviously includes considerations for changes in financial conditions imposed from abroad,” Erik Nielsen, group chief economics advisor at UniCredit said via email.

Market impact

The euro rose to a 15-year high against the Japanese yen on Friday, according to Reuters, off the back of the divergent monetary policy decisions. The euro also broke above the $1.09 threshold as investors digested the ECB’s hawkish tone last Thursday.

In bond markets, the yield on the German 2-year bond hit a fresh 3-month higher Friday, given expectations that the ECB will continue with its approach in the short term.

“Makes sense we start seeing this divergence. In the past, it was clear there was a lot of room to cover for pretty much all the major central banks, while now, given the different stages the jurisdictions are in the cycle, there will be more nuanced decisions to be made,” Konstantin Veit, portfolio manager at PIMCO, told CNBC’s Street Signs Europe on Friday.

“This indeed will create opportunities for the investors.”

ECB President Christine Lagarde was asked during a press conference to compare her team’s decision to increase rates, versus the Federal Reserve’s decision to pause.

“We are not thinking about pausing,” she said. “Are we done? Have we finished the journey? No, we are not at [the] destination,” she said, pointing to at least another potential rate hike in July.

For some economists, it is only a matter of time before the ECB finds itself in a similar position to that of the Fed.

“The Fed is leading the ECB [as] the U.S. economy is leading the eurozone economy by a few quarters. This means that, at the latest after the September meeting, the ECB will also be confronted with the debate on whether or not to pause,” Brzeski said.

What you need to know today

Stocks’ streak snapped
U.S. stocks fell Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite snapping their six-day winning streak. Asia-Pacific markets mostly dropped Monday as well, with markets in China, Japan and South Korea trading lower. But Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to buck the trend.

Blinken in China
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing yesterday. Blinken’s the highest-level American official to visit China during the Biden administration. His trip was originally scheduled for February, but was postponed after an alleged Chinese spy balloon flew across the U.S.

Dimmer prospects for China
Goldman Sachs cut its growth forecast for China this year from 6% to 5.4%, joining a host of Wall Street banks that have already revised their expectations downwards. China’s recent economic data have been disappointing so far, prompting the country to cut rates and stimulate the economy.

Tesla’s self-driving ambitions
Elon Musk said the value of Tesla depends on whether it can crack the code to self-driving vehicles. In other words, Musk thinks Tesla shares will shoot up once the electric vehicle company perfects autonomous driving technology, which will, in turn, let Tesla owners turn their cars into robotaxis.s the U.S.

[PRO] Bull now, bear later
“Bears like us have been wrong,” Bank of America Chief Investment Strategist Michael Hartnett admitted in a note. There are three factors, according to Hartnett, that’ll allow stocks to continue their current rally — though he worries it’ll be a “big rally before big collapse.”

The bottom line

Major U.S. indexes closed lower Friday: The S&P lost 0.37%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.32% and the Nasdaq fell 0.68%. Despite that, both the S&P and Nasdaq have hit their highest level since April 2022, a testament to the rally’s current strength.

Investors have artificial intelligence to thank for those impressive figures. Microsoft, which integrated AI with its products earlier than most other rivals, hit an all-time high of $342.33 per share on Friday after rising more than 43% this year.

This has echoes of the 1990s, when the tech giant’s stock rocketed a ridiculous 9,562% during the decade (!). But that comparison has unwelcome resonances. It was, of course, right before the dot-com bubble burst. By October 2000, Microsoft’s shares were worth less than they were in January 1998.

Now, I’m not suggesting the current AI-led rally’s as fragile. But there are some worrying signs. As CNBC’s Scott Schnipper notes, “It’s not a brighter economic picture or an exuberant earnings outlook pushing stocks higher. It’s momentum and fear of missing out on further gains.”

Still, it looks like the momentum has legs. There’s nothing on the horizon that looks like a “bull trap,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, meaning that markets look poised to rally further, for now.

But some analysts, like BofA’s Hartnett and Savita Subramanian, the bank’s top quantitative strategist, think the S&P will decline from its current levels at the end of the year. Market bulls might yet trip over and exit, pursued by metaphorical bears.

Artificial intelligence is likely to shake up the transportation industry — transforming how supply chains are managed and reducing the number of jobs carried out by people, according to analysts and industry insiders.

Sidewalk robots, self-driving trucks and customer service bots are on their way, along with generative AI that can predict disruptions or explain why sales forecasts may have been missed, according to industry executives.

“AI may be able to totally (or nearly) remove all human touchpoints in the supply chain including ‘back office’ tasks,” Morgan Stanley‘s analysts led by Ravi Shanker stated in a research note last month.

“The Freight Transportation space is on the cusp of a generational shift driven by disruptive technologies incl. Autonomous, EV, blockchain and drones. AI is the latest one of these potentially transformative technologies to emerge – and perhaps the most powerful to-date,” the analysts added.

For example, the bank said it expects several hundred autonomous trucks to begin operations in the U.S. in 2024, reducing the cost-per-mile by 25% to 30%, and eventually eliminating the need for drivers entirely (its timescale for this is “beyond three years”).

No more empty shelves?

Supply chains are often long and multifaceted: A company might source from manufacturers in different parts of the world, with components shipped to a central assembly plant before goods are distributed to customers globally.

Producing and transporting goods, already a complex process, was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war — which led to a shortage of components such as computer chips and the rerouting of shipments. That complexity means companies are often unaware of what happens to their products from one end of the process to the other.

“This is where AI (and machine learning) come in. By predicting what could go wrong with a fluid Transportation network … before it does, AI/ML systems could … potentially even avoid the disruption scenario entirely,” Morgan Stanley’s analysts added.

This is a theme picked up by analysts at investment firm Jefferies, who made multiple predictions about the effect that generative AI will have on transportation and logistics. That includes forecasting demand, predicting when trucks need maintenance, working out optimal shipping routes and tracking shipments in real time.

“A shortage of truck drivers, polar vortexes halting interstate commerce, and a dearth of baby formula on grocery store shelves will be a distant memory with the adoption of generative AI in the Trucking & Logistics space,” its analysts, led by Stephanie Moore, wrote in a research note published on June 6.

Going mainstream

Generative AI will be a big part of shipping giant Maersk‘s operations, said its chief technology and information officer, Navneet Kapoor.

“AI and machine learning, they’ve existed for a very long time … Over the years, it has progressed from being interesting research projects to more ‘real’ projects within companies … And now, with the advent of generative AI … we have a real pivoting opportunity to take AI mainstream,” Kapoor told CNBC by phone.

Maersk has used AI for several years and is now “pursuing aggressively” ways to integrate it into its business processes and functions on a larger scale, Kapoor said. One way it is already being used is to help customers plan better.

“We are using AI to build what we call a predictive cargo arrival model to improve scheduled reliability for our customers … Reliability is a big deal, even post pandemic, so that they can plan their supply chain, their inventories better, and bring their costs down,” Kapoor said.

Maersk also wants to use AI to recommend solutions when shipping routes are congested, advising on whether goods should be flown or stored, for example. And, Kapoor said, the company wants to use a type of generative AI known as a large language model — which learns how to recognize, summarize and generate text and other types of content from vast amounts of data — to understand the sales process better.

“You can get a full view of all the transactions the customer has done with you in the last year, you can figure out the root causes of why [for example] you might lose deals in a certain business area,” Kapoor said.

Double-edged sword

And what of potential job losses?

“Generative AI, in my mind is, [a] once in a lifetime kind of disruption that’s going to happen … so there are going to be losses of jobs in the more traditional setting, but I also believe it’s going to create new jobs like every prior technology disruption has,” Kapoor said, adding that roles such as prompt engineers (people who train AI to give better responses) are likely to be more in demand.

One threat noted by Morgan Stanley is from “high tech digital entrants” to the industry, with analysts describing a double-edged sword for transportation companies: AI might help them become more efficient, but it could also reduce the need for services from the third-party logistics firms that organize packing, storage and shipping.

Maersk has invested in AI startups via its Maersk Growth venture arm, including Einride, a self-driving electric truck manufacturer; Pactum, a company that automates sales negotiations; and 7bridges, an AI platform that helps companies see where their stock is and anticipate delays.

“We look at [data startups] as definitely an enabler for our transformation, and an accelerator, but we are also watchful: we don’t want to be caught napping on this one … Data start-ups can be [an] intermediary between us and the customer and we need to make sure that we are staying ahead of the curve, but also learning from them,” Kapoor said.

Knowledge assistants

“Knowledge assistants” can help with another problem: the over- and under-ordering of goods, according to Igor Rikalo, president and chief operating officer of software company o9 Solutions, which helps firms centralize and analyze data. That’s often the result of a lack of communication between internal teams, with sales departments placing orders separately from those who work in supply chain management, he said.

“It’s a sub-optimal result, because sales [teams] might be investing into promoting the items that a supply chain is constrained on, so you’re wasting money,” Rikalo told CNBC by phone.

“We see a world where hopefully, every one of us will have what we call knowledge assistants that are powered by these AI, by these large language models,” he added, with such assistants being able to give insights into why a supplier has delivered less than what was ordered, for example.

Answering those questions usually requires input from sales, marketing, supply chain and procurement teams, but generative AI might be able to examine large data sets to provide answers.

It may also mean fewer people are needed in integrated business planning teams, which oversee long-term goals, revenue projections and forecast demand for particular products.

“A 1,000-person planning function today can probably be transformed to 100 people or less,” Rikalo said.

— CNBC’s Cheyenne DeVon and Jonathan Vanian contributed to this report.

Investors will now be able to trade selected Hong Kong stocks in both the Hong Kong dollar and Chinese yuan in the so-called dual counter scheme that launched Monday.

The newly launched “HKD-RMB Dual Counter Model” will see an initial 24 companies start offering yuan counters to allow investors in Hong Kong to trade in the yuan, in addition to the Hong Kong currency. Companies on the list include tech heavyweights like Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu.

The dual counter model covers securities listed in both Hong Kong dollar and renminbi counters only. The Hong Kong Exchange said all shares of the same securities in the two different trading counters will be “fully interchangeable between counters.”

In an exclusive interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia,” Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing CEO Nicolas Aguzin said the move was aimed at giving investors more options for investments, as well as more diversification possibilities.

“This program is aimed at number one, making sure that we give more options to investors. Number two, that we continue helping on the internationalization of the renminbi.” Thirdly, he said it “solidifies” Hong Kong’s role as a yuan trading hub.

The HKEX CEO noted that the initial batch of 24 companies make up about 40% of the average daily trading volume in the Hong Kong.

“We would expect that to continue expanding,” he added. “And over time, I think a great majority of the stocks in our markets will be participating in this program.”

With trading volumes in Hong Kong at a four year low, Aguzin said he expects an increase in turnover from the new dual connect model, noting there are “a lot” of yuan deposits in Hong Kong. As such, “you’re tapping a liquidity pool that is in renminbi that will now be able to invest directly,” he pointed out.

The key objective is to simplify the southbound flow of investments from the mainland, Aguzin said.

Investments from the mainland are currently carried out via the Southbound Stock Connect, which allows mainland investors to purchase Hong Kong stocks in Hong Kong dollars.

Stock Connect is a mutual market access program that allows investors in mainland China to trade and settle shares in Hong Kong via exchanges and clearing house in their home market, and vice versa.

Aguzin highlighted that it’s “very inconvenient for the mainland investors, [and] the fact that they will [now] be able to transact in an instant basis in renminbi, that’s a huge difference.”

He foresees more investment flow from the mainland, especially from retail investors.

“One of the challenges of Hong Kong is it’s only 7 million people. So it’s very limited in terms of retail. But the mainland, 1.4 billion people, that’s a lot. And a lot of that can come through Stock Connect and help liquidity in our market.”

The dual counter model will initially target the offerings at investors holding offshore yuan, and eventually, enable mainland investors to trade yuan stocks listed in Hong Kong using onshore yuan, Reuters reported.

While there is no firm date for when investments via Stock Connect will be able to access the dual counter model, Aguzin said this will take a little bit of time, and the HKEX is working closely with regulators and other stakeholders to make sure everything will be in place before making an announcement.

Not the first try

This is not the first time that such a scheme is being introduced in Hong Kong.

In 2012, the Hong Kong exchange launched a similar scheme called the “dual tranche, dual counter” model, which allowed the issuer to offer and list two tranches of shares in both the Hong Kong dollar and Chinese yuan.

As with today’s dual counter model, shares of both RMB tranche and the HKD tranche were of the same class, and shareholders under these two tranches are expected to be treated equally.

According to Bloomberg, that scheme failed to take off when only one company took it up.

The difference this time is that there is a “dual counter market maker program” — aimed at providing liquidity to the yuan counter and minimizing price discrepancies between the Hong Kong dollar and yuan counters.

Aguzin said there are currently nine of these market makers that have signed up, and he thinks this “should encourage a lot of activity and [make] sure that the markets are really stabilized in both markets.”

As governments deliberate on whether artificial intelligence poses risks or dangers and whether it needs regulating, Singapore is taking more of a wait-and-see approach.

“We are currently not looking at regulating AI,” Lee Wan Sie, director for trusted AI and data at Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority, told CNBC. IMDA promotes and regulates Singapore’s communication and media sectors.

The Singapore government is making efforts to promote the responsible use of AI.

It is calling for companies to collaborate in the world’s first AI testing toolkit — called AI Verify —  that enables users to conduct technical tests on their AI models and record process checks.

AI Verify was launched as a pilot project in 2022. Tech giant IBM and Singapore Airlines have already started pilot testing as part of the program.

Calls for regulation

In recent months, AI buzz has gathered pace after chatbot ChatGPT went viral for its ability to generate humanlike responses to users’ prompts. It hit 100 million users in just two months after its launch.

Globally, there have been repeated calls for government interventions to address the potential risks of AI, however.

Tech leaders such as OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have warned about the dangers of the technology.

“At this stage, it is quite clear that we want to be able to learn from the industry. We will learn how AI is being used before we decide if more needs to be done from a regulatory front,” said Lee, adding that regulation may be introduced at a later stage.

“We recognize that as a small country, as the government, we may not have all the answers to this. So it’s very important that we work closely with the industry, research organizations and other governments,” said Lee.

Haniyeh Mahmoudian, an AI ethicist at DataRobot and an advisory member of the U.S. National AI Advisory Committee, said “it really benefits” both businesses and policymakers.

“The industry is more hands-on when it comes to AI. Sometimes when it comes to regulations, you see the gap between what the policymakers are thinking about AI versus what’s actually happening in the business,” said Mahmoudian.

“So having this type of collaboration specifically creating these types of toolkits has the input from the industry. It really benefits both sides,” she added.

Google, Microsoft and IBM are among tech giants which have already joined the AI Verify Foundation — a global open-source community set up to discuss AI standards and best practices, as well as collaborate on governing AI.

“We at Microsoft applaud the Singapore government’s leadership in this area,” said Brad Smith, president and vice chair at Microsoft, in a press release.

“By creating practical resources like the AI governance testing framework and toolkit, Singapore is helping organizations build robust governance and testing processes,” said Smith.

Collaborative approach

At the Asia Tech x Singapore summit in June, Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo noted that while the government recognizes the potential risks of AI, it cannot promote the ethical use of AI on its own.

“The private sector with their expertise can participate meaningfully to achieve these goals with us,” she said.

While there are “very real fears and concerns about AI’s development,” we will need to actively steer AI toward beneficial uses and away from bad ones, said Teo. “This is core to how Singapore thinks about AI.”

Meanwhile, some nations are quickly cracking down on AI.

The European Union became the first to set minimum standards with its Artificial Intelligence Act. European Parliament members agreed to bring generative AI tools like ChatGPT under greater restrictions on Wednesday.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his ministers have expressed a need for AI regulation. “I think we do need a regulation and all the players, even the U.S. players, agree with that,” Macron told CNBC last week.

China has already developed draft rules designed to manage how companies develop generative AI products like ChatGPT.

Innovation in a safe environment

Singapore could act as a “steward” in the region for allowing innovation but in a safe environment, said Stella Cramer, APAC head of international law firm Clifford Chance’s tech group.

Clifford Chance works with regulators on guidelines and frameworks across a range of markets.

“There’s just this consistent approach that we’re seeing around openness and collaboration. Singapore is viewed as a jurisdiction that is a safe place to come and test and roll out your technology with the support of the regulators in a controlled environment,” said Cramer.

The city-state has launched several pilot projects such as the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox or healthtech sandbox for industry players to test out their products in a live environment before going to market.

“These structured frameworks and testing toolkits will help guide AI governance policies to promote safe and trustworthy AI for businesses,” said Cramer.

“AI Verify may potentially be useful for demonstration of compliance to certain requirements,” said IMDA’s Lee. “At the end, as a regulator, if I want to enforce [regulation], I must know how to do it.”

European markets fell at the start of the new trading week as investors remained jittery over the economic outlook.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 index closed 1% lower Monday, with almost all sectors in negative territory. Chemicals stocks led losses, down 2.8%, while banking stocks ended just above the flatline.

Construction and material stocks fell 2.5% amid warnings of a looming U.K. mortgage crunch and a dip in house asking prices, as figures showed the average rate of a two-year fixed-rate deal crept over 6% for the first time since December.

The Bank of England will announce its latest interest rate decision on Thursday, along with the Swiss National Bank.

Asia-Pacific markets were also largely lower, although Japan’s markets were still hovering near 33-year highs.

Asia investors will be looking ahead to China’s loan prime rate decision on Tuesday, after the world’s second-largest economy cut some of its key lending rates last week.

On the diplomatic front, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Beijing on a diplomatic mission to repair strained ties between the U.S. and China.

U.S. markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday.

Stocks on the move: Next up 5%, Getinge down 15%

British fashion retailer Next was 5% higher Monday after raising its sales and profit guidance for the year. The clothes brand noted that trading had exceeded expectations thanks to recent warm weather and a boost in wages for consumers.

On the other end, shares of Swedish medical technology company Getinge tumbled 15% as supply chain issues led the firm to issue a profit warning.

— Karen Gilchrist

Markets may be overestimating how high interest rates in the UK will go, investment trust CEO says

Andrew Bell, CEO of Witan Investment Trust, says the full effect of monetary policy tightening in the U.K. has not been felt yet and the Bank of England should take a gradual approach to increasing interest rates.

UK 2-year government bond yields hits 15-year high

The yield on 2-year U.K. government bonds, also known as gilts, hit a 15-year high Monday.

The yield was trading around 4.978% by 9:40 a.m. London time — the highest since July 2008 — ahead of the Bank of England’s monetary policy decision Thursday.

The central bank is widely expected to increase interest rates by 25 basis points in the face of still-high inflation and a strong labor market.

“The incoming UK data since the May MPC meeting point to mixed growth momentum, continued tightness in the labour market, and very strong underlying inflationary pressures,” Goldman Sachs analysts led by Sven Jari Stehn said in a note on June 15.

“Although some uncertainty remains ahead of the June 21 CPI release, we expect a 25bp hike at next week’s meeting and see a high hurdle for a 50bp step because inflation expectations have remained anchored, recent comments have signalled no appetite for stepping up the pace and the meeting will have no press conference or new projections.”

— Katrina Bishop

CNBC Pro: Alibaba and more: Morgan Stanley names 5 global stocks with at least 50% upside

Morgan Stanley expects five of its top Asia stock picks to rise by more than 50% over the next 12 months.

The Wall Street bank is bullish on a set of Asian stocks as the broad MSCI Asia Pacific equities index has entered a new bull market, rising 25% from last October’s low.

Alibaba is the investment bank’s top pick in the China internet sector.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the remaining 4 stocks here.

— Ganesh Rao

Inflation outlook falls sharply in key consumer survey

Consumer inflation expectations tumbled in June, providing support for the Federal Reserve in its battle against rising prices.

The closely watched University of Michigan Survey of Consumers showed that one-year expectations plunged to 3.3%, down from 4.2% the prior month. That’s the lowest level since March 2021.

The headline reading for the survey posted a 63.9 reading, better than the Dow Jones estimate for 60.2 and up from May’s 59.2.

—Jeff Cox

CNBC Pro: Global stocks are soaring. Analysts love these names — giving one over 80% upside

U.S. stocks aren’t the only ones soaring this year.

Some global indexes have followed those gains and climbed.

Analysts are still optimistic about some parts of the U.S. market, but some expect international markets to do better this year.

CNBC Pro screened for stocks in the MSCI World, S&P 500 and the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-U.S. Index Fund for global names with big upside.

The resulting stocks have buy ratings from over 65% of analysts covering them, and average price target upside of at least 30%.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are heading for a negative open Monday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 31 points lower at 7,910, Germany’s DAX 88 points lower at 16,288, France’s CAC 37 points lower at 7,360 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 110 points lower at 27,818, according to data from IG.

There are no major earnings or data releases.

— Holly Ellyatt

Goldman Sachs became the latest Wall Street bank to downgrade its growth forecast for China, as the world’s second-largest economy stutters and loses momentum after its coronavirus reopening.

The investment bank cut its full-year gross domestic product forecast for 2023 from 6% to 5.4%, noting further turbulence ahead for the economy. The recovery from its stringent Covid-19 lockdown measures continue to disappoint through soft economic data, as well as mounting pressure on its property sector.

While the firm sees further stimulus to come, it notes that the measures will not be enough to overcome the greater problems that it faces: weakened sentiment.

“With continued challenges from the property market, pervasive pessimism among consumers and private entrepreneurs, and only moderate policy easing to partially offset the strong growth headwinds, we mark down our 2023 real GDP forecast,” economists led by Chief China Economist Hui Shan said in research note Sunday.

The latest revision from Goldman Sachs follows the likes of UBS, Bank of America and JPMorgan who have all downgraded their China full-year GDP estimates.

Goldman Sachs’ economists added that there are a slew of macroeconomic issues facing the nation.

“With the reopening boost quickly fading, medium-term challenges such as demographics, the multi-year property downturn, local government implicit debt problems, and geopolitical tensions may start to become more important in China’s growth outlook,” they said.

It also sees further weakness in the Chinese yuan against the U.S. dollar due to rate differentials with the People’s Bank of China expected to ease its monetary policy further while the Federal Reserve is hinting at more rate hikes to come.

UBS also sees continued weakness in China’s economy ahead, particularly focusing on the second quarter of the year.

“Q2 [second quarter] sequential growth may slow to only 1-2% quarter-on-quarter saar [seasonally adjusted annual rate], weaker than our earlier expectation of 4.5%,” UBS Investment Bank’s Chief China economist Wang Tao said in a Friday note.

Wang noted that uncertainty in China’s property sector remains a central risk to its forecast and could bring its growth outlook even lower.

“Risks to our forecast is slightly biased towards the downside, mainly from uncertainties in property market and path of property policy support ahead, as well as weaker external demand,” she said.

Iran and Afghanistan are going head to head over control of the supply of a crucial resource that’s shrinking by the day: water.

Violence along the border between the two tumultuous countries flared up in recent weeks, stoked by a dispute over the water flowing from Afghanistan’s Helmand river into Iran. Tehran says Afghanistan’s Taliban government is deliberately depriving Iran of sufficient water supplies in order to bolster its own; but the Taliban says there isn’t enough water anymore to begin with, thanks to plummeting rainfall and river levels.

Iranian and Afghan border guards clashed on May 27, exchanging heavy gunfire that killed two Iranian guards and one Taliban soldier and wounded several others. Both sides blame each other for provoking the fighting, which has thrust the region’s water issues back into the spotlight. 

Risk of destabilization in Iran

The situation risks destabilizing an already poor and water-deprived part of Iran, where serious protests against the government have taken place in recent years. 

“The water dispute with Afghanistan is not something Iran can take lightly,” Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East and North Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC. “Water resources in Iran are under severe pressure and water stress has been a trigger of large-scale civil unrest in recent years.”   

In the summer of 2021, protests began in Iran’s western Khuzestan province over water shortages and subsequent power outages as hydroelectric power stations ran out of supply. Dubbed “the uprising of the thirsty,” the demonstrations soon spread to several cities around Iran including the capital Tehran, and drew a heavy government crackdown that ended in both police and civilian casualties. 

Grappling with U.S. sanctions, a severely weakened economy and a continuing anti-government protest movement, Iran is already under significant pressure. “With the authorities still struggling to keep a lid on nationwide protests,” Soltvedt said, “a water security crisis in eastern Iran would come at a particularly bad time.” 

A dangerous border

The 580-mile border between Afghanistan and Iran is porous and crawling with crime, predominantly coming from the Afghan side into Iran. Afghanistan has been wracked with instability and war for decades, and the ruling Taliban government derives a significant part of its revenue from illicit trades.

“Iran’s Afghan border has always been its most vulnerable,” said Kamal Alam, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center. It’s host to “a number of issues including narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, and terrorism” — but is simultaneously an all-important source for water, Alam said.  

Water tensions between the two countries go way back. In the 1950s, Afghanistan built two major dams that limited the flow of water from the Helmand river into Iran. This angered Tehran and threatened relations, ultimately leading to the signing of a treaty in 1973 that allotted Iran 850 million cubic meters of Helmand water yearly. 

But subsequent revolutions, invasions, wars and dramatic government changes in both countries meant the treaty was never fully implemented. 

“Since the 1973 water treaty between the two, they have come close to war a number of times due to various Afghan governments using Iran’s water vulnerability as a leverage on bilateral issues,” Alam said. 

Climate change and worsening threats

Scientists have long warned that climate change increases the risk of wars and refugee crises as countries fight over the natural resources they need to live. 

“The disagreements over water allotments for the Helmand River are hard to overcome because neither country has the ability to bring more water to the region,” said Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at Rane. “It’s already an extremely dry area, but issues like climate change and overfarming are making it worse.” 

“In a way,” he said, “it’s a classic driver of conflict, a competition for a scarce resource neither side can live without.”

In mid-May, a Taliban press release expressed Afghanistan’s support for the 1973 treaty, but said: “Since there has been a drought in Afghanistan and the region in recent years and the water level has dropped … provinces of the country are suffering from drought and there is not enough water. In such a situation, we consider Iran’s frequent demand for water and inappropriate statements in the media as harmful.”

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, in response, told Afghanistan’s leaders to take his words “very seriously,” saying “I warn the rulers of Afghanistan to give the rights of the people in [the Iranian border regions of] Sistan and Baluchistan immediately.” A Taliban commander hit back, saying there was no water for them to give Iran and warning, “Do not attack us. We are not afraid.”

Tehran then made a statement emphasizing the fact that it doesn’t recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s ruling body. The back-and-forth only heightened tensions, and some worry that May’s border shootout could be a sign of worse to come. 

Rane’s Bohl expects the issue to fester as “water scarcity is a very complicated problem that requires extensive and expensive infrastructure investments to overcome, neither of which heavily-sanctioned Iran or Afghanistan is in a position to fix,” he said. 

He expects flare-ups between the two to continue, as well as continued interruptions to Afghanistan’s water supply — bad news for an already desperately impoverished country.

That “could harm Afghanistan’s farming output over time and damage its already frail economy and worsen food shortages,” Bohl said.

PARIS — France is making a major push to position itself as Europe’s hub for artificial intelligence, throwing its weight behind the fast-growing and much-hyped technology.

“I think we are number one [in AI] in continental Europe, and we have to accelerate,” French President Emmanuel Macron told CNBC’s Karen Tso last week.

Countries are looking to position themselves as AI hubs, because the technology is seen as revolutionary and therefore of strategic importance to governments around the world. AI is viewed as impacting industries from finance to healthcare, but has also been caught in the middle of the broader technology battle playing out between China and the U.S.

Hype around AI has been partly sparked by the viral nature of U.S. firm OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot.

AI was the phrase on everyone’s lips at France’s annual technology conference Viva Tech, from startups to established technology firms, along with companies from industries as diverse as cosmetics and banking.

Macron, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Digital Minister Jean-Noel Barrot attended the event, adding the government’s backing to France’s tech push.

“We will invest like crazy on training and research,” Macron told CNBC, adding that France is well-positioned in AI due to its access to talent and start-ups forming around the technology.

While the U.S is seen as the leader in AI by many measures, France hopes to catch up.

“Believe me this is clear that the U.S. is number one, for good reason because it is a huge domestic market … I want us to clearly bridge the gap and invest much more, develop much more and accelerate much more,” Macron said.

Paris’ ambitions face tough competition even within the European Union.

“France definitely has a chance to be the leader in Europe, but it faces stiff competition from Germany and the U.K.,” Anton Dahbura, Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy, told CNBC via email.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the past week made his pitch for Britain to become a global AI center.

Dahbura said that, for France to find success, it will need to “use AI to build on the economic areas it’s already strong in,” such as manufacturing and pharmaceutical.

“It’s a key time to be strategic to identify specific areas of distinct competency and invest heavily in AI to build an edge,” Dahbura said.

French A.I. companies in focus

U.S. companies currently dominate the conversation around AI, with names such as Microsoft — which invested in OpenAI — and chipmaker Nvidia staying top of mind.

France doesn’t have an AI giant like the U.S., but wants to create two or three “big global players” in the technology, according to Macron.

it is banking on its startups to grow quickly. Underscoring the potential and hype of AI developments, four-week-old French startup Mistral AI raised 105 million euros to fund the company. A number of other local startups were showing off their wares at Viva Tech.

Global A.I. regulation in focus

Part of France’s pitch to be an A.I. hub leads on regulation around the technology.

The European Parliament greenlit the EU AI Act, a wide-sweeping first-of-its-kind regulation on artificial intelligence. It is not yet law, but, if passed, would bring a risk-based approach to regulation across the EU.

France has typically been seen as a proponent of strong regulation on technology — but it has taken issue with parts of the EU AI Act related to generative AI, the type of technology that underpins OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which it sees as too stringent.

“My worry is that in the recent past few weeks, the EU Parliament … has taken a very sort of strong stance on AI regulation, using, in some sense, this AI act as a way to try and solve too many problems at once,” Barrot, France’s digital minister, said on the provisions around generative AI.

France desires a global regulation on A.I., which it hopes to achieve through the G7 group that includes the U.S. and Britain, as well as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

“From my point of view … I think we do need a regulation and all the players, even the U.S. players, agree with that. I think we need a global regulation,” Macron said.

U.S. seen as frenemy

France sees the U.S. as both a rival and an ally. French and European companies will try to compete with U.S. giants like Microsoft and Google, but Washington’s by-in is required for any kind of global regulation .

“Competition is always a good thing. So we have a very close cooperation with the U.S., but we also want to get access to our own AI intelligence and companies. So I think that having a fair competition between the U.S. and Europe and also a co-operation on some key devices is good for the U.S. and good for Europe,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, told CNBC.

“On regulation as well, I think this is absolutely vital to have an in-depth discussion with the American authorities on the best way of regulating artificial intelligence.”

Asia-Pacific markets largely fell on Monday, with Japan’s markets hovering near 33-year highs.

The Nikkei 225 has posted weekly gains for the last 10 weeks, but slipped 1% on Monday to close at 33,370.42 along with the Topix, which fell 0.43% and ended at 2,290.5.

South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.62% to end at 2,609.5, while the Kosdaq was up marginally to finish at 888.61.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.7% along with the Hang Seng Tech index, which slid 1.45%.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.54%, finishing the day at 3,255.8 and the Shenzhen Component dropped 0.28%, closing at 11,274.05.

This is ahead of the central bank’s loan prime rate decision on Tuesday, after it cut some of its key lending rates last week.

Australia bucked the wider trend in the region. The S&P/ASX 200 was higher by 0.6%, closing at 7,294.9, led by utilities and consumer services stocks.

On the diplomatic front, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Beijing on a diplomatic mission to repair strained ties between the U.S. and China.

U.S. markets will be closed Monday for the Juneteenth holiday. On Friday, all three major indexes ended the day lower after a strong showing earlier in the week. The U.S. Federal Reserve notably held rates after last week’s FOMC meeting, breaking a streak of 10 straight increases.

The S&P 500 ticked down 0.37% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.68%, but both indexes still recorded their best week since March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.32%, but notched its third positive week in a row.

— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Alex Harring contributed to this report

Singapore is not planning to regulate A.I. yet, says city-state

As governments around the world are setting artificial intelligence regulations, Singapore takes a wait-and-see approach.

“We are currently not looking at regulating AI,” Lee Wan Sie, director for trusted AI and data at Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority, told CNBC.

Instead, the city-state is calling on firms to use its AI testing toolkit — AI Verify — to test their AI models and collaborate on governing AI.

“We will learn how AI is being used before we decide if more needs to be done from a regulatory front,” said Lee.

Read the story here.

— Sheila Chiang

Malaysia to lower stamp duty rates on its exchange

Malaysia will reduce its stamp duty rate on its national exchange — Bursa Malaysia — in a bid to boost capital market vibrancy and competitiveness.

The stamp duty will be lowered from 0.15% to 0.1% per contract, while the stamp duty cap of 1,000 Malaysian ringgit ($216.24) per contract will be maintained.

In a release, the country’s securities commission said this will take effect in July, and will directly lower the cost of transactions, especially for retail investors, who are particularly sensitive to costs.

In addition, Malaysia’s finance ministry and securities commission will also look at policies to facilitate and attract the setting up of family offices in Malaysia, as well as to promote corporate ventures to drive greater domestic direct investment through more facilitative tax and incentive policies.

Regulators will also commit to explore ways to reduce market friction and shorten time-to-market for initial public offerings, the securities commission said.

— Lim Hui Jie

U.S.-China talks important but not extraordinary, says former Chinese military officer

Zhou Bo, senior fellow at Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy and a retired officer of the People’s Liberation Army, discusses the outcome of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing, saying the relationship between the two countries has been on a downward spiral for some time.

Japanese stocks snap six-day winning streak

Japanese stocks fell on Monday and snapped a six-day winning streak with a stronger sell-off seen in the afternoon.

The Nikkei 225 fell 1%, with declines led by consumer cyclicals, basic materials and real estate stocks. The Topix shed 0.43% while both index maintained levels at the highest since 1990.

The Japanese yen was flat after seeing some weakening against the U.S. dollar. The Bank of Japan ended last week leaving its monetary policy unchanged, including its ultra-low interest rates and making no shifts to its yield curve control scheme.

The yield on the 10-year Japanese Government Bond fell slightly and last traded at 0.392%.

— Jihye Lee

AstraZeneca weighs spin off of China business amid political tensions: FT

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is mulling a plan to spin off its China business and list it in Hong Kong, the Financial Times reported.

Citing three people familiar with the talks, the FT reported the U.K.-based company began discussing the idea with bankers several months ago. A listing in Shanghai was also possible, one of the three people told the FT.

Under the plans, AstraZeneca would carve off its operations in China into a separate legal entity, but would retain control of the business.

Citing a person briefed on the plans, FT also reported that a separated listing in either Hong Kong or Shanghai could insulate it politically from any moves by China to crack down on foreign companies.

Also, the separate listing could also help investors in the remaining company reassure themselves that they had less exposure to China-related risk, FT said.

— Lim Hui Jie

Luxury gourmet lifestyle group explains why it chose Singapore for Bacha Coffee’s flagship store

Taha Bouqdib, CEO and president of V3 Gourmet, which owns Bacha Coffee, says having a flagship store in Singapore makes it easy to do business in larger markets like Malaysia, Indonesia and China.

Asia week ahead: China loan prime rates and Southeast Asia central banks

The week of June 19 will be a key period for central banks in the region, with the People’s Bank of China in focus ahead of its loan prime rate announcement and key policy meetings taking place in Southeast Asia.

Inflation numbers for Japan, Singapore and Malaysia will also be closely watched.

On Monday, the U.S. marks the Juneteenth federal holiday. Hong Kong will release its unemployment rate for the month of May.

China’s June loan prime rate announcement is scheduled for Tuesday with further easing expected from the central bank. The Reserve Bank of Australia will also release minutes from its latest monetary policy meeting.

Hong Kong will release its inflation figures for May on Tuesday as well.

On Wednesday, South Korea’s producer price index for May will be published. The Bank of Japan will release its April meeting minutes.

Mainland China and Taiwan will observe a market holiday for the Dragon Boat Festival from June 22 to the 24 and Hong Kong resumes trade on Friday.

New Zealand’s May trade figures are due on Thursday. The Philippines and Indonesia’s central bank rate decisions are also set to take place on that day.

On Friday, private surveys for Australia and Japan’s purchasing managers’ index will be published alongside inflation data for Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore.

— Jihye Lee

Oil prices down by more than 1%

Oil prices dipped more than 1% as concerns over China’s economic recovery continue to loom over markets after major banks trimmed their 2023 GDP forecasts for the world’s largest oil importer.

Brent crude futures dropped 1.46% to $75.49 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures shed 1.39% to $70.78 a barrel.

The cooling economic rebound forecast in China erased the more than 2% gains made by both benchmarks last week.

“The prospects of stronger demand in China helped push crude oil prices higher last week. Beijing issued larger than normal crude oil import quotas for domestic refiners,” ANZ’s analysts said in daily note Monday.

—Lee Ying Shan

Pinduoduo or Meituan? Asset management firm weighs in

Shawn Yang of Blue Lotus Capital Advisors explains which online Chinese retailer is the better pick.

CNBC Pro: Global stocks are soaring. Analysts love these names — giving one over 80% upside

U.S. stocks aren’t the only ones soaring this year.

Some global indexes have followed those gains and climbed.

Analysts are still optimistic about some parts of the U.S. market, but some expect international markets to do better this year.

CNBC Pro screened for stocks in the MSCI World, S&P 500 and the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-U.S. Index Fund for global names with big upside.

The resulting stocks have buy ratings from over 65% of analysts covering them, and average price target upside of at least 30%.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

CNBC Pro: Alibaba and more: Morgan Stanley names 5 global stocks with at least 50% upside

Morgan Stanley expects five of its top Asia stock picks to rise by more than 50% over the next 12 months.

The Wall Street bank is bullish on a set of Asian stocks as the broad MSCI Asia Pacific equities index has entered a new bull market, rising 25% from last October’s low.

Alibaba is the investment bank’s top pick in the China internet sector.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the remaining 4 stocks here.

— Ganesh Rao

Stocks close lower, S&P 500 clings to best week since March

Stocks closed lower on Friday, with the S&P 500 notching its best week since March.

The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 108.94 points, or 0.3%, to close at 34,299.12. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.7% to finish the session at 13,689.57, while the S&P 500 fell 0.4% to close at 4,409.59. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite’s Friday fall broke their six-session winning streaks.

— Brian Evans

Inflation outlook falls sharply in key consumer survey

Consumer inflation expectations tumbled in June, providing support for the Federal Reserve in its battle against rising prices.

The closely watched University of Michigan Survey of Consumers showed that one-year expectations plunged to 3.3%, down from 4.2% the prior month. That’s the lowest level since March 2021.

The headline reading for the survey posted a 63.9 reading, better than the Dow Jones estimate for 60.2 and up from May’s 59.2.

—Jeff Cox

Fed’s Barkin ‘comfortable’ with more hikes if inflation doesn’t improve

Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin said Friday that he would be fine with raising interest rates if inflation doesn’t continue coming down.

“I want to reiterate that 2% inflation is our target, and that I am still looking to be convinced of the plausible story that slowing demand returns inflation relatively quickly to that target. If coming data doesn’t support that story, I’m comfortable doing more,” Barkin said in prepared remarks for a speech in Maryland.

“I recognize that creates the risk of a more significant slowdown, but the experience of the ’70s provides a clear lesson: If you back off inflation too soon, inflation comes back stronger, requiring the Fed to do even more, with even more damage,” he added. “That’s not a risk I want to take.”

Barkin is a nonvoting member this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

— Jeff Cox

Fed’s Waller says inflation fight will continue

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Friday vowed that the central bank would not back down in its efforts to bring down inflation.

“The Fed’s job is to use monetary policy to achieve its dual mandate, and right now that means raising rates to fight inflation,” Waller said in prepared remarks for a speech in Oslo, Norway.

Addressing the banking crisis in March, he rejected the notion that the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes were a cause.

“It is the job of bank leaders to deal with interest rate risk, and nearly all bank leaders have done exactly that. I do not support altering the stance of monetary policy over worries of ineffectual management at a few banks,” he said.

— Jeff Cox

What you need to know today

Stocks’ streak snapped
U.S. stocks fell Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite snapping their six-day winning streak. In contrast, the pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.53% higher. Separately, the yield on the two-year U.K. gilts, or treasury bond, rose to a 15-year high of 4.933% after U.K. economic data came in hotter than expected.

Tesla’s self-driving ambitions
Elon Musk said the value of Tesla depends on whether it can crack the code to self-driving vehicles. In other words, Musk thinks Tesla shares will shoot up once the electric vehicle company perfects autonomous driving technology, which will, in turn, let Tesla owners turn their cars into robotaxis.

Amazon cancels future showcase
Amazon has canceled its re:MARS conference, which showcased developments in futuristic technologies, this year. In last year’s conference, Amazon highlighted its Alexa voice assistant impersonating a deceased relative. There’s no word — dead or alive — whether the event will be resurrected in the future.

Blinken in China
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing yesterday. Blinken’s the highest-level American official to visit China during the Biden administration. His trip was originally scheduled for February, but was postponed after an alleged Chinese spy balloon flew across the U.S.

[PRO] Bull now, bear later
“Bears like us have been wrong,” Bank of America Chief Investment Strategist Michael Hartnett admitted in a note. There are three factors, according to Hartnett, that’ll allow stocks to continue their current rally — though he worries it’ll be a “big rally before big collapse.”

The bottom line

Major U.S. indexes closed lower Friday: The S&P lost 0.37%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.32% and the Nasdaq fell 0.68%. Despite that, both the S&P and Nasdaq have hit their highest level since April 2022, a testament to the rally’s current strength.

Investors have artificial intelligence to thank for those impressive figures. Microsoft, which integrated AI with its products earlier than most other rivals, hit an all-time high of $342.33 per share on Friday after rising more than 43% this year.

This has echoes of the 1990s, when the tech giant’s stock rocketed a ridiculous 9,562% during the decade (!). But that comparison has unwelcome resonances. It was, of course, right before the dot-com bubble burst. By October 2000, Microsoft’s shares were worth less than they were in January 1998.

Now, I’m not suggesting the current AI-led rally’s as fragile. But there are some worrying signs. As CNBC’s Scott Schnipper notes, “It’s not a brighter economic picture or an exuberant earnings outlook pushing stocks higher. It’s momentum and fear of missing out on further gains.”

Still, it looks like the momentum has legs. There’s nothing on the horizon that looks like a “bull trap,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, meaning that markets look poised to rally further, for now.

But some analysts, like BofA’s Hartnett and Savita Subramanian, the bank’s top quantitative strategist, think the S&P will decline from its current levels at the end of the year. Market bulls might yet trip over and exit, pursued by metaphorical bears.

But, according to mounting research, they are also changing our brains for the worst.

And how could they not? The average American checks their smartphone 144 times per day, according to a survey by Reviews.com.

The mere presence of a smartphone can actually reduce the quality of our in-person conversations with others, according to a 2012 study. And extensive social media use can lead to increased feelings of isolation, according to a 2017 study.

If you find yourself reaching for your phone more than you’d like, it might be time to set some boundaries.

In her book “How to Break Up With Your Phone,” Catherine Price goes into actionable practices that can help you curb your phone usage. 

One of those will take you under 60 seconds and doesn’t require you to download any apps or set any limits. All you have to do is change your lock screen. 

‘Simply notice the urge and stay present’

Cutting down on iPhone usage has a lot to do with mindfulness, Price writes in her book. 

Say you catch yourself reaching for your phone mid-dinner. Pay attention to how you’re feeling without judging the feeling. 

“Practicing mindfulness means that instead of trying to fight your urge or criticizing yourself for having it, you simply notice the urge and stay present with it as it unfolds,” she writes. 

You can assess how you’re feeling by asking yourself a few questions, she says: 

• What does the craving feel like in your brain and in your body? 
• Why are you having this particular urge right now? 
• What reward are you hoping to receive, or what discomfort are you trying to avoid? 
• What would happen if you reacted to the impulse? 
• What would happen if you did nothing at all? 

Because being on our phones is so natural, slowing down every time you reach for it might be a challenge. 

That’s where the lock screen comes in. 

“Our lives are what we pay attention to,” Price writes in her book. 

The next time you pick up your smartphone, ask yourself, “What do you want to pay attention to?” 

To help you remember to ask this question, Price suggests writing it down on a piece of paper, taking a picture of it, and setting it as your lock screen. 

“That way, whenever you reach for your phone, you’ll be reminded to check in with yourself first,” she writes.

This takes you less than a minute and can lead to healthier phone habits that will allow you to keep the convenience a smartphone brings and hopefully shave off some of the more negative effects.

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Several Republican 2024 presidential hopefuls criticized Donald Trump Sunday as the former president faces 37 federal counts for allegedly hoarding documents after he left the White House.

Trump has lashed out at his critics — including members of his former staff — in the wake of his indictment, calling his former Attorney General Bill Barr a “Gutless Pig” and his former chief of staff John Kelly “weak” with a “VERY small ‘brain.'”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who announced his bid for president earlier this month, said Trump’s comments suggest he is the “worst manager in the history of the American presidency.”

“He’s a petulant child when someone disagrees with him,” Christie told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.

Presidential hopeful and former Vice President Mike Pence said it is “premature” to say whether or not he would pardon Trump were he to be convicted. Pence said Wednesday he could not defend the criminal allegations against Trump, but added Sunday that he does not know why many Republicans are presuming he will be found guilty.

“All we know is what the president has been accused of in the indictment,” Pence told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. “It is saddening to me that we are now in this moment.”

Pence questioned Trump’s commitment to conservative principles, stating that he is “walking away” from his stance on abortion and that his position on the national debt is “identical” to that of President Joe Biden.

He added he had hoped Trump would “come around” to accepting the results of the 2020 election, which Trump has repeatedly claimed was stolen.

“No one who puts himself over the Constitution should ever be president of the United States,” Pence said.

Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas who is also a presidential hopeful, said he doubted Trump’s ability to pardon himself if he were reelected.

“I’m doubtful of it. I don’t think that’s what the Constitution intends in giving the president pardon power,” Hutchinson said on ABC’s “This Week,” later adding that, though a self-pardon would be “inappropriate” and “unseemly,” doing so is “exactly what (Trump) would intend if he got elected president.”

Hutchinson also said he would not accept the Republican National Committee’s pledge to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee as a condition of participating on the debate stage.

“I’m not going to support — just like other voters are not going to support — somebody for president who is under indictment that is potentially convicted at that time,” said the Arkansas Republican.

But Trump had a supporter on Sunday in Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy who has said the former president should be pardoned if convicted. The biopharma entrepreneur called for dismantling institutions like the Federal Bureau of Investigation over so-called “political viewpoints.”

The agency is “a formula for corruption,” Ramaswamy said on “Fox News Sunday,” for allegedly threatening Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights era or “going after political conservatives” like Trump.

“This is about standing up for principles over politics,” he said.

Chipotle is used to customers coming into its restaurants and taking a moment to decide between a bowl, burrito, or salad, or which protein or veggie they want to fill it. The chain is also hoping customers take a moment when they leave the restaurant to ensure they’re putting their garbage in the right trash receptacle, aiding Chipotle’s composting and recycling efforts.

In 2022, Chipotle diverted 49% of its overall waste from landfills, totaling more than 196,000 tons, according to the company’s sustainability report. Composting has been a key part of that for Chipotle, and the fast-casual restaurant chain is expanding that focus this year. In 2023, Chipotle has set a goal to institute composting programs in at least 23% more restaurants, or approximately 234 additional locations. Roughly 32% of Chipotle’s more than 3,200 restaurants composted in 2022, according to its sustainability report.

The focus on waste reduction is being pursued alongside other environmental, social, and governance goals, such as upping the purchase of local produce and improving the retention rate for diverse employees in certain positions. The company’s focus on these issues is reflected in executive compensation being linked to the goals, with the annual incentive bonuses of executives including CEO Brian Niccol positively or negatively impacted by up to 15%. This is the third year in a row that Chipotle has set ESG-related executive compensation goals, and it has shifted the specific environmental target to composting after a previous focus on reducing Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5% — it achieved a 13% reduction compared to 2019, the company said.

With plans to open more than 250 new restaurants a year, Laurie Schalow, Chipotle chief corporate affairs and food safety officer, said that reducing waste is a key strategy and Chipotle wants to “build that muscle” across the organization. The easiest time to set a restaurant up for composting is when it is built, she said, with retrofitting of existing restaurants a more difficult task.

All of the waste that goes into making food at Chipotle, and all the leftovers, are compostable, as well as many of the company’s items, like burrito bowls, bags, napkins and quesadilla trays. Chipotle has been able to solve some of the traditional issues that kept other products from being composted or recycled. For example, inside paper cups there is a plastic lining that allows it to hold liquids. Chipotle worked with its suppliers to source a bioplastic that allows the cup to be compostable, said Lisa Shibata, director of sustainability at Chipotle.

Other items have been harder to solve for, Shibata said, like the small plastic portion cups that you use to put salsa in. While the company has found some fiber-based products that can hold those liquids, it’s not up to the company’s standards yet, she said. Chipotle has also looked to replace some of its forks with fiber-based forks, Shibata said, but it has found that alternatives don’t pick up the food as well as its existing forks just yet.

“We’ve been working on different product designs so we can really give the customer experience and user experience that we would like to, along with that alternative material that will help us reduce the amount of landfill waste,” she said.

Composting regulation and infrastructure are hurdles

Another challenge has been dealing with local regulations around composting and recycling. In certain jurisdictions, compostable products have to be fiber-based, while in others plant-based compostable products are accepted. There is no overarching national law or regulation around composting in the U.S. Frank Franciosi, executive director of the U.S. Composting Council, says the industry is not only one that is regulated differently by almost every state and local jurisdiction, but is also very reliant on what local composting businesses do.

Much of composting is still focused on yard waste rather than food waste, Franciosi said, and he estimates there are around 2,500 composting facilities in the U.S. that don’t include just leaf dumps or other yard waste depositories. There are currently two bills focused on composting across the U.S., one that would fund composting infrastructure and the other to provide better data on composting and recycling facilities, with Franciosi saying that latter issue is perhaps one of the reasons there hasn’t been as much focus on the industry.

“The EPA tracks a lot of stuff, the USDA tracks a lot of stuff. Nobody tracks compost, and recycling is in the same boat,” he said. “No one really knows how much we recycle here in the U.S., it’s just stupid.”

Infrastructure is key for Chipotle, Shibata said, as there are many Chipotle restaurants in areas where there is no facility that can compost certain items. She sees more jurisdictions pushing in the direction of more composting, and said that a focus from companies like Chipotle on composting will help generate momentum. “There’s more economic value for [waste management] companies to offer composting,” she said.

But as much as Chipotle can do to make its products compostable and work with stakeholders to be more compost friendly, it also needs to make sure customers do their part. Recently, the company’s board was presented with an update on sustainability efforts and the topic of how customers sort their garbage was brought up, Schalow said.

“We think it’s simple because we put a picture, so if you see a fork, you put your fork in that spot, but people are in a hurry,” she said. “We know there is work we could do to educate consumers.”

Companies like Chipotle, where executives put their money on the line for waste reduction, can help shift the consumer mindset, Schalow said. But some of that education will come as composting efforts across the U.S. grow. The New York City Council recently voted to make composting of food scraps mandatory for all residents starting 2024, though that’s well behind efforts on the West Coast, where cities including San Francisco and Seattle have had similar requirements for over a decade.

“Companies setting goals around waste reduction will have a big impact on consumers,” she said. But she added that the adoption of composting as a residential behavior will be key. As composting becomes a task people do at home, “more people will be cognizant of it and want to do the right thing and take the extra step and go ‘this item belongs in this bin,’ versus putting the whole tray into one,” she said.

As a health and wellness reporter, I’ve noticed that people can’t help but feel drawn to articles about happiness. It’s something that we all want to know more about and experience as much as possible. After all, happiness seems to be very helpful in boosting our chances of living longer lives.

But most of us struggle to understand how to maintain it — a dilemma that this Harvard course will hopefully shed some light on.

The online module is free of charge for audit only, until March 27, 2024, and receiving a verified certificate from the university will cost you $229. It’s a self-paced course, but must be completed within six weeks if you don’t want to lose access to its materials and the progress you’ve made.

And at week one, I already have so many questions.

Here’s what I hope to learn from Harvard’s free happiness course

The course’s tagline is “Happiness is within your control. Write your own ending,” which sparked this major question for me and it’s one I’m sure we all have: Are we completely in control of our own happiness?

Other questions I’m hoping to have answered, or at least gain more insight on, by the end of my six-week stint as a “Harvard student” are:

• How often should we experience happiness?
• Is it realistic to expect to feel happy all of the time?
• How do we prioritize happiness without falling into the realm of toxic positivity?
• If our happiness is connected to our experiences, especially with those around us, how can we protect it when dealing with difficult people?
• How can we cultivate happiness during tough times in our lives?

I look forward to sharing what the course has taught me, and hopefully get some answers to these questions I have. And who knows? Maybe I’ll even be a bit happier in the end.

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• The ‘Harvard diet’ may be the standard for living a long and healthy life—here’s what to know
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In recent decades, data from sports researchers revealed an encouraging trend: young girls were participating in sports in greater numbers. But the research also uncovered a big missed opportunity. Girls drop out of sports at “alarming rates,” specifically when they hit puberty.

There is one obvious solution that sports retail giant Nike CEO John Donahoe, and many others, think can make a big difference: more female coaches.

In the historically male-dominated world of sports, girls and women have always had to fight for their right to compete and to be viewed as competitive athletes. The sexism that has prevented girls from competing in sports has also prevented women from becoming youth coaches.

“I think league administrators are kind of trained to look for dads to coach and think more often the dads are going to be the ones to step up and do it. I think sometimes they may not even be trying to recruit females,” said Mary Fry, professor and director of the University of Kansas Sport & Exercise Psychology Lab.

Nearly 75% of youth head coaches are men, according to Aspen Institute’s Project Play. Even when women are offered the opportunity to coach, they are fearful that they’re not good enough to take on such a position because of the sexist stereotypes society often promotes.

When Jen Welter, the first-ever female NFL coach and a two-time gold medalist in Olympic football, was offered the opportunity to coach football for the first time, she recalled instinctively thinking “girls don’t do that.”

“When you don’t see it, it’s really hard to say, ‘You know what, I can do that,'” Welter said.

“Most young people rarely, if ever, get the opportunity to be coached by a woman. This is a miss for all,” said Vanessa Garcia-Brito, Nike vice president, and chief social and community impact officer. “To get girls active and invite them into a lifetime of sport, they have to see it to believe it – and that starts with more female coaches.”

In March, Nike launched Coaching HER in a partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport. The digital coaching resource is designed to help coaches of all genders improve their understanding of gendered bias and discrimination in sports.

Puberty changes girls’ relationship with sport

Female coaches are not just important in terms of giving young girls a positive role model – they also offer a safe space to discuss and process the difficulties that can come with a young woman’s changing body and mind. Even for girls who grew up loving sports, puberty shifts girls’ relationship with sports and very often results in them disengaging with physical activity.

The data related to this critical period in a girl’s life is clear. One in three girls participate in a sport from age 6-12, according to the Aspen Institute. But nearly one in two girls will quit sports during puberty, according to menstrual product manufacturer Always.

Research from a 2018 report by Tucker Center, Nike’s partner, gathered data globally and found that the highest rate of drop-off from girls in sports often occurs between the ages of 11 to 17, “the range when girls feel the most pressured to conform to identities shaped by their peers and adults — which includes coaches,” its report states, and it concluded that how girls feels about their coaches is a determining factor in whether they continue to play organized sports.

The Women’s Sports Foundation, created by Billie Jean King, has found that 40% of teen girls are not actively participating in a sport.

“For boys, that moving through puberty can be kind of a plus, you gain more muscle mass, and you get taller, stronger. For girls, it’s just not always the same case,” Fry said. “They’re kind of in survival mode in middle school.”

There are both physical and psychological dimensions to the problem, namely, periods and low body confidence as barriers preventing girls from continuing in sports, according to Youth Sport Trust CEO Alison Oliver. As girls’ bodies change throughout puberty, they become increasingly insecure and physical activity begins to feel different. The charity Women in Sport found that 65% of girls don’t like others watching them during sports, as it makes them feel self-conscious, vulnerable, and objectified. What’s more, seven in 10 girls avoid being active when on their period.

Coaches are critical agents that impact girls’ experiences in sports, according to the Women’s Sports Foundation, and if a girl isn’t properly supported or understood by their coach in a time as daunting as puberty, they’re going to be discouraged to compete. For example, most of the time, girls are not educated on or fitted for proper sports bras, making participating in sports painful.

“If you started to feel uncomfortable as a female athlete … it’d be pretty tough to go to a male coach about some of those things,” Welter said.

“These bonds that develop between a coach or a mentor and the kids is just so much bigger than just the physical activity part of it,” Fry said. “They have women in their lives they can bounce things off of, they can trust.”

Fry co-founded the Strong Girls program at the University of Kansas, where young girls are assigned a female college student as their mentor. Half of the program focuses on participating in sports together, while the other half concentrates on positive youth development. The program typically attracts girls who tend to be less athletic and creates a safe environment where they feel encouraged by female mentors to participate in sports that they normally wouldn’t pursue.

“Girls and women can’t have enough strong women in their lives. We just benefit from that,” said Fry, who is director of the program.

Female coaches were fundamental to both the success and enjoyment of sports for Christina Collins, a former youth athlete who later became a coach. “I had female coaches, as well as male, of course, and it [had] such an impact on me to realize that it was an option for me to grow up and do that. And I felt like I definitely connected with them at a deeper level than I might have [with] male coaches that I had,” said Collins, who is now a physical education and health teacher in Westchester County, and a professor in the physical education masters program at Manhattanville College.  

Female coaches, she says, can offer unique insight based upon their own personal experiences as women. “[My identity] has impacted the way in which I deliver all coaching. It is meant to increase first and foremost the child’s confidence, then second, their performance ability,” said Collins, who also is founder and owner of NeverStopMoving365, a company that seeks to use sports and physical activity to promote confidence and teach life lessons. 

She says this approach isn’t only benefit to girls, but extends to youth athletes of all genders, and female coaches as well. 

Nike’s 20,000 female coach goal

Nike is one of the few major companies directly addressing this issue. Corporations from Target to Disney and Bank of America are being targeted for taking a stand on social issues in the current divisive political climate. Donahoe, who made his comments on the issue of girls’ sports participation rate at the recent CNBC CEO Council Summit in Santa Barbara, California, said that he believes Disney CEO Bob Iger is handling the feud with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis properly, and he pointed to Nike’s efforts in girls’ youth sports as another example of how a company can focus on social issues that are core to its values and integral to its brand.

“We’re trying to train 20,000 female coaches, moms and other former athletes to be coaches to promote youth,” Donahoe said. “So that’s less of a controversial issue, but it’s one we care about as a value,” he said. 

Nike also has an aim to achieve 50% girl participation in the sport-based community programs it supports by 2025.

As a former athlete, Collins says there are lifelong benefits that come when young women and girls remain involved with sports and feel supported.  

“I don’t use the actual sports as my primary form of fitness, or just the sports skills in general at all. But I pull from my toolkit of life lessons that athletics taught me,” she said. 

Coaching HER encourages all coaches, regardless of gender, to give girls the chance to continue developing their character and learning life lessons from sport, and offers detailed training for coaches on how to lead girls and young women in sports.

“It’s not just women, for women. It’s women and men working together to elevate girls. That’s one of the key components. How do we work better together?” Welter said.

Small businesses are facing an onslaught of ads, phone calls and emails to help them claim a pandemic-era tax credit. However, experts urge business owners to review eligibility with a qualified tax professional.

The tax break — known as the employee retention credit, or ERC — was enacted in 2020 to support small businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, worth up to $5,000 per employee for 2020 or $28,000 per employee in 2021.

While the credit applies to tax year 2020 or 2021, business owners still have time to amend returns and claim the credit, which has sparked a flood of ads from companies offering to help.

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“The calls and solicitations are brutal,” said certified financial planner Craig Hausz, CEO and managing partner at CMH Advisors in Dallas. He is also a certified public accountant. “Our clients are getting a ton of these and it’s just bombarding them.”

While Hausz’s company has completed at least 100 amended filings for clients to claim the employee retention credit, it has also informed clients when they don’t qualify.

“ERC mills” have popped up, charging small businesses up to 25% to 30% of the credit received, said Kristin Esposito, director for tax policy and advocacy for the American Institute of CPAs.

“There’s a huge monetary incentive,” she said.

Esposito said ERC mills may promise business owners they qualify or calculate a larger credit than owners were told by their CPA. “It’s really put a strain on a lot of client relationships,” she said.

After warning business owners about “third parties” promoting the employee retention credit in October, the IRS added the issue to its annual list of “Dirty Dozen” tax scams for 2023.

“While the credit has provided a financial lifeline to millions of businesses, there are promoters misleading people and businesses into thinking they can claim these credits,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a March statement. 

How to qualify for the employee retention credit

One of the challenges of claiming the employee retention credit is complexity, with rules having changed between 2020 and 2021, according to Hausz.

The credit was enacted to keep workers on payroll during the quarters affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. While eligibility was initially from March 13 through Dec. 31, 2020, the timeline was extended through the third quarter of 2021 for most businesses.

To qualify in 2020, businesses needed a government-mandated full or partial shutdown, or a “significant decline” in revenue, according to the IRS, with “less than 50% of gross receipts,” compared with the same calendar quarter in 2019. For 2021, the revenue thresholds dropped to “less than 80% of the same quarter” in 2019.

“We’ve done some for clients that had shutdowns, and we’ve done some that had revenue decreases,” which is easier to calculate, Hausz said.

Further, the credit was expanded from 2020 to 2021, originally covering 50% of qualified wages (limited to $10,000 annually per employee), for a maximum credit of $5,000 per employee in 2020. For 2021, the credit jumped to 70% of wages ($10,000 quarterly per employee), worth up to $7,000 per quarter or $28,000 per year.

Why it’s important to work with a tax professional

One of the difficulties of retroactively claiming the employee retention credit is business owners also must amend other returns, Esposito said.

While the process begins with Form 941-X — the adjusted payroll tax return — the changes flow down to business and personal income tax returns, “creating a cascade effect,” she said.

Hausz said the “big issue” with newer companies claiming to help businesses get this single credit is that they might not sign the amended returns, in order to skirt future liability. “Do not file this unless the people helping you are willing to put their name on the filing as the paid preparer,” he warned.

In the March statement, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel warned that taxpayers are “ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the information on their tax return” and the agency is stepping up enforcement for these claims.

Hausz added that taxpayers should “go talk to a qualified professional,” such as a CPA, enrolled agent, tax attorney or financial advisor. “There are literally hundreds of firms that I know personally that would do the credit and sign their name on it.”

On this episode of “Now Boarding” Leslie and Erin discuss turbulence: what causes it, whether it’s getting worse and why it’s usually nothing to worry about. While serious injuries from turbulence are rare, it’s always important to follow crew safety instructions.

A lot has changed in the four years since one of the aviation industry’s biggest air shows was held in person.

The Covid-19 pandemic devastated travel demand, the aviation industry shed thousands of experienced workers and roller coaster appetites for new jets wreaked havoc on production rates of new planes.

After all that, the Paris Air Show — a trade event where companies get a chance to showcase new technology, commercial and military aircraft, and strike deals — returns on Monday during a surge in air travel demand, with airlines starving for jets to feed it. The question is whether Boeing, Airbus and their numerous suppliers can catch up.

“That’s creating pressure on the order books — it’s creating upward momentum on used aircraft lease rates and forcing airlines to make compromises,” said Andy Cronin, CEO of aircraft-leasing firm Avolon.

Aviation analytics firm IBA estimated last week that there could be orders for about 2,100 planes during the show as airlines replace older aircraft and prepare for future growth in air travel.

Over the past year, Boeing has logged large orders or preliminary agreements from customers including United Airlines, Saudia and new Saudi carrier Riyadh Air. Air India’s massive order earlier this year included both Boeing and Airbus jets.

Turkish Airlines’ chairman told reporters last month that the carrier is planning to order around 600 aircraft, both wide-body and narrow-body planes. The order would be the largest ever for a single airline, though it isn’t clear whether that would come together in time for the show.

IBA’s chief economist, Stuart Hatcher, wrote in a June 15 forecast that Delta Air Lines, Malaysia Airlines and Air France-KLM could be buyers, but the timing isn’t yet certain. Air Baltic could also look to expand its Airbus A220 fleet, he said.

“It might still be too early to call any Chinese expansion yet given the political climate, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see top-up orders coming through,” Hatcher wrote.

The major challenge for manufacturers now is increasing production. Slots for narrow-body jets, such as Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s, are sold out for years. Now that long-haul travel is returning, some airlines could also be looking to expand their fleets of larger, long-range jets.

But customers around the world have been forced to wait longer than expected for new planes as Boeing, Airbus and a web of suppliers around the world try to ramp up output. That has limited airline capacity, keeping airfares high.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told CNBC last week that he expects supply chain issues to last into 2025.

Boeing and Airbus are scrambling to raise production rates for the coming years to meet that demand.

The production delays have also driven up rates to lease both new and older planes as airlines search for other opportunities to boost flights.

New Boeing 737 Max 8 planes are leasing for about $350,000 a month in July, up from $305,000 in January 2020 as the pandemic was beginning, IBA estimates. New Airbus 320s are going for $355,000, up from $325,000 over that period. Older versions are close to pre-pandemic levels.

“People just want their jets,” said Richard Aboulafia managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory.

TipRanks recognized the 10 best analysts in the industrial goods sector who edged past their peers with their stock picking and delivered noteworthy returns through their recommendations. 

TipRanks used its Experts Center tool to find the analysts sporting a high success rate. We analyzed every recommendation by analysts in the space over the past 10 years.  TipRanks’ algorithms calculated the statistical significance of each rating, analysts’ overall success rate, and the average return. Further, these recommendations were measured over one year. 

Top 10 analysts from the consumer goods sector

The image below shows the most successful Wall Street analysts from the industrial goods sector. 

1. Kenneth Herbert – RBC Capital

 Kenneth Herbert tops the list. Herbert has an overall success rate of 64%. His best rating has been on Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS), a defense contractor. His buy call on DRS stock from April 2, 2020 to April 02, 2021, generated a sharp return of 244.5%. 

2. Stephen Volkmann – Jefferies

Stephen Volkmann is second on the list with a success rate of 68%. Volkmann’s top recommendation is Parker Hannifin (NYSE:PH), a company specializing in motion and control technologies. The analyst generated a profit of 166.4% through his buy recommendation on PH stock from March 27, 2020 to March 27, 2021. 

 3. Seth Weber – Wells Fargo 

Wells Fargo analyst Seth Weber ranks No. 3 on the list. Weber has a success rate of 66%. His best recommendation has been on Herc Holdings (NYSE:HRI), an equipment rental firm. The analyst generated a return of 359.5% through a buy recommendation on HRI from April 17, 2020 to April 17, 2021. 

4. Benoit Poirier – Desjardins

Benoit Poirier bags the fourth spot on the list. The analyst has a 67% overall success rate. Poirier’s best recommendation has been on TFI International (TSE:TFII), a transportation and logistics company. The analyst generated a profit of 215.20% through his buy recommendation on Tifi stock from April 22, 2020 to April 22, 2021.

5. Keith Hughes – Truist Financial

Fifth-place analyst Keith Hughes has a success rate of 62%. His best recommendation is Builders FirstSource (NYSE:BLDR), a leading supplier of building materials. The analyst delivered a profit on this stock of 284.6% from April 16, 2020 to April 16, 2021.  

6. Stanley Elliott – Stifel Nicolaus

Taking the sixth position is Stanley Elliott. The analyst sports a 69% success rate. Elliott’s top recommendation was for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), a leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment. Through the buy call on CAT stock, the analyst generated a solid return of 149.3% from March 16, 2020 to March 16, 2021. 

7. Andrew Kaplowitz – Citi

Citigroup analyst Andrew Kaplowitz is seventh on this list, with a success rate of 65%. Kaplowitz’s best call has been a buy on the shares of Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM), a warehouse automation company. The recommendation generated a return of 300% from November 22, 2022 to today. 

8. Julian Mitchell – Barclays

In the eighth position is Julian Mitchell of Barclays. Mitchell has an overall success rate of 66%. The analyst’s top recommendation was for an intelligent climate and energy solutions provider, Carrier Global (NYSE:CARR). Through the buy call, the analyst generated a solid return of 145.4% from May 11, 2020 to May 11, 2021. 

9. Gautam Khanna — TD Cowen

Gautam Khanna ranks ninth on the list. The analyst sports a 68% success rate. His top call was made on Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), a company that creates infrastructure and building safety solutions. The buy recommendation generated a return of 134.8% from May 14, 2020 to May 14, 2021. 

10. Christopher Glynn – Oppenheimer

Christopher Glynn has the 10th spot on the list, with a success rate of 60%. Glynn’s best call has been a buy on shares of Generac (NYSE:GNRC), an energy technology company providing advanced power grid software solutions and backup and prime power systems. The recommendation generated a return of 284.2% from March 23, 2020 to March 23, 2021. 

Bottom line

Investors could follow the ratings of top analysts to make an informed investment decision. We will return soon with the top 10 analysts of the past decade in the Utilities sector. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing on a high-stakes diplomatic mission to cool U.S.-China tensions that have overshadowed geopolitics in recent months.

The trip by Blinken makes him the highest-level American official to visit China since Joe Biden became U.S. president and the first U.S. secretary of state to make the trip in nearly five years.

Blinken had “candid, substantive, and constructive talks” with Qin, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said in a statement Sunday. He raised concerns as well as “opportunities to explore cooperation,” and he emphasized the importance of open communication, according to the statement.

“The Secretary made clear that the United States will always stand up for the interests and values of the American people and work with its allies and partners to advance our vision for a world that is free, open, and upholds the international rules-based order,” the spokesperson said.

Blinken invited Qin to the U.S. to continue discussions, and the spokesperson said the pair agreed to schedule a visit at a “mutually suitable time.” Blinken will continue to meet with Chinese officials in Beijing Monday.

His original travel plans for February were disrupted by news of an alleged Chinese spy balloon flying over U.S. airspace. The U.S. ultimately shot down the alleged spy balloon, and tensions between the world’s two largest economies have since remained tense. Beijing insisted the balloon was an unnamed weather tracker that blew off course.

Blinken was set to have a working dinner later Sunday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse with Qin, who was previously China’s ambassador to the U.S. Some reports suggest there may also be a meeting with President Xi Jinping on Monday during Blinken’s two-day visit.

Expectations for a significant recovery in the U.S.-China relationship, especially as a result of Blinken’s trip, remain low. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement last week that Blinken will discuss the importance of maintaining open lines of communication and will “raise bilateral issues of concern, global and regional matters, and potential cooperation on shared transnational challenges.”

At the annual Shangri-La Dialogue event in Singapore earlier this month, the U.S. defense chief and his Chinese counterpart didn’t have a formal meeting. And more broadly, international travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic limited contact between the U.S. and Chinese governments.

In August, a controversial visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, fueled Beijing’s ire. Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory, with no right to conduct diplomatic relations on its own. The U.S. recognizes Beijing as the sole legal government of China, while maintaining unofficial relations with the island, a democratically self-governed region.

Biden’s visit to Beijing could also possibly pave the way for a November meeting between Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi — their first since Bali in November, a day before a G-20 summit kicked off.

In late May, the U.S. commerce secretary and her Chinese counterpart met in Washington, D.C. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is also expected to visit China at an unspecified time.

China’s new ambassador to the U.S., Xie Feng, arrived in the U.S. in late May after a period of about six months with no one in that position. Biden said around the same time that he expected U.S.-China tensions would “begin to thaw very shortly.”

A potential opportunity for Biden and Xi to meet again would be in November, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit that’s set to be held in San Francisco.