FirstFT: Joe Biden says People have to decide on between ‘unity and division’

Good morning. We have now updates on yesterday’s dangerous day for US shares and a deep dive into Canary Wharf’s challenges.

However first we head to Washington, the place Joe Biden has simply given a uncommon nationwide tackle from the Oval Workplace. The US president framed his resolution to “pass the torch” as a bid to save lots of democracy, saying: “I revere this office, but I love my country more.”

In his first public remarks since saying he wouldn’t search a second time period, Biden additionally praised vice-president Kamala Harris, who is ready to face Donald Trump on the polls in November.

“America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division,” he mentioned.

Biden additionally vowed to press forward together with his home and overseas coverage agenda, together with calling for important reforms to the US Supreme Courtroom, throughout his remaining six months within the White Home. Right here’s extra from his speech.

• Politics and M&A: Dealmakers are reconsidering their electoral methods, with Harris seen as doubtlessly extra reasonable on antitrust insurance policies than Trump’s populist working mate, JD Vance.

• Bidenomics: The president’s industrial intervention and import tariffs will most likely proceed below Harris if she wins in November, writes Alan Beattie.

Biden will meet Benjamin Netanyahu later right now after the Israeli chief’s controversial tackle on Capitol Hill — scroll down for extra particulars. Harris will meet Netanyahu individually after lacking the joint session of Congress yesterday. And right here’s what else I’m holding tabs on:

• Financial information: The US stories second-quarter GDP, whereas the Institute for Fiscal Research publishes its report on UK dwelling requirements, poverty and inequality.

• G20: Finance ministers and central financial institution governors start a two-day assembly in Rio de Janeiro.

• Outcomes: Anglo American, Lloyds Banking Group, British American Tobacco AstraZeneca, Nasdaq, Nestlé, Northrop Grumman and Unilever report outcomes, whereas BT Group has a buying and selling replace.

5 extra prime tales

1. US inventory indices recorded their worst day in additional than 18 months yesterday after lacklustre outcomes from index heavyweights Tesla and Alphabet deepened a know-how sector sell-off. The blue-chip S&P 500 fell 2.3 per cent, its worst day since December 2022, whereas the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 3.6 per cent, its worst day since October 2022. Right here’s why analysts warn “the macro picture appears to be cracking”.

2. Unique: Citigroup inaccurately reported to regulators the small print of tens of billions of {dollars} of loans, errors that would complicate its skill to fund dividends and buybacks. The flawed mortgage information had been a major purpose regulators slapped the Wall Avenue financial institution with a $136mn wonderful this month and has broken the financial institution’s shut relationship with McKinsey, mentioned folks with direct information of the matter.

3. Buyers and bankers are lining as much as elevate billions of {dollars} for brand new particular objective acquisition firms, defying predictions the asset class can be worn out after a sequence of scandals and a regulatory crackdown. New information exhibits fundraising has been bettering slowly this yr, rising about 20 per cent over the identical interval in 2023 to $3.1bn. Learn the complete story.

4. Benjamin Netanyahu urged the US to face with Israel in a speech to a joint session of Congress that was boycotted by numerous Democrats and drew 1000’s of protesters to the streets close to the Capitol. The Israeli prime minister defended his nation’s struggle in Gaza and laid out a postwar imaginative and prescient for the enclave. Right here’s extra from his speech.

• Opinion: Israel’s occupation wants to finish, however the area’s issues will not be magically resolved if and when Palestine features statehood, writes Kim Ghattas.

5. The UK’s fledgling state-owned power firm will concentrate on offshore wind energy and different clear know-how tasks, working with the Crown Property. Ministers declare the partnership will assist leverage as much as £60bn of personal funding for GB Power, which is because of be arrange within the coming months below new laws. Listed here are extra particulars on the Labour authorities’s plan.

Visible story

Canary Wharf is coming into a brand new period. Hundreds of thousands of sq. ft of London workplace area is turning into accessible as massive tenants depart and landlords face a world of hybrid work. The crux of the problem isn’t just the vacant area, however the variety of buildings which are on account of empty out over the subsequent few years. Our newest visible story explores how Europe’s best-known workplace district will adapt — and at what price.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• The Texas miracle: The US state has attracted tons of of firms with its low-tax, light-touch method, however the strains are beginning to present.

• ‘Heatflation’: Companies are counting the associated fee of mitigating the consequences of local weather change on their workforce, and never all of them will be capable of afford it, writes Leo Lewis.

• Struggle in Ukraine: With Russian assaults decreasing electrical energy to some hours a day, Ukrainians are stripping out Tesla batteries to maintain the lights on.

Chart of the day

Economists and officers count on the Olympics to contribute to an growth in France’s output this yr. However forward of the Video games, vacationers and ticket holders have but to make up for an exodus of locals, with brasseries, outlets and different small companies in Paris affected by a sharp drop in gross sales as footfall dwindles.

Take a break from the information

In Macau, the affect of former colonial ruler Portugal is in all the pieces from the authorized system to the territory’s black-and-white cobbled streets. However because the on line casino metropolis approaches the twenty fifth anniversary of its handover to China, its Lusophone inhabitants faces a new set of challenges, writes William Langley.

Extra contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and David Hindley