‼️ 🇬🇧 BREAKING: UK government borrowing rose in July from a year earlier, with a budget deficit of £1.8 billion, up £0.7 billion from the month in 2025 and exceeding economist estimates for no change.
‼️ 🇯🇵 Japan’s August flash PMIs strengthened across the board: manufacturing rose to 55.1, services to 52.3, and the composite PMI edged up to 53.4 from 52.7 in July.
‼️ 🇯🇵 BREAKING: Japan’s headline inflation accelerated to 1.9% in July 2026—the highest this year—as energy costs rose for the first time since November 2025 amid the Iran war, despite government subsidies. Core inflation (excluding fresh food but including energy) was 1.8%, in line with expectations, while “core-core” inflation (excluding both fresh food and energy) also came in at 1.9%. Wholesale inflation surged to 7.2%, driven largely by higher electricity charges, and fresh food prices spiked 7% year-over-year, up from 3.9% in June.