Rolls-Royce reported underlying profit before tax of £2.5bn for the first half of 2026, up 48% year on year, as revenue rose by £2bn to £11.3bn. The company raised its full-year outlook for underlying operating profit to £4.7bn-£4.9bn and lifted its free cash flow forecast to £3.8bn-£4.0bn. It said the results reflected a sustained recovery in its civil aerospace business and progress in its turnaround efforts. The FTSE 100 was flat as markets digested the Federal Reserve holding interest rates and Iran’s military action.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed annual CPI inflation eased to 3.8% in June from 4%, while the core CPI annual rate rose to 3.6% but remained below the Reserve Bank of Australia’s prior 3.8% forecast. The figures weakened expectations that the RBA will raise rates at its 11 August policy meeting. The data also offered support to the Australian dollar and long-dated government bond prices. Housing construction costs, however, rose 5.8% year on year, the fastest pace in three years, pointing to lingering price pressure in parts of the economy.

Canadian residents spent $18.8bn travelling to the US in 2025, down $3.3bn from 2024, a 15% decline and the second-largest annual drop since records began in 1972. Over the same period, spending on overseas travel excluding the US rose by $3.6bn to $22.8bn, while visits to Europe and Asia increased by 14% and 17%. The figures indicate that policy shifts after Donald Trump returned to office weighed on cross-border travel demand, adding pressure to US services exports and related macro indicators.

TSMC’s higher capital spending outlook sent its shares down 5.26% in a single session, adding to selling pressure in tech after Netflix results missed expectations. Japan’s Nikkei has fallen more than 12% in less than a month, pushing it toward technical correction territory. Brent crude rose above $85 a barrel, stoking inflation and rate-hike worries, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has slumped 18.91% in nearly three weeks, nearing bear-market levels.

Australia’s latest government energy report says tighter global supply and a surge in LNG prices followed the shutdown of Qatari LNG facilities linked to the Middle East conflict. It lifted its forecast for Australia’s LNG export earnings in 2026–27 to A$67.6bn, up A$21bn from the projection published in December, and also revised last financial year’s earnings up by A$6bn. The upgraded outlook has intensified domestic pressure to introduce a gas export tax, but no new measure has been adopted so far.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to dismantle Russian military communications relay stations near the Belarus-Ukraine border within a week, or Ukraine would do so itself. He said the stations in two Belarusian regions bordering Ukraine were being used by Russian forces to support attacks on Ukrainian civilians. Zelenskyy also alleged Belarus’s oil refining industry had become a major supplier for Moscow, including the Russian army, and said Lukashenko could stop it. The remarks highlight Belarus’s role in Russia’s war logistics and raise the prospect of cross-border action that could disrupt regional energy infrastructure and fuel supply.