Daily Digest — 2 Jul 2026

The US decision not to renew the USMCA trade pact with Canada and Mexico opens the door for renegotiations, as President Trump targets America’s trade deficits with both neighbours. That uncertainty weighed on commodity markets, with copper slipping 0.3% and silver falling 1%, though oil steadied at $⁠68 after a 0.8% decline. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh told the ECB Forum that inflation remains “too high” but declined to hint at July’s rate decision, keeping the dollar firm against the euro and yen. In the UK, a proposed US-UK drug deal could cause 229,000 excess deaths in England, according to new analysis, as the NHS braces for the cost of placating Washington over medicine exports.

Crypto markets saw a broad rally — Bitcoin climbed 3.1% to $⁠60,373, Ethereum rose 3.3%, and Solana surged 6.1% — driven by fresh institutional momentum. Ethereum’s ecosystem launched an “Ethereum Institutional” initiative backed by major ecosystem players, and the Ethereum Foundation released a policy guide urging governments to distinguish between decentralised public blockchains and corporate-controlled networks. Robinhood also rolled out its own public blockchain and expanded tokenised stock access to 120+ countries, blurring the line between traditional finance and crypto.

In tech, Italian SaaS acquirer Bending Spoons surged 40% on its first trading day after an $⁠18 billion IPO, defying the broader software slump by reviving legacy brands like AOL and Evernote. WhatsApp’s new username feature is already raising impersonation concerns, with critics questioning Meta’s safeguards. On the geopolitical front, the US signed a $⁠1 lease with Israel to build a permanent embassy in West Jerusalem, a move that reinforces Washington’s position on the city’s status. Separately, the US Supreme Court handed wealthy donors more influence in a ruling critics say invites corruption.

Elsewhere, the World Cup knockout stage continues: England’s Harry Kane produced a dramatic rescue act against DR Congo in Atlanta, while Iran’s football team was welcomed home after their tournament exit. In a harrowing report, Afghan migrants told the BBC that Turkish police beat them with iron rods before they lost limbs to frostbite while trying to reach Europe. And in Venezuela, the aunt of two-year-old Kleiber Moran — pulled from rubble six days after deadly earthquakes — promised to give him “a mother’s warmth”. Commodities closed mixed: coffee leaped 6.1%, gold eased 0.7% to $⁠4,055, and wheat and corn were flat.