Daily Digest — 3 Jul 2026

Global markets are bracing for a mixed open today as a sustained rotation out of technology stocks weighs on sentiment across Asia and the US. The US labor force participation rate has fallen to its lowest in 50 years outside the pandemic, with job seekers giving up – a troubling signal beneath a headline drop in unemployment. Meanwhile, President Trump defended his business dealings and crypto earnings in an exclusive CNBC interview, saying of his digital assets, “I could know about it. I didn’t.”

In UK politics, Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has promised to ease cost-of-living pressures through measures including a freeze on private rents and business rate reductions, as he positions himself as the anti-Starmer candidate. But an exclusive analysis warns that the government’s plan to cut infrastructure spending to fund defence will cost 10,000 British jobs, casting doubt on claims that the reallocation boosts employment. Separately, pubs in England are being allowed to stay open until 5am for the Mexico World Cup match after the government reversed its earlier refusal to relax licensing laws.

Crypto markets saw a recovery today: Bitcoin gained 2.5% to $⁠61,422, Ethereum rose 5.8% and Solana 4.3%. The rally was supported by news that Securitize tokenised $⁠295 million of its own stock on Solana and Avalanche as it debuted on the NYSE, while eToro invested in onchain derivatives platform Extended. Bitwise described the recent selloff in Strategy’s stock as a late-cycle leverage unwind, not a breaking point. In the broader tech world, Mark Zuckerberg told Meta staff that AI agents haven’t progressed as quickly as he’d hoped, and private pilots are now flying orbital missions for the US Space Force.

Geopolitically, a massive Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital killed at least 25 people, according to BBC reports. In the US, the Trump administration indicted an Olympic athlete over Reflecting Pool vandalism, with critics questioning the legitimacy of the charges. The end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians could trigger a caregiving crisis, since immigrants with TPS make up 15% of noncitizen healthcare workers. On a lighter note, Portugal fans gathered ahead of the Ronaldo-Modric clash.

Finally, Virginia has become the first US state to ban the sale of geolocation data, while in the UK, a Married at First Sight star was arrested on suspicion of rape following a BBC Panorama investigation. Gold and silver edged higher, while oil slipped 0.4%.