The US Federal Reserve delivered a widely anticipated rate cut, but growing divisions among policymakers spooked markets. Strong AI-driven spending fuelled big-tech earnings, but the outlooks dented the bullish mood. Eurozone markets gained on robust banking performance, while the main indices in the UK and Spain hit another all-time high. The Bank of Japan opted to leave rates unchanged at its meeting today. The meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi ended and has eased some global trade concerns – but underlying tensions persist. Norbert Rücker, Head of Economics and Next Generation Research, talks about rare earths as well as oil in light of the latest sanctions.