consumer price inflation rate forjuly has come in at 2.2%. that's higher than the 2% level it was at during may and june. that number is precisely the bank of england's target for a healthy economy. but the figure forjuly is still lower than many observers had forecast. where does that leave the state of the economy and the likely path of interest rate cuts? joining me now is jackie bowie — head of europe at chatham financial. thank you forjoining us. it is a rise in inflation but not by as much as some had expected. is it cause for alarm? as some had expected. is it cause foralarm? it as some had expected. is it cause for alarm?— for alarm? it doesn't seem to be. this low price _ for alarm? it doesn't seem to be. this low price you _ for alarm? it doesn't seem to be. this low price you have _ for alarm? it doesn't seem to be. this low price you have seen - for alarm? it doesn't seem to be. this low price you have seen was|

this low price you have seen was predicted and much of that has come from what we call the base effect. there has been upward pressure in household energy bills very much influenced by ofcom price caps, so as we look as those year on year numbers, you get what looks like a bit of an oddity but it was fully priced in and really what the market was expecting in terms of where that would come out for the inflation number. in would come out for the inflation number. , ., ., , number. in terms of other things the market is expecting, _ number. in terms of other things the market is expecting, we _ number. in terms of other things the market is expecting, we have - number. in terms of other things the | market is expecting, we have already had one cut in the cost of borrowing this year, that was the first since the recent inflationary crisis pushed up the cost of borrowing. some saying this could lead the bank to cut rates again in september. what are your thoughts, expectations?— what are your thoughts, expectations? what are your thoughts, exectations? . ~ , , expectations? the market is still ricin: in expectations? the market is still pricing in two _ expectations? the market is still pricing in two further— expectations? the market is still pricing in two further interest - expectations? the market is still| pricing in two further interest rate cuts this year with one in september and then one before we get to the end of the year. that 25 basis

points for september is not in the bag but after the announcement this morning, there seems to be more expectation from the market that that next cut will come to take us from 5% to 4.75. the key thing in the inflation number the bag had been worried about was services inflation and if we look at the underlying figures reported this morning, we have seen services inflation moderate a little so that would lead you to believe the bank has a pathway to cut interest rates in september. has a pathway to cut interest rates in september-— has a pathway to cut interest rates in september. whenever people talk about cutting — in september. whenever people talk about cutting the _ in september. whenever people talk about cutting the cost _ in september. whenever people talk about cutting the cost of— in september. whenever people talk about cutting the cost of borrowing, | about cutting the cost of borrowing, what also happens is the pound falls. tell us about what we have seen on the currency markets today. the pound took a hit on the first announcement of the numbers, again completely related to those interest rate expectations. the pound is still one of the best performing currencies this year if we look

the global basket. the reason for thatis the global basket. the reason for that is because uk interest rates had expected to remain higher, particularly if we compare it to euro interest rates. a little bit of dip in the currency but generally interest rates would indicate a stronger pound.— interest rates would indicate a stronger pound. interest rates would indicate a stronuer ound. ., ~ , . stronger pound. thank you very much for “oininu stronger pound. thank you very much forjoining us— stronger pound. thank you very much forjoining us today. _ the swiss banking giant ubs has reported bumper profits of $1.14 billion for the period from april tojune, surpassing analysts�* expectations. it's the first time it's reported since integrating its one—time rival, credit suisse, which it rescued from collapse earlier this year. the process of integration continues. ubs says it's now entering the next phase of realising further cost, capital and tax benefits. johann scholz is a banking analyst at morningstar and joins me now from amsterdam. thank you for being with us today. that figure, much higher than some observers had expected. what do you

think that says about how challenging the integration has been, or even how profitable it has been, or even how profitable it has been so far? i been, or even how profitable it has been so far?— been so far? i think one should be careful not — been so far? i think one should be careful not to _ been so far? i think one should be careful not to focus _ been so far? i think one should be careful not to focus too _ been so far? i think one should be careful not to focus too much - been so far? i think one should be careful not to focus too much on l been so far? i think one should be l careful not to focus too much on the bottom line number. there is quite a lot of accounting noise in the results but the best way to look at it would be to go into the operating divisions. it is fair to say the investment banking business definitely exceeded expectations quite a bit so. in line with what we have seen from the other investment banks both sides of the atlantic. we have really seen investment banks are benefiting from increased volatility in markets, which tend to lead to wider spreads and also more client activity. the other two big business units, global wealth management business also actually

performed in line with expectations. you are starting to see the impact of lower, potentially lower interest rates feeding through and the swiss private banking business or commercial banking i should say business, also performing in line with expectations. the business, also performing in line with expectations.— business, also performing in line with expectations. the bank says itself more _ with expectations. the bank says itself more cost _ with expectations. the bank says itself more cost savings - with expectations. the bank says itself more cost savings among l with expectations. the bank says - itself more cost savings among other savings from the integration, it says are yet to be realised. does that directly translate to potentially more jobs that will be cut? potentially more “obs that will be cut? , ~ , , cut? yes, i think there is still robabl cut? yes, i think there is still probably some _ cut? yes, i think there is still probably some job _ cut? yes, i think there is still probably some job cuts - cut? yes, i think there is still probably some job cuts to - cut? yes, i think there is still- probably some job cuts to come, although i think most of it has been targeted now. ubs is looking to take out about 30 billion of costs, which if you look at the old credit suisse

costs, about 60% they are looking to take out. they have achieved about half of those cost savings now. thank you forjoining me with that analysis. now to japan, where there was a surprise announcement from the country's prime minister that he'll be stepping down when his term ends next month. his popularity suffered due to some economic issues and a corruption scandal at the ruling party. mariko 0i has the details. the announcement came as a surprise, as many people were expecting mr kishida to seek re—election next month. but despite many analysts crediting him for his achievements in foreign policies, his popularity rate has been quite low for some time. in fact, it hit 15% last month and the reason is the economy. firstly, for a country that hadn't experienced inflation in many decades, prices started to rise and the public didn't like that.

of course, that was not necessarily mr kishida's fault because it was caused by external factors like the war in ukraine, but he also didn't use it to take credit that he was the leader who's managed to beat decades of falling prices known as deflation. and secondly, he was the one who appointed the new governor of the bank ofjapan, kazuo ueda. and as many of our viewers remember, he raised the cost of borrowing several weeks ago, which resulted in that market meltdown. again, many government officials and economists have said that the cost of borrowing needed to go up because keeping it zero isn't healthy. but some blame mr kishida for that market meltdown. and while mr kishida pushed companies to raise wages, he again didn't take credit for it either. and most importantly, last december, prosecutors started a criminal investigation into corruption within the party's ranks. and even though he wasn't accused of any wrongdoing, but i guess the public wanted someone higher up to take responsibility.

there were also other scandals involving his son, whom he appointed as his secretary, before which he didn't exactly recover from either. we'll know next month who will be in charge of asia's second biggest economy. but markets are not liking this uncertainty in japanese politics. the taiwanese tech manufacturer foxconn is cashing in on the ai boom. you might not have heard of them but chances are they've made some of your gadgets. they build things on behalf of apple, google, sony and nintendo. second quarter net profits are up by 6% thanks to strong ai server demand — foxconn described it as "strong growth momentum" from the ai technology boom. let's speak to the tech experts. well, folks can't make lots of different things. let's talk about what these ai servers are. what are they and who is behind them? thea;r

they and who is behind them? they have leaned — they and who is behind them? they have leaned into _ they and who is behind them? tue: have leaned into this they and who is behind them? tta: have leaned into this massively they and who is behind them? "tt21: have leaned into this massively as they and who is behind them? tt21 have leaned into this massively as a company. in order to do anything with al, either build or make the ai models and then run all the functions like facial recognition, other kinds of technology, you need really powerful specialist service which have increased processing power and extra ability. they have been building them, selling them to companies like amazon, matter, microsoft, all of these businesses and they are creating ai cards and components for nvidia. 0ne and they are creating ai cards and components for nvidia. one of these companies powering this ai arms race. �* , ., ~' companies powering this ai arms race. 2 ., ~ ., companies powering this ai arms race. 2 ., , ., , race. let's talk about smartphones now, the race. let's talk about smartphones now. they are _ race. let's talk about smartphones now, they are the _ race. let's talk about smartphones now, they are the biggest - race. let's talk about smartphones now, they are the biggest maker i race. let's talk about smartphones| now, they are the biggest maker of iphones. if ai does revolutionise smartphones as we expect them to do, it should be a big dealfor foxconn because they make a huge amount of them, don't they?— them, don't they? absolutely. to the extent they had _

them, don't they? absolutely. to the extent they had announced _ them, don't they? absolutely. to the extent they had announced yesterdayi extent they had announced yesterday that they have hired an extra 50,000 people in china to make the iphone 16 which will have a load of ai tech built into it. fully embracing the ai assistant extra processing power and the thought is lots of people upgrade their smartphones on this generation. the new iphone comes out in september and people will buy this for the advanced feature set, or at least that is the prediction. about smartphones, google launched the pixel nine yesterday, a phone it hopes will shake up the market. will it put a dent in apple as a phone manufacturer?— it put a dent in apple as a phone manufacturer? most people have looked at this _ manufacturer? most people have looked at this device _ manufacturer? most people have looked at this device and - manufacturer? most people have looked at this device and thought manufacturer? most people have l looked at this device and thought it is pretty decent. it doesn't have massive advances on its previous model but what it does have is a tonne of ai features. the idea you will be able to do lots of different things of your life every day from

your device and that will sell to many people who have been fans of these android devices for years and might be ready for an upgrade. hopefully a boost for foxconn, too. they also make phones for google as well. thank you very much. markets are liking what they're hearing regarding uk inflation today. the ftse 100 the ftse100 up by a third. similar gains for the dax in frankfurt. that is the price for a barrel of oil, amid all the consternation in the middle east. in asia, a mixed picture. nikkei climbing on news thatjapan's prime minister won't seek re—election. wall street also ended higher after producer price data came in lower than expected.

we are still awaiting consumer price inflation data coming out of the us data, that will be the big driver of market sentiment today. more in a few hours' time.

hello from the bbc sport centre. manchester united have confirmed the signings of matthijs de ligt and noussair mazraoui from bayern munich. the move could cost nearly £60 million with de ligt signing a five—year contract at old trafford. mazraou meanwhile has signed for four years and is likely to replace aaron wan—bissaka following his departure to west ham. united kick off their campaign on friday night at home to fulham, in the first premier league action of the season. elsewhere, conor gallagher is expected to return to training at chelsea today after landing back in london last night, with his atletico madrid transfer

in the balance. the england international had spent five days in madrid but has been unable to complete his £33 million transfer after chelsea's move to sign striker samu 0morodion collapsed on sunday. staying with the transfer market, and crystal palace chairman steve parish has said clubs must pay �*superstar money,�* as he addressed newcastle�*s pursuit of marc guehi. bbc sport understands that crystal palace have recieved a third bid of around £60 million for the england international, but parish believes the club does not need to be forced in to selling its best players. we would like to keep hold of it. there is a price at which end a situation at which where we might consider it. we had an interview where somebody said he was a superstar so we had to pay superstar money. home—grown, sensational

talent, somebody has to make it difficult for us and at the