today, they're delighting in a much stronger than expected bounceback in retail sales. new data says that the all important us consumer spent 1% more at the shops injuly, compared with last year. add that to the news from wednesday that inflation in the us dropped below 3% injuly, for the first time in three years and you've got the ingredient for much better sentiment. this is how us markets are performing now. it is positive across the board there. the strongest they are by the tech nasdaq. europe has just closed and the final trades are filtering through to this data. the strongest gains being enjoyed by

the dax in frankfurt. up by almost i.7%. let's speak now to victoria fernandez, chief market strategist at crossmark global investments + thank you for being with us. nobody saw these retail sales figures coming in to strong. why has that given such cheer to investors? the us economy is surely driven by the consumer, 73% of the economy is from the consumer spending. and so when there was this fear that the consumer was pulling back and we were seeing weakness in the labour market, and therefore wager stagnating, there was a huge fear that this was going to lead the economy if not into a recession, definitely a pull—back and weakness in the economy. retail sales are something people have been waiting on. the number today was very positive. the markets were reacting accordingly. the biggest driver in

this retail sales number was motor vehicles, which is interesting because if you look at the cpi report, the inflation report you mentioned a while ago, it was actually used car prices that was the biggest drag, the biggest drop in pricing. maybe there is a correlation they are. prices coming down, more pick in automobiles. we will see if that stays. right now, it is definitely supportive of the markets. it it is definitely supportive of the markets. , , . ~ it is definitely supportive of the markets. , , ., ~ ., markets. it is in stark contrast to last week when _ markets. it is in stark contrast to last week when things _ markets. it is in stark contrast to last week when things were - markets. it is in stark contrast to | last week when things were pretty gloomy. what is your reader what do you think is the market was make read of the likelihood of a recession now? we read of the likelihood of a recession now?— read of the likelihood of a recession now? ~ ., , read of the likelihood of a recession now? ~ . , ., , recession now? we have seen the odds ofthe recession now? we have seen the odds of the recession — recession now? we have seen the odds of the recession filter _ recession now? we have seen the odds of the recession filter away _ recession now? we have seen the odds of the recession filter away quite - recession now? we have seen the odds of the recession filter away quite a - of the recession filter away quite a bit. if you looked earlier in the year, there was a higher probability we would be leading into recession. that went away for a little bit. they came back last week, with all

of the turmoil from the trade, a weaker labour market number. the recession would start to come back into the vocabulary. it looks like over the last few days the odds of that have gone away again. there is a lot of flexibility there and chiming of the expectations. for us, we are going to have some choppy markets going forward. we think people need to be a little guided as to how quickly this market has turned around. there still are still our growth concerns out there, not just in the us, but globally. we still have to work on lowering rates. typically, the market does not respond well once the fed starts cutting rates over the next 12 months. we will have a choppy market but for right now, the recession itself seems to be of the table for most people. itself seems to be of the table for most maple-— itself seems to be of the table for most --eole. . ., ., ., ~ ,, most people. 0k, victoria, thank you very much- — quarterly sales at america's largest retailer — walmart — have beat expectations as consumers

flock to snap up bargains amidst an environment of higher prices, interest rates and a slowing job market. the company posted second quarter earnings before the bell, with same—store sales rising by 4.2% year on year — well above wall street estimates — and increasing by 4.6 per cent at its member—only sam's club warehouse chain. quarterly revenue meanwhole rose 4.8% to $168. ——billion. the company says it's now gaining market share in areas usually driven by higher—income households. and us shoppers' appetite for discount deals looks set to continue. earlier i spoke to retail analyst hitha herzog who said people are changing their shopping habits. i have a friend here who said one thing that is expensive about

raising kids in new york city isn't necessarily the cost of education, it is the cost of fruit, specifically raspberries. when you see these consumers, especially the higher end consumer flock to walmart to get better pricing on things like fruit, it is a true thing, we are not seeing so much of the consumer thatis not seeing so much of the consumer that is doing really well and the consumer that is not going to walmart, it is now meeting in the middle. everyone wants to feel and obtain that discount on pricing of groceries. obtain that discount on pricing of aroceries. ~ ., , ., ., groceries. would it be fair to say thou:h groceries. would it be fair to say though we _ groceries. would it be fair to say though we are — groceries. would it be fair to say though we are looking _ groceries. would it be fair to say though we are looking for- groceries. would it be fair to say though we are looking for a - though we are looking for a barometer of the us economy, looking at walmart�*s results, we are looking back over the last three months, whereas look at the sale figures we have aboutjuly. i could suggest the mood is shifting. that i% bounce in retail sales injuly, which is

really surprised analysts and forecasters. absolutely. that it was going to be 0.4%, it is i%. certainly, the consumer is feeling better. people are going out and travelling more, spending more on hotels. that consumer is feeling better about the economy and pouring money into that. when you at retail sales, especially the spent on grocery, these are the main places people go to get groceries. here in the united states it is walmart, target and amazon. those e—commerce sales for walmart, everything out of the water and i am looking at the stock right now and it is trading at 7%. you know, since the open. it is really what we're seeing now is that consumer to these stories to purchase everyday items. —— to these

stores. in the uk new data today says that the economy continued to grow in the second quarter of the year. the first estimate of growth between april and june is 0.6%, a slight slowdown on the 0.7% recorded in the first quarter. but it's still a welcome change from the short recession experienced here last year. the growth was led by the services sector, in particular the it industry, along with legal services and scientific research. earlier, i got the view from katharine neiss — chief european economist at pgim fixed income on the numbers. the number that was released today is a great number. a 0.6% is very strong and as you have noted, comes right after a strong one. certainly, the first half of this year has proven to be much stronger growth rate for the uk economy than many had expected since the start of the year. we were expecting a recovery but this has shown a degree of

outperformance. that said, if you look underneath that headline number, there are signs of quite a sluggish uk economy. what number, there are signs of quite a sluggish uk economy.— number, there are signs of quite a sluggish uk economy. what are the thin . s that sluggish uk economy. what are the things that is _ sluggish uk economy. what are the things that is a _ sluggish uk economy. what are the things that is a weak _ sluggish uk economy. what are the things that is a weak spot _ sluggish uk economy. what are the things that is a weak spot is - sluggish uk economy. what are the things that is a weak spot is trade l things that is a weak spot is trade and business investment. what has gone wrong there, as it were? and what could the government do to invigorate that? 50. what could the government do to invigorate that?— what could the government do to invigorate that? so, exactly. iwas auoin to invigorate that? so, exactly. iwas going to point _ invigorate that? so, exactly. iwas going to point out _ invigorate that? so, exactly. iwas going to point out trade _ invigorate that? so, exactly. iwas going to point out trade and - going to point out trade and business investment, having been quite weak. that is a part of a longer trend that we have seen for the uk really over a number of years. it is going to take time, i think, to turn around. so going forward, i would expect that these punchy numbers are going to moderate in the quarters to come to something that looks more like weaker growth rate for the uk economy, nothing dramatic like what we saw at the end of last year, but certainly a moderation in growth from here. i

think one bright spot is the prospect that perhaps domestic consumption could be picking up. nevertheless, overall, ithink consumption could be picking up. nevertheless, overall, i think we are looking at a fairly sluggish growth picture for the uk economy from here. in fixing those other elements would probably take a bit of time. fin elements would probably take a bit of time. ., elements would probably take a bit of time. . , , ., ., ., ., of time. on an inspirational note, we often henr _ of time. on an inspirational note, we often hear about _ of time. on an inspirational note, we often hear about successful i we often hear about successful entrepreneurs doubting out young and selling sweets in the school playground and running an online business from their bedroom. we are speaking to one business leader. who sold his company for a multi—billion dollar sum, who credits his success to fundamental lessons he learned as a teenage entrepreneur, and it all began with an earring.

i always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and one of my very first businesses was mail order fishing tackle. the most exciting part of that was going out to the national game fair, 100,000 fishermen that would be visiting my ten foot wide stand to by my fishing tackle. and it was there that i listens to the wives and girlfriends and sisters of those fishermen that said, oh, those colourful flies would make really nice earrings, so all we did was cut off the end of the fishing hook, add a kidney wire, and we were into the high—fashion earring business. i designed these earrings to appeal to teenage girls, and was thinking about where could i sell them to achieve national distribution and i thought, hair

salons. let's have a card of 25 pairs of earrings displayed on the till at 99p a pair. because i was only 17 at the time, i got on every tv programme, every radio show, saying, these earrings are the height of fashion. and they were for about nine months. that experience taught me two valuable lessons. firstly, listen to your customers, get out there and hear what they are saying. and secondly, don't be afraid to pivot from one dozens idea to the next. that served me really well when i came to set up homeserve. in other news... japan's economy grew 3.1% between april and june, beating estimates, while gdp rose 0.8 percent. the stronger data comes a day after prime minister, fumio kishida, made a surprise announcement to step down next month.

that is your business news. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello, i'm lucy grey. prince harry and meghan begin a visit to colombia today, where they are expected to support projects aimed at safeguarding young people from online harm. it comes ahead of a global ministerial conference about ending violence against children which is being held in colombia in november. let's speak to our south america correspondent ione wells. what can we expect from this visit? well, the couple have arrived in bogota and colombia, where they have met with the vice president who invited them on this visit. they were greeted at the official residence, shared coffee, etc, this

morning. they are now starting some of their more public appearances, visiting a school in the city, where they were discussing with teenagers they were discussing with teenagers the potential dangers of the internet and online homes. they are about to go to an art centre with the vice president. they will be meeting later today with activists and experts all in the field of protecting children from potential harm online. this is something that both the vice president and the couple feel passionate about and they want to campaign about. in terms of why they are here, this isn't a royal visit because they are not working royals. for them, this is trying to promote some of the campaigning work they are doing in this area. both the vice president and prince harry and meghan have spoken openly about their own experiences, for example of discrimination and online abuse and

harassment. discrimination and online abuse and harassment-—