this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the billionaire's club gets bigger as slack becomes the latest tech start—up to join the new york stock exchange. but 20 years on, are we seeing the return of the dot—com bubble? plus, losing patience! the fed abandons its wait—and—see approach on interest rates and signals it's ready to cut them for the first time since 2008. and on the markets, that major shift from the fed boosts global stock markets and sends the dollar to a 5—month low. yields on us government bonds also tumbling.

we start on wall street where yet another tech company lists its shares on the stock exchange later. it's been a huge year already for technology share sales, so much so, that some are already asking if we should be worried about another dot—com bubble like the one that burst so spectacularly in 2000. so, what's happening today? well, it's the turn of messaging app slack. when its shares start trading on the new york stock exchange, it could value the company at around $17 billion, making its founder, stewart butterfield, the newest tech billionaire. slack is a group chat app for businesses rather than consumers. it's used by 600,000 organisations, 95,000 of which are paying customers. but like many fledgling tech firms,

it's burning through cash. last year, losses totalled $139 million. there are some 235 more share listings or initial public offerings lined up this year — that could raise $100 billion between them. it has been a bumper year. the number of tech ipos in 2019 is up around 30%. we have already seen the likes of uber, lyft, wework and pinterest, with aianb set to list later this year. but despite the early euphoria, shares of uber and lyft have struggled since their market debut. uber‘s now just below where it started last month and lyft has lost 11%. their prices at $72 and down as well. so, will investors keep buying

into loss—making firms in the hope they will make it big? we spoke to one fund manager at the time of the uber ipo. he said people in his industry can't be seen to be missing out. if you are making money for your clients and don't have enough of the stocks, the funds are not going fast enough, you feel you have two participate a little bit. we have rising stocks that have so much momentum that they are hoping to get to the moon! think that has become a very dominant feature of the market at the moment. let's get another view. lomax ward is partner and co—founder of the technology venture capital firm luminous ventures. good morning. this is a market flotation fest for the likes of you. are you excited about app slack? we actually use it ourselves and it has been a game changing platform for businesses and introducing a whatsapp style messaging to internal teams. tens of thousands of paying

customers as we have mentioned. this isa customers as we have mentioned. this is a company that is not making a profit now, but in terms of the business model we can see where it is going? exactly. 7096 revenue grew last year, the number of paying users paying over 100 grand a year grew 90%. this company has a 90% gross margin, and without growth you can see a trading to profitability quite quickly. explain how it is coming to the market today. it is not using the traditional route which is you get the likes of goldman sachs or morgan stanley to do your market flotation. sure, there are still some involved, but they do a direct risk —— listing rather than an ipo where they list new shares to raise capital. they have $800 million on the balance sheet already so they don't need to raise money. they just sheet already so they don't need to raise money. theyjust need to list

shares. it is a much cheaper process. there will be 20 million of fees but that is a lot less that the likes of uber would have paid. fees but that is a lot less that the likes of uber would have paidm some ways, there is disruption in the market. and how this is being done. and the big old fashion investment banks are not getting a piece of the action in the way they used to always do. exactly, they are worried about it and with all the same process used with spot if i last year, and if more tech companies use this route, there are concerns there is a disruption with their model —— spotify. concerns there is a disruption with their model -- spotify. this is your area of expertise. have we got another dot—com bubble emerging here? should we be concerned about investing in the likes of these companies? if you look at uber has had well—publicised problems since coming to market, by looking at the tech companies that have ipo this year that performed well and the etf that attracts these up 40% this year. etf? exchange strange -- exchange traded fund that picks up the recent ipo stocks is up 40%

compared to the nasdaq composite at 18%. actually, broadly, the tech companies that perform well, companies that perform well, companies like slack that have a 90% margin, these businesses are higher margin, these businesses are higher margin, fast—growing software businesses which should be sustainable in the long—term. uber and lyft there are questions as to their route to profitability. really interesting. we will keep an eye on how they do later today. it is a busy day for financial markets. let's talk about the fed now, because the us central bank has kept interest rates on hold at a range of 2.25 and 2.5%, as many were expecting. but fed chairmanjerome powell and his committee have given a clear signal that it is now ready to cut borrowing costs for the first time in more than a decade. significantly, they have dropped a reference to being patient over future moves, as samira hussain reports.

at their last meeting at the beginning of may, the federal reserve felt that the labour market was strong inflation was near its 2% objective, consumer confidence was also strong and it seemed that the trump administration was close to inking a trade agreement with china. asa inking a trade agreement with china. as a result, america's central bank unanimous in its decision to keep interest rates unchanged. and to exercise patience when considering any further moves to the federal funds rate. but injust any further moves to the federal funds rate. but in just a view weeks, the mood has shifted. nearly half of all voting members now believe there should be at least one cut to interest rates this year. jerome powell says there could be some risks to the economy ahead. growth indicators from around the world have disappointed on net, raising concerns about the strength of the global economy. apparent progress on trade turned to greater

uncertainty and our contacts in business and agriculture report heightened concerns over trade developments. these concerns may have contributed to the drop in business confidence in some recent surveys and may be starting to show through to incoming data. so while the fed has kept interest rates unchanged, there now seems almost no doubt that the next move will be to cut them, and that could happen soon. shejust she just says the speculationjerome powell's job could be under threat. we will talk about that in our news briefing. let's go to our asia business hub where rico hizon is following the story. they have got the key building, government buildings ready. it is a hugely important visit for countries so hugely important visit for countries so dependent economically on china. let's talk about this. we are

watching this visit very closely. in terms of trade, the relationship for north korea, china is top of the list. it is, sally. in fact we know that chinese north korea's biggest security and economic ally, that might have flagged in recent years. between 2000 and 2015 for instance, bilateral trade between the two increased tenfold, peaking in 2014. but tougher international sanctions put a stop to all of that after several missile tests and the biggest nuclear test ever carried out by north korea, china began to tighten the economic noose around the kingdom by suspending fuel sales among lots of other things in 2017, even though it is evident the weak economy has somehow forced kim jong—un to reach out to china, seoul and washington, the trade relationship and not return to what it was at its height. chinese imports from north korea fell by 88% last year, exports dropped by a third. meanwhile, from xijinping point of view, it may be an attempt

to use pyongyang as a pawn in the trade war with the us, a clever way to manage china's relationship with the us after all because this meeting becomes just as the us after all because this meeting becomesjust as he is due to meeting becomesjust as he is due to meet mrtrump in meeting becomesjust as he is due to meet mr trump in osaka injune 20 next week. it is all happening in the next few weeks. let us take a look at what is trending in the business today. the new york times is risk loop —— reporting dodger bank faces criminal investigation for potential money—laundering lapses. it says transactions under scrutuny include some linked to president trump's son—in—law and senior adviser, jared kushner. cnbc‘s investment punditjim cramer is expecting slack to ‘go on a run‘ when it debuts on the new york stock exchange, but advises investors not to get carried away. and business insider asks a crucial question — how long can you keep eye contact before it gets weird? too much and too little eye contact can both seem rude. london—based researchers studied

almost 500 participants to figure out the appropriate duration of eye contact for people to feel comfortable. the answer? 3.3 seconds. look into my eyes. i will see you in a moment. up next, newsbriefing. a charity for children's hospices in england is warning that some will be forced to shut unless the nhs increases its funding across the sector. together for short lives says a reduction in donations means hospices have had to turn away families. the government is promising funding for the next five years. for this boy and his family, the

business is a lifeline. it is this ca re business is a lifeline. it is this care that is vital for children like him, but because of a shortfall in funding, it could close in september. more than 200 children and their families will be affect and their families will be affect and 70 jobs will go. i can sing a rainbow... isabella's at a battle with cancer ended in april. her pa rents with cancer ended in april. her parents relied on them for respite and end—of—life support.|j parents relied on them for respite and end-of-life support. i don't think we would have had as long with isabella as we did it hadn't been for the support we received from staff here. children hospices keep children alive longer. if it costs more money, something needs to be done about it short—term and long—term. done about it short—term and long-term. the charity together for short lives has urged the government to increase the amount it pays to the 34 children's hospices in england from £11 million to £25 million or it says more hospices will cut services or shut. why are we asa will cut services or shut. why are

we as a society to say that when isabella came to the children public hospice that 20% of the care she received would have to be funded by peoplejumping received would have to be funded by people jumping out of aeroplanes or running marathons. baking cakes. this is complex healthcare and children's hospices in the uk need a proper settlement from the nhs. concert needs help soon as it will have to decide whether or not to close this hospice in the next few weeks and children like isabella and herfamily will lose weeks and children like isabella and her family will lose the local support they rely on. this is the briefing from bbc news. the headlines: conservative mps in the uk will choose the final two candidates for prime minister, then it's up to the party membership to decide. the leader of a cult in the united states who treated women as sex slaves is found guilty on all charges. satellite pictures show himalayan glaciers melting at a rapidly accelerating rate, threatening long—term water supplies

to a vast number of people. now, it's time to look at some of the other stories making the headlines in the media around europe. we begin in the uk and most of the papers, including the times, leading on the contest to become the next prime minister, which has turned into a bit of a television gameshow, with one hopeful eliminated each day. in france, le figaro is thinking about the next leadership of the european union. it says that the governments of france and germany are opposing each other‘s candidates for the key posts in the new administration. in denmark, one of its main dailies covers the ongoing negotiations to form

a coalition government. the paper says the parties are close to agreement on a radical plan to reshape the country's economy to bring carbon emissions down to net zero. another constitutional wrangle in the united states, says bloomberg. there's a showdown approaching with president trump apparently believing he has the power to sack the chair of the central bank, the federal reserve boss, jerome powell saying he wants to stay for the full term. and something a bit sad and worrying on the bbc business website. a report by a think—tank, the resolution foundation, says young people under 30 are spending less on non—housing items than the same age group in 2001. that is meant to,000 one. you went in your30s, that is meant to,000 one. you went in your 30s, you are in your 20s. —— you were in your 20s. housing costs should be lower now. housing costs should be lower now. housing costs should be lower now. housing costs should be lower. but they are not.

we will get to that story