Convera's George Vessey said in a report the pound has weakened as US-Iran tensions hit risk appetite and UK political uncertainty resurfaces. US forces struck Iran on Wednesday, and a win by potential challenger Andy Burnham in next month's UK by-election could trigger a prolonged leadership challenge to Prime Minister Starmer. "Overall, sterling appears increasingly fragile; recent resilience has given way to more vulnerable, risk-sensitive characteristics."

Brendan Schulman, vice president for policy and government affairs at Boston Dynamics, said at the Tokyo Humanoid Robot Summit that to date robotics technology has been only lightly affected by geopolitical pressure, but that could change soon. He said Washington policymakers are beginning to focus on robotics. He added that general government policies (for example, tariffs on metals) also affect robots because they affect supply chains.

Germany's Finance Minister Klingbeil said achieving a more resilient Europe is more important to him than national interests.