Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.00% intraday.

UK Prime Minister Starmer said he "will contest" any Labour leadership challenge and "will not back down." He reiterated he won a mandate two years ago to drive change and cited work on stabilising the economy and reducing NHS waiting times. Andy Burnham's recent win of a parliamentary seat has cleared a potential path to challenge; Starmer said he has not yet spoken to Burnham directly but will seek to and has congratulated him.

Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 0.46%; DAX futures down 0.40%; CAC 40 futures down 0.25%; FTSE futures down 0.23%.