US Redbook weekly retail sales YoY for week ended July 4: 11.5% vs 10.5% prior.

In a letter to bank CEOs, ECB chief supervisory officer Claudia Buch required lenders to submit action plans by end-October to address rising cybersecurity threats from advanced AI models, citing examples such as Anthropic’s Claude and Mythos. Buch urged faster software patching, strengthened AI-driven cyber defenses, tighter oversight of third-party vendors and long-term infrastructure modernization. ECB President Lagarde last month warned AI could trigger a financial crisis and said CEOs must ensure readiness and recognize the need for substantial investment. The ECB has stress-tested 109 banks under a severe cyberattack scenario and said most detected vulnerabilities have been fixed.

CHINA STATE PLANNER convened an inter‑ministerial meeting directing faster, stronger implementation of measures to expand and upgrade the service sector. Authorities will set industry- and region-specific development tracks, identify growth drivers for the "15th Five-Year" period, and design incremental policies with quantitative targets to enable classified, targeted support. Policy emphasis is on demand-led reforms, tech enablement and openness, improving supply–demand matching, and stepping up the removal of unreasonable standards and restrictive measures to enlarge service export capacity. Agencies were also tasked to mobilize existing stock while optimizing incremental supply, accelerate major projects, scale up high-quality operators and cultivate more "Chinese service" brands.