ECB chief economist Lane said he has not seen the energy shock trigger a broad-based wage response.

China's Ministry of National Defense said recent military exchanges with the US continue. It said head‑of‑state diplomacy provides irreplaceable strategic guidance for military ties and pledged to work with the US to implement leaders' military consensus, strengthen communication and practical cooperation, properly manage differences, and maintain stable, healthy development in bilateral military relations to support constructive strategic stability.

Microsoft said it will add roughly $2 bln of investment in the Gulf, bringing planned spending in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE to about $10 bln by 2030, including last year’s $7.9 bln UAE commitment. The new funds will target cloud, AI and data-center operations, covering capex and opex; about $400 mln is earmarked for a subsea cable and related infrastructure to boost network resilience and data transmission. Microsoft previously invested $1.5 bln in UAE tech firm G42 and has participated in local AI data-center builds. The announcement is the company’s first regional update since the US-Iran conflict; several data centers were affected during the period and Amazon recently said some data at attacked facilities in the UAE and Bahrain could not be recovered.