That's it from me. Head over to our US site for more market moving news.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, said:

According to Reuters:

The UK government has shifted its focus in debt markets to shorter-term borrowing in order to cut its interest bill, according to a report in the FT.

Short-term debt is currently cheaper, meaning it's more attractive for the cash strapped Treasury. However, it's also more exposed to changes in interest rates.

The FT reported: While the average maturity for the UK’s entire debt stock is 14 years, analysts at RBC Capital Markets forecast that the gilts due to be issued between July and September this year will have an average maturity of around nine years, a historic low.

“There has been an important shift in the relative proportions this year” away from long gilts and towards short-dated debt, Jessica Pulay, head of the UK’s Debt Management Office told the Financial Times.

Our US team writes:

Nvidia's (NVDA) AI chips laid the groundwork for a massive wave of venture capital investments in AI startups.

From the first quarter of 2023 — following the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 — through the first quarter of this year, venture capitalists have invested $306.5 billion in global AI and machine learning startups and private companies, with $230 billion of that value going to US firms, according to PitchBook data.

And over that time frame, AI and machine learning companies accounted for roughly 48% of the total venture capital investments in the US.

“ChatGPT’s breakout showed that large language models could scale into real products, which sparked a sharp rise in investor appetite,” PitchBook AI analyst Dimitri Zabelin told Yahoo Finance in an email. “Nvidia played a central role by supplying the compute backbone.”

Read more on Yahoo Finance

Vicky McKeever writes:

Gold prices fell on Tuesday morning, after US president Donald Trump delayed raising tariffs on the European Union (EU), easing concerns about trade tensions.

Trump said in a social media post on Friday that the EU had been "very difficult to deal with" and was recommending that tariffs on imports from the bloc be raised to 50% from 1 June.

Following a conversation on Sunday between Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, the US president then said he would delay imposting the 50% levies until 9 July.

UK and US markets were closed on Monday for public holidays but other stock markets rose on the news of a delay, with the pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) gaining 0.9% in the session.

The UK's FTSE 100 (^FTSE) advanced 0.6% shortly after the market open on Tuesday morning, while US stock market futures jumped, as the postponing of levies on the EU bolstered investor optimism.

Gold prices declined on Tuesday morning as stocks rose, signalling investors' pivot back into risk assets away from the precious metal, which is considered to act as a safe haven amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

Gold futures (GC=F) were down 1.7% at $3,307.80 per ounce at the time of writing, while the spot gold price fell 1% to $3,308.48 per ounce.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "It remains to be seen as to when investors, businesses and consumers grow weary of needing to react slavishly to every tariff pronouncement, if they have not already.

"The constant back and forth has made planning all but impossible, and many companies over the recent quarterly reporting season have opted not to give outlook figures as a result of the ever-changing goalposts."

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

Fast food retailer KFC laid out plans for UK and Irish expansion on Tuesday, saying it would add 500 stores to its 1,000 outlets in the next decade.

This will mean investment of around £1.5bn over the next five years, creating around 7,000 jobs, the chain said.

"The market is only expected to grow further, with consumer demand for fried chicken outstripping other quick service restaurant categories," it added.

Read more here

Tesla (TSLA) stock rose in pre-market trading on Tuesday, despite the electric carmaker suffering a steep decline in European sales last month amid continued backlash against chief executive Elon Musk.

According to data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), Tesla's (TSLA) registrations in the European Union fell 52% year-on-year in April, dropping to 5,475 vehicles from 11,540 in the same month of 2024. Across the broader EU, EFTA and UK region, sales were down 49%

The sharp decline comes as Tesla (TSLA) continues to face reputational challenges linked to Musk’s public political affiliations. The billionaire entrepreneur has drawn criticism for his vocal support of US president Donald Trump, sparking protests at Tesla showrooms across Europe earlier this year.

Over the first four months of 2025, Tesla (TSLA) sales in Europe have fallen nearly 40% compared to the same period last year.

Despite the decline, Musk has reiterated his long-term commitment to the company. In a recent public address, he said he intends to remain at the helm of Tesla (TSLA) for at least the next five years.

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

According to figures released roday by Nationwide:

• House prices in predominantly rural areas have risen by 23% over the last five years, compared to 18% in predominantly urban areas

• Rural terraced properties have seen the strongest rate of price growth, urban flats the weakest

“Our survey data shows that a bigger property or garden was the top reason cited by those moving in the last five years, which may in part reflect the ‘race for space’ seen during the pandemic," said Andrew Harvey, Nationwide's senior economist.

Pedro Goncalves writes:

Premier Inn owner Whitbread (WTB.L) has named Christine Hodgson, who is currently at the helm of Severn Trent (SVT.L), as its new chairwoman.

Hodgson will join the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) company on September 1, replacing current chairman Adam Crozier, who has been in post since 2018.

She has been working as chairwoman of water giant Severn Trent (SVT.L) since 2020, overseeing its recent decision to hike consumer bills by an average 47% over the next five years.

Hodgson’s appointment comes after the hospitality giant revealed a drop in profits on the back of recent restaurant closures and softening demand for hotel rooms in the UK.

Whitbread (WTB.L), which also owns Beefeater restaurants, said earlier in May that profits fell by 14% in the year to February, compared with the previous year.

It said this was partly driven by the impact of a growth strategy that the company started last April, which includes an overhaul of its restaurant business.

The £500m plan, which executives dubbed “Accelerating Growth”, involved converting 112 branded restaurants and selling 126 more.

Hodgson said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining, as the company continues to deliver on its five-year plan, and Premier Inn’s expansion in Germany gathers pace.”

The company hopes this will help it build about 3,500 extra hotel rooms, eventually reaching 97,000 rooms in total.

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), food inflation hit 2.8% in May compared with the previous year. That was higher than 2.6% in April and above the three-month average of 2.6%.

"Fresh foods were the main driver, and red meat eaters may have noticed their steak got a little more expensive as wholesale beef prices increased," said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC.

The moves higher come following an increase in the National Insurance costs businesses pay to the government.

Overall, however, shop prices were in deflation, down 0.1% from the same point in May last year. The three-month average is -0.2%.

BRC said non-food deflation decreased to 1.5% year on year in May, against a decline of 1.4% in April. This is above the 3-month average of -1.6%.

"Non-food prices remained in deflation, but this slowed in categories such as fashion and furniture as retailers began to unwind heavy promotional activity. Prices were falling faster for electricals as retailers tried to encourage spending before any potential knock-on impact from U.S. tariffs," said Dickinson.

Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda said:

Ueda added that the bank must scrutinise how rising food prices will affect underlying inflation, which has already accelerated near its 2% target.

US stock futures jumped Monday night following US president Donald Trump's decision to delay a broad 50% tariff on all EU products from June to July to allow time for negotiations.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) rose 1%, with S&P 500 contracts (ES=F) flying up 1.1%. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) surged 1.2%.

The jumps followed Trump’s Sunday announcement that he would postpone a 50% tariff on EU imports until July 9. The move came after a request from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said in a post on X that the EU is ready to engage in swift and decisive negotiations.

Trump's pledge for 50% tariffs on Friday led markets lower, with Memorial Day closures delaying market responses to the on-again, off-again levies. All three major indexes saw falls of at least 2% last week, with tariff uncertainty and debt concerns leading the negative sentiment.

Hello! Lucy Harley-McKeown here, poised to bring you the business and markets news of the day.

This morning we've already had a new read on UK shop prices, as well as Japanese inflation. Later, there's more data on US durable goods orders.

In corporate news, earnings reports from:

• Xiaomi (1810.HK)

• AutoZone (AZO)

Let's get to it.