EU Commissioner Maros Sefcović speaks at the EU Trade Ministers’ Meeting.
Ansgar Haase | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd from London. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
Europe was once the powerhouse of the global car market. But now the company finds itself closing the floodgates on an industry that is already fundamentally disrupted.
It’s a big task for two days of talks, but Europe’s top trade envoy is expected to take on the task during a visit to Beijing for high-stakes negotiations.
Read more.
What you need to know today
Maroš Šefčović, the European Union’s top trade envoy, is in Beijing for a series of talks with Chinese officials.
The background is tense. According to the Financial Times, Europe has asked China to voluntarily reduce exports of hybrid cars to the continent, but authorities in Beijing have already rejected the request.
The growing trade surplus between the EU and China is another point of contention, with Germany and France urging Brussels to develop “last resort” trade tools to address the imbalance.
For more on frictions in the international auto market, read CNBC’s Sam Meredith’s article here.
bond report
A successful bond auction pushed the yield on the US 10-year Treasury note back from its all-time high. The Treasury Department sold $39 billion of 10-year bonds, with analysts pointing to strong demand.
Nevertheless, U.S. stocks ended the day in the red, with futures expected to start flat on Thursday.
tensions in france
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu addressed the nation on Wednesday night in an attempt to calm down the student protests that have raged for more than two weeks.
He vowed to review the students’ demands, saying: “What I want is a concrete, immediate and fully funded answer.”
France faces tough budget and spending negotiations in coming weeks, and uncertainty has pushed French bond yields to their highest level in decades.
Latest company information
A health check of the UK retail industry was carried out this morning with an update from high street giant Tesco.
Tesco has announced that it will raise its profit forecast for this year after sales rose 6.5% in the first half. This came despite an unusually hot summer that affected sales volumes across the industry.
Meanwhile, overnight, South Korean tech giant Samsung predicted a record third-quarter profit of $80 billion.
national medal
Technology and science will take center stage later today when US President Donald Trump awards national medals to luminaries in the field. Elon Musk, Jensen Huang and Satya Nadella are among the group expected to win Thursday.
— Leonie Kidd
And finally…
Elon Musk blames India’s ‘oligarchy’ for delaying Starlink launch
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has accused vested interests of blocking the launch of his company’s Starlink satellite internet service of a “crime against the Indian people” to protect their control over consumers.
The country’s telecommunications and internet services market is dominated by Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s Jio and Sunil Mittal’s Airtel, with a combined market share of more than 80%.
“We are being held back by certain oligarchies to maintain their exclusive control over the people of India,” Musk said in a post about X in the US on Wednesday, without naming his rival. “You can guess who they are,” he said.
— Priyanka Salve
