Thanks for joining me. China slipped into deflation in July in a negative sign for the global growth outlook.

The reading comes a day after news that the country suffered its biggest fall in exports since the early days of the pandemic, while imports tanked again as domestic and global demand fall away.

5 things to start your day 

1) Bank of England’s rate rises risk tipping Britain into recession, economists warn | ‘British disease’ of high interest rates and inflation back as economy faces downturn

2) Scotland jobs market slides amid decline in oil industry | Employment rate falls below national average posing a policy headache for the Scottish government

3) City watchdog investigates ‘debanking’ of customers in wake of Farage scandal | Britain’s largest banks will be forced to reveal how many customers have been blacklisted

4) How the end of ‘Made in China’ is crippling the world’s second largest economy | Once known as the workshop of the world, China’s slump will have widespread effects

5) Government backs plans for Cornish lithium mine to supply battery factories | Investment comes amid a push to shore up British access to domestic rare earth metal supplies

What happened overnight 

Asian shares mostly fell amid concerns about Chinese economic growth.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.5pc to 32,232.60 in afternoon trading. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.3pc to 19,134.00, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.4pc to 3,247.91.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.3pc to 7,329.10. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.3pc to 2,606.84. 

Asian markets had already been tracking Wall Street stocks lower amid worries about the banking system and the global economy after Moody’s downgraded 10 smaller US banks. 

The S&P 500 fell 0.4pc to 4,499.38, although reversed some of its earlier losses. It marked the fifth loss in six days after the broad-based index ended July on a 16-month high. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 0.4pc to 35,314.49, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite shed 0.8pc to 13,884.32.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell to 4.02pc from 4.10pc late Monday.