highs [me esterda ? when ”eole highs esterda ? when ”eole think yesterday? when people think interest rates will go down, why does that boost markets? the link between rates _ does that boost markets? the link between rates and _ does that boost markets? the link between rates and markets - does that boost markets? the link between rates and markets has i does that boost markets? the link. between rates and markets has never been clearer than the dynamics over the last year or so, with higher rates, the value of companies is lower because a lot of value comes from future earnings, higher interest rates mean you discount future earnings by more, and in more simple terms it means the cost of borrowing is higher with higher interest rates, and that is of interest rates, and that is of interest to businesses to grow, so when interest rates come down, that is a boost for both the business operations, cheaper borrowing costs, but also less discounting of those future earnings, stocks tend to go up. future earnings, stocks tend to go u -. l, , future earnings, stocks tend to go u . _ a, , a, future earnings, stocks tend to go up. people are looking to see if the dow will hit — up. people are looking to see if the dow will hit that _ up. people are looking to see if the dow will hit that 40,000 _ up. people are looking to see if the. dow will hit that 40,000 milestone, a level it has never reached before, but is there any reason right now for markets to go higher, have they priced in the fact they expect lower interest rates going forward? it is

interest rates going forward? it is the case that _ interest rates going forward? it is the case that it _ interest rates going forward? it is the case that it is _ interest rates going forward? it 3 the case that it is priced in, interest rates going forward? it 1 the case that it is priced in, not just lower interest rates eventually, we don't have any right now, there is too much pressure still on inflation, but ultimately when you think about the markets and hitting record highs over and over again over the many decades we have been watching markets, the market is itselfjust been watching markets, the market is itself just complication been watching markets, the market is itselfjust complication of the value of the market and companies grow over time, they sell more stuff, generate more profits so they become more valuable. so higher valuations should never be a surprise. they happen over 20 years, this is what we generally expect to happen in a healthy, thriving economy. happen in a healthy, thriving economy-— happen in a healthy, thriving econom . ~ , , , . ., economy. and very briefly, i want to ask ou economy. and very briefly, i want to ask you about _ economy. and very briefly, i want to ask you about these _ economy. and very briefly, i want to ask you about these games - economy. and very briefly, i want to ask you about these games driven i economy. and very briefly, i want to | ask you about these games driven by retail investors on social media, games stocks and shares have fallen after what has been a dramatic two—day rally, is this the new normal, this new permanent feature on the market?—

on the market? there will always be these kind of— on the market? there will always be these kind of strange _ on the market? there will always be these kind of strange aberrations, . these kind of strange aberrations, deviations from rationality, these stocks are a latest example of that. ultimately what investors should care about is the fact the earnings growth this year expect to be ii%, 15% next year, that should give investors confidence that owning equities is still a healthy, solid, long—term approach to building wealth over time. long-term approach to building wealth over time.— long-term approach to building wealth over time. always about the fundamentals. _ wealth over time. always about the fundamentals, thank _ wealth over time. always about the fundamentals, thank you _ wealth over time. always about the fundamentals, thank you very - wealth over time. always about the l fundamentals, thank you very much. shares of us retail giant walmart are soaring, after it raised its sales and profit forecast, betting on easing inflation to further boost to demand foressentials and discretionary products like electronics. profits more than tripled to $5.1 billion on a six—percent rise in revenues to $161.5 billion. walmart�*s gains with wealthier customers reflect marketing efforts to broaden its consumer profile and come against high inflation that has prompted bargain—hunting.

joining me now is sucharita kodali, vp, principal analyst at forrester. walmart�*s share price hasjumped on these results, can you tell us a bit more about what is driving the retailer's strong performance? certain businesses within walmart are actually generating some really off the chart metrics, one is one of the fastest growing business in the entire company, advertising for retailers in general has been very strong, amazon showed it is possible, and walmart is generating quite a bit of business. its e—commerce business is doing incredibly strongly, that is a global story, incredibly strongly, that is a globalstory, notjust incredibly strongly, that is a global story, notjust in the us, there is business also in india. so we saw 20 plus percent growth of

walmart�*s e—commerce business which is simply incredible, we have not seen that level of growth in very many retailers and e—commerce in the last several years, so they are doing particularly well in picking up doing particularly well in picking up shares, so that's part of its international business doing well including mexico. so those are all factors, it is definitely gaining share from all consumer segments and more affluent consumers, but also a lot of consumers across different zones, you are finding value at walmart. ., ~ zones, you are finding value at walmart. . ~ , ., zones, you are finding value at walmart. . ~ i. zones, you are finding value at walmart. ., ~' ,, . zones, you are finding value at walmart. . ~ . ., walmart. thank you so much for 'oinin: us walmart. thank you so much for joining us today. _ walmart. thank you so much for joining us today, sorry _ walmart. thank you so much for joining us today, sorry it - walmart. thank you so much for joining us today, sorry it was - walmart. thank you so much for. joining us today, sorry it was such a brief one, hopefully we will talk again soon. let's go to asia now — because japan's economy has slumped in the first three months of this year — hit by months of weak consumer spending. japan is on track to lose its status as the world's number four economy to india, which could overtake it next year, according to the international monetary fund. japan's total economic output

or gross domestic product shrank at an annual rate of 2% betweenjanuary and march — that's a lot worse than the 1.5% fall expected by economists. so why is it struggling? our asia business reporter mariko oi explains. it boils down to the purchasing power of a common family name in japan, it is about private consumption which accounts for more than half of the economy, and that fell by 0.7% in the first three months of this year, much worse than expected, but if i honest i'm not surprised because 95% of the messages i received from my own mother who lives in tokyo is about how things are getting so much more expensive. inflation injapan is nothing compared to the rest of the world but of course japan had decades new inflation or even

deflation with prices fallen, and authorities are desperate for prices to rise, but ordinary consumers just not are used to it and while wages have risen a bit after decades of new pay rises, wages have been falling for some two years, and of course the weakness of the japanese yen does not help because it makes imported products like oil more expensive, and that is why people have been tightening their purse strings. there are a lot of talks on the growing wealth gap because as we have been talking about the japanese stock market has been doing really well, so those who invest have been getting wealthier but the number of people who put money in the stock market are still not the majority. no reason to panic — that's the message from the chief executive of the london stock exchange over the growing number of companies worth hundreds of billions of pounds which are leaving it. they've gone to new york, or been snapped up by foreign buyers. the uk's finance minister, chancellor of the exchequerjeremy

hunt, is holding a summit on how to stop the exodus, which is being described as an existential risk to a vital part of the economy. here's our business editor, simonjack. for centuries, the area around st paul's has brought together companies that need money to grow and those who have money to invest. it's home to the london stock exchange, where our pensions and savings buy shares in companies so we can share in their future success. but firms are leaving the london market and looking elsewhere, like ali's biotech business, which is looking at higher prices in new york and is bad news for london. it's more than a crisis to me. it's an existential crisis. what i'm saying is i don't see any world where the united kingdom should not be actively engaged and practising artificial intelligence, technology and biotechnology. the amount of companies leaving the exchange in that field in those sectors is extremely alarming. some big companies have either already left,

they're about to leave or thinking of leaving. cambridge—based tech giant arm holdings is now listed in new york. paddy power's owner flutter is leaving injune. so is travel company tui. many others have been snapped up privately. royal mail's owners are keen to sell to a czech billionaire. even the uk's biggest company, shell, has warned it can't rule out a move to the us to get a higher share price. the boss of the london stock exchange seemed relaxed and insisted the uk was holding its own. there is no sense of panic. i do think there is a need to get the facts out there, but i think one has to recognise that the us economy is the largest economy in the world and therefore has a huge amount of capital. we are the sixth largest economy in the world with the third largest capital market, so we are already punching above our weight. and the fact that the only place we're really competing with is the us is entirely to our credit. but get this — a single company, apple, is worth more than the 100 biggest companies listed in london combined.

on average, us listed companies cammand double the price per pound or dollar of profit. little wonder uk companies are looking at new york. so who cares if they go elsewhere to raise money? the point is, it's notjust about the london stock exchange. the companies listed here need accounting services, legal services, insurance policies. it's like a coral reef that contributes 10% of all uk economic activity and 10% of all taxes collected. if a giant like shell were to leave, how big a blow would that be? massive. absolutely massive. because inevitably other| companies would follow. bp would have to be considering it. and then the whole ecosystem goes. the uk market shrinks, i so it definitively impacts on our own economy, not only the stock market. _ london lost some business to european exchanges after brexit, but they are struggling to compete with new york too. london is not burning. but the chancellor is concerned

enough to fetch the big city engines to a major summit at his official country retreat. simonjack, bbc news in the city. in europe the picture was mixed. turning to the us, all eyes on the dowjones, that 40,000 milestone is something psychologically that is considered significant, it has flirted with aberthaw back in march, we will see that 100 points of that now. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. some places continue to bask under blue skies and warm sunshine, but, for others, it's quite a different—looking day. some cloud and rain for one of our weather watchers this morning in cambridgeshire, in association with this frontal system.

our weather at the moment is still being driven by low pressure, centred to the south of us. but we will see some outbreaks of rain continuing westwards across the midlands into wales, some heavy thundery downpours to the south of that. for northern england, northern ireland and scotland, some decent spells of sunshine. but even here, one or two heavy thundery showers breaking out. temperatures in northern scotland up to around 24 celsius, more generally, 17 to 21. but always feeling a bit cooler than that where you have the cloud and the rain, which through the late afternoon and the evening could turn very heavy indeed across parts of the west midlands, mid and north wales. there could be enough rain for some localised flooding and some travel disruption before that rain clears away westwards, leaving a band of cloud behind across parts of wales and northern england. and elsewhere, there will be some patches of mist and fog, some clear spells, too. we start tomorrow morning with temperatures generally between 7 and 12 celsius. so a band of cloud to start off across parts of northern england and north wales. there'll be some patches of mistiness elsewhere, but a lot of that should tend

to lift and break up. and then we will see some spells of sunshine, albeit with a scattering of showers. temperature—wise, well, highs of 21 to 22, maybe 23 celsius in the warmest locations. now, into the weekend, we will continue to see some mist and fog, particularly at night and in the mornings. also some spells of warm sunshine, but with some heavy showers, particularly on saturday, where you're closest to this area of low pressure. quite a flabby feature, but centred just to the south of us. could see some more persistent rain for a time first thing across south east england. that will tend to clear then it is southern parts that i think will bear the brunt of the showers on saturday. further north, a lot of mist and murk and low cloud first thing, some spells of sunshine, but more cloud creeping into north west scotland and northern ireland that knock the temperatures back a little bit for some areas. and then, into sunday, a mostly dry day, actually, a few showers. best of the sunshine likely to be across england and wales.

more cloud for northern ireland and scotland, certainly turning cooler in the north of scotland. furthersouth, highs of around 22 celsius.

live from london. this is bbc news. police charge a man with the attempted murder of the slovakian prime minister, who's in a serious condition after being shot. south africa asks the international court ofjustice to instruct israel to stop its offensive in rafah.

we're live in the hague. president putin is given a red—carpet welcome on his state visit to china, signing a joint declaration with president xi, outlining the two countries' close ties. and here in the uk, labour's keir starmer sets out his party's key messages ahead of the general election, insisting they have not 'scaled back�* on their ambitions. hello and welcome. a man has been charged with the attempted murder of slovakia's prime minister. robert fico was shot several times yesterday in while visiting a small town in the centre of the country. he's now in a serious but stable condition in hospital in bratislava. at a news conference, the slovak interior minister described the suspect as a lone wolf, who opposed the government.

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