0:02

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts,

0:05

radio news.

0:07

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski says

0:09

he's grateful to US politicians

0:11

who've backed a massive foreign aid package

0:13

for his country. The sixty one

0:16

billion dollar bill includes air

0:18

defense missiles and artillery shells,

0:20

as well as seven billion dollars for US

0:22

military operations in the region. The

0:25

legislation, passed by the House over the weekend,

0:27

will likely be signed into law this week

0:29

after a Senate vote in the coming days.

0:32

Speaking to NBC's Meet the Press, Zelenski

0:34

said he believes the aid package will prevent

0:36

the war with Russia from expanding.

0:39

This aid will strengthen

0:41

Ukraine. We did lose the initiative there

0:44

now to have all the

0:47

chance to stabilize the

0:49

situation and to or

0:51

take the initiative.

0:53

Zelenski's comment, spoken there by a translator,

0:56

were echoed by those of the UK Foreign Secretary

0:58

David Cameron. Welcome to the extra support

1:00

for Ukraine, calling us a vital step

1:03

forward.

1:04

The US House of Representatives

1:06

also tied legislation requiring

1:09

TikTok's owner, Bike Dance

1:11

to sell its stake in the social media firm

1:13

into that Ukraine aid bill. If

1:16

the Chinese parent company refuses to

1:18

divest, its platform may be

1:21

banned in the US. Sources

1:23

have told Bloomberg that Bike Dance intends

1:25

to fight the effort in court and exhaust

1:27

all legal challenges before it considers

1:30

any kind of selloff. Meanwhile, the

1:32

TikTok executive who was tasked

1:34

with placating US lawmakers concerns

1:36

about the social media platform, is

1:39

reportedly leaving the company. Bloomberg's

1:41

Ed Baxter has the details.

1:43

The reports say that TikTok is letting him

1:45

go, saying he wasn't doing enough to stave off

1:48

US security concerns regarding its

1:50

ties with Honor Bike Dance in China.

1:53

Eric Anderson's role had been incrementally

1:55

reduced, but with a passage of the devest

1:57

bill passed by the House over the week,

2:00

and it looks now more imminent. A

2:02

TikTok statement said the reports were false,

2:05

but then the publication the information said

2:07

Anderson has informed his legal

2:09

team that he is leaving and that

2:12

it is his decision. Head

2:14

Baxter Bloomberg.

2:15

Radio Tesla has once

2:17

again slashed the price of its vehicles

2:20

as it looks to defend its market share

2:22

from rivals in China and elsewhere.

2:24

The aggressive move comes at a tough

2:27

time for the automaker, with its share

2:29

price down around forty percent this year.

2:31

Last week, the ev Giant announced global

2:34

job cuts of more than ten percent under

2:36

recall of its new cyber truck. Meanwhile,

2:39

Bloomberg has learned that a number of staff have

2:41

been left unsettled by CEO

2:44

Elon Musk's sudden focus

2:46

on a self driving vehicle robotaxi.

2:49

Bloomberg's Global business editor Peter

2:52

Verko says the change of direction is

2:54

dizzying.

2:55

Even by Elon Musk's standards. It's

2:57

been a pretty wild week. I think what

3:00

does want more than anything? Though He's do just some clarity

3:02

on the strategy. It was only three months

3:04

ago that on the earnings call, mask was

3:07

talking up progress on this twenty five

3:09

thousand dollars mass market car. Last

3:11

week the whole thing seems to have

3:13

swung towards his autonomous

3:15

self driving taxi or robotaxi.

3:19

Peter Verko's comments come as markets await

3:21

Tesla's latest set of results on Tuesday.

3:24

The firm is expected to report a forty

3:27

percent plunge in operating profits

3:29

and its first revenue decline in

3:31

four years.

3:33

ECB rate setter Frans wavinwood

3:35

Gallo says that oil market uncertainty

3:38

won't dissuade the Central Bank from

3:40

cutting rates in June. His reasoning,

3:43

even if conflict did push up oil

3:45

costs, policymakers would have to analyze

3:48

whether those shots fueled underlying

3:50

prices and inflation expectations.

3:53

The Bank of France governor also made

3:55

clear that policymakers shouldn't wait too

3:57

long to lower boring costs. A

4:00

surprise. Markets curtly expect

4:02

the ECB to cut rates by zero point

4:05

twenty five percent at its next

4:07

meeting on the sixth of June.

4:09

The Conservative MP Mark Menzies is quitting

4:11

the party and won't stand at the next election

4:14

after being accused of misconduct.

4:16

The MP for if for filed

4:19

in Lancashire reportedly telephoned an

4:21

elderly local activist at three am

4:23

one morning asking her to give him five

4:25

thousand pounds Bloomber Exchanmes Wilcock

4:28

as more.

4:29

With Menzies, there are now sixty four

4:31

Conservative MPs who won't try and

4:33

keep their seats in the next election. That's

4:35

eighteen percent of the party. The

4:38

now x Tory MP's exit spares

4:40

the Prime Minister another by election and

4:42

more days of lurid headlines. Richie

4:45

Sinak will be hoping to rally his party around

4:47

immigration with a vote on his flagship

4:49

Rwanda bill coming later today, but

4:52

it doesn't change the difficult narrative

4:54

forming around the government around sleees

4:56

and electoral doom. In

4:58

London, James Wilcock, Bloomberg Radio.

5:02

And Staying in the UK asking prices

5:04

for homes here are rising at their highest

5:07

rate in a year. The increase is largely

5:09

being driven by figures at the top end of the market.

5:12

Bluebag's Tea ad Bayer has the details.

5:15

Buying a house in the UK will now cost

5:17

you just over three hundred and seventy

5:19

two thousand pounds on average, according

5:22

to data from right Move. That's up

5:24

one point seven percent from last year and

5:26

only five hundred and seventy pounds below

5:29

the all time record for UK home prices

5:31

seen in May twenty twenty three. The

5:34

price gains are being driven by larger

5:36

four and five bed homes, a corner

5:38

of the market that has seen the strongest start

5:40

of the year, as the number of new sellers

5:43

rose eighteen percent from twenty twenty

5:45

three, says the online salesportal, But

5:47

those looking to purchase their first homes

5:49

are struggling to keep up the

5:52

highest interest rates in sixteen years,

5:54

combined with surging inflation, have

5:56

drained consumer finances, factors

5:59

which i'd limit further house price

6:01

growth. In twenty twenty four, in

6:03

London, tee you. We're at a Bayo Bloomberg Radio.

6:06

Those are your top stories on the markets. The MSCIO

6:08

specific index is up eight tenths of one percent,

6:11

eurostocks, fifty futures are three tenths of

6:13

one percent higher, and the ten yure treasury yield

6:15

up three and a half basis points to four point

6:18

six six percent.

6:20

Now in a moment, we'll bring you more on the US

6:22

A bill now on a fast track

6:24

to grant aid to Ukraine, Israel

6:27

and Gaza, plus force the Chinese

6:29

owners of TikTok to sell its steak

6:32

or face a ban in the United States.

6:34

But before we get to that, another

6:36

story called our I this morning, how

6:39

a craze for bubble tea has

6:41

created at least half a dozen

6:44

billionaires in China.

6:46

I feel like I have to preface by saying that I don't get

6:48

bubble tea, regular tea, fine

6:50

bubble tea.

6:51

Now I'm afraid I have a hole in my wallet

6:53

due to bubble tea.

6:54

And what is this you are you

6:56

buying for members of your family?

6:58

For members of the family, I will put it that

7:00

way. The craze has hit London

7:02

probably did about a couple of years ago. Everywhere

7:05

it's very expensive. Quite shagree, but yes, I

7:07

think this read on the Boomberg terminal though about

7:10

the money behind it is totally fascinating.

7:11

Yeah, and it comes ahead of the China's number

7:14

three bubble tea chain is listing

7:16

in Hong Kong tomorrow Buy

7:18

to Buydow and it's expected to raise more

7:21

than three hundred million US

7:23

dollars and it sort of speaks to the craze around

7:25

it. But what's interesting is is the competition in the

7:27

market in China is so fierce. And what's distinguished

7:29

this company is they charge less than their

7:31

rivals. They've managed to build market share grow

7:34

their sales because they're charging around two

7:36

dollars for their half

7:38

liter tea, which is around half

7:40

of what the industry standard was when it comes

7:42

to the prices they're charging in China.

7:45

But there's a question too. Of course, Chinese economy

7:47

is slowing, customers are reigning in their spending.

7:50

Maybe this is something that might actually impact

7:52

this market as much as everything else. Also

7:54

comes at a very interesting time for IBOs in Hong Kong

7:56

as well. So there's a whole number of strands to the story

7:58

billionaires, bubble tea, stock market listings.

8:00

It's got a t all.

8:01

Yeah, absolutely, and it's in Bloomberg

8:03

BusinessWeek of course, so all the bees. Let's

8:06

bring you that now, though, back to our top

8:09

story, shall we. The US Senate is

8:11

expected to approve more than ninety

8:13

five billion dollars in foreign aid, including

8:15

funding for Ukraine, Israel, and

8:18

Taiwan on Tuesday. For Ukraine,

8:20

the assistance is expected to reach the military

8:22

pretty swiftly, but it's also seen

8:25

as unlikely to turn the tide

8:27

of the war on its own. Joining us

8:29

now to discuss is Bloomberg's EMEA news

8:31

director Roslyn Matheson, good morning.

8:33

Was good to see you in person. The

8:35

aid package was long delayed.

8:38

It'd been broken down into pieces for

8:40

it to be passed by the legislators. What

8:43

is actually part of this huge

8:45

package.

8:46

Well, it's a whole lot of different stuff, that's part

8:48

of it. Really, most of it is to allow

8:50

the US to buy more weapons

8:52

to send to these places,

8:54

particularly Ukraine, but also

8:57

Israel, which has used a lot of kit It's

9:00

Iron Dome military defense system

9:03

of late defending against missile and

9:05

other attacks on Israel. So

9:07

it's to allow them to replenish their stock.

9:09

Some of it's quite specific. It's in

9:11

the case of Taiwan, to support some development

9:13

around submarines, for example.

9:16

In Ukraine's case, it's also about economic

9:19

aid loans to Ukraine

9:21

to help keep literally the lights on for

9:23

the government and the administration. So it's

9:25

a conglomertive stuff, as you say, broken

9:28

down into pieces to allow it to get through

9:30

it or come together again in one place

9:32

to get to the Senate, of course, where it will

9:34

pass, as you say, likely on Tuesday.

9:37

But the idea is simply to really allow

9:39

the faster flow of weaponry into

9:41

various places, most of all Ukraine.

9:44

Will it be enough though, to make a difference to

9:46

Ukraine's fight against Russia.

9:49

Well, it sounds as though the US has been preparing

9:51

for this. So there is quite a lot of equipment piled

9:53

up near the border with Poland that

9:56

can move pretty quickly, but either way, we're

9:58

still looking at least a matter of wa for

10:00

that to happen, and certainly for some

10:02

of the longer range missile stuff that they're

10:04

talking about as part of this bill,

10:06

that's going to take longer, and that's what Ukraine

10:09

says it really needs. And at this

10:11

point, you know, any aid obviously is

10:13

better than none, but aid of

10:15

this magnitude six months ago probably would

10:18

have been more beneficial on the battle for

10:20

Ukraine than coming now.

10:23

And the question is, has momentum really

10:25

turned in favor of Russia. We can

10:27

see they're making gains on the ground, we

10:30

can see the progress there. Getting

10:32

those weapons to the front line, including

10:35

things like artillery and ammunition,

10:37

will take time, and is it

10:39

really too late to stem that tide.

10:42

That is the question, especially, you

10:44

know, as they're gearing up for fresh offensive.

10:46

So while the aid is no doubt very welcomed by

10:49

Ukraine, you can see the comments from

10:51

the government, especially Presidents Lynski

10:54

yesterday, he's also still

10:56

a bit cautious, like he knows momentum

10:59

is against them and this aid may not really

11:01

do that much to change the equation on the ground.

11:04

Also included in this bill, as

11:06

you say, quite sprawling, and it touches

11:09

on many issues. The Iranian

11:11

sanctions, US sanctions against Iran,

11:14

Will those make a difference to the oil

11:17

price?

11:18

Well, that's the thing. Actually last week we had a Twitter

11:20

space with some of our experts in house and

11:22

we debated Iran sections on

11:24

quite an existential level, because a bit

11:26

like Russia and other parts of the world, there's

11:28

pretty much nothing in the Iran that's not sanctioned

11:30

at this point, and has that really deterred

11:33

Iran? Not arguably, because the

11:35

main thing the US would need to do is really seek

11:38

to take around out of the global oil

11:40

market and stop it supplying oil

11:42

anywhere, and an election year with one

11:44

eye inflation in the economy, it's unlikely

11:47

that the US administration is going to want to do

11:49

that. And so you're still allowing around to

11:51

supply the market different parts

11:53

of the market with oil, and that's important for

11:55

Iran's economy and therefore for its

11:57

war machinery. So unless you actually

12:00

change the supply dynamic, you're

12:02

not going to change Irun's behavior. And

12:04

you can see the high caution about anything

12:06

that might cause actual proper disruption

12:09

to the aill market and so the aill price has gone

12:11

up a bit as we've seen some of these

12:13

strikes back and forth. You've seen a premium

12:15

come into oil on the idea of geopolitical

12:18

risk, but so far we've not seen any sign

12:21

that supply will properly be disrupted when

12:23

it comes to a run.

12:24

Just a word on what this means

12:26

in domestic US politics as well, because

12:29

the Speaker ignored demands to add US

12:31

border legislation into this package

12:34

as well. What's the dynamic

12:36

around that and what does that mean for his position?

12:38

Well, his position is probably a little bit precarious

12:41

as a result. I mean, you have some members of his

12:43

party saying they're going to have a vote to oust him.

12:45

You know that's not going to happen immediately

12:48

with the House on recess, but he's

12:50

obviously taken a call that he wants to throw his

12:52

lot in with the Hawks and the Republican Party. So

12:54

you've got two camps essentially at this

12:56

point. You've got the Hawks who say the US needs

12:58

to be out in the world militarily

13:00

defend standing up for what it believes, and you've

13:02

got those who are more isolationist foreign

13:05

policies, saying the EU I shouldn't be spending its time

13:07

on other people's conflicts overseas.

13:10

So he's got some backing from the hawks in

13:12

the Republican camp. And most interestingly,

13:14

he did meet with the Republican

13:16

nominee or the presumptive Republican nominee,

13:19

Donald Trump a couple of weeks ago. They

13:21

had a meeting and a long chat. We don't

13:23

quite know what happened in that conversation, but

13:26

one would imagine that this came up, and possibly

13:29

if he thinks that he's managed to convince

13:31

Donald Trump and he's got his support, that

13:33

may have been a factor and his decision

13:35

to move forward. And of course Donald Trump is

13:38

now very influential on what happens within

13:40

Congress itself when it comes to the Republicans.

13:43

Yeah. Absolutely, wells, thank you so much

13:45

for your time. Bluebag's EMEA news

13:47

director Roslind Matheson.

13:49

We want to dig into another aspect of that aid

13:51

package, which is part of that legislation

13:54

would force the Chinese controlled bitdowns

13:56

to divest itself from the social media app

13:58

TikTok or face a Ba.

14:00

In the US, Our.

14:01

Asia Government of Politics correspondent Rebecca Chung

14:03

Wilkins is with US for more, Rebecca

14:07

has spent years trying to convince the US

14:09

that it's not a national security Throughout that effort

14:11

seemed to have failed.

14:12

Now, yes, I mean in

14:14

the short answer is yes, I mean various US actors

14:17

have tried to figure out some way to curb or

14:19

restrict or outright ban TikTok

14:22

in multiple other bills in Congress

14:24

and so on in other ways, including for example,

14:26

also former President Trump. It

14:28

does seem that this sort of particular framework,

14:31

this divestor ban, manages

14:33

to have threaded that noodle worth

14:36

saying, though, I think that behind the scenes,

14:38

you know, both the company and Chinese

14:41

embassy workers, for example, reportedly

14:43

still meeting with congressional

14:45

staff, still trying to lobby against

14:48

the bill and trying to work work

14:51

magic behind the scenes. Also, of course,

14:53

you've seen on the app itself TikTok

14:55

encouraging users to call their senators

14:57

and impose this, sorry, oppose

14:59

this, Excuse me. But it does seem like we are

15:02

moving from that sort of discussion influence

15:04

phase to litigation

15:06

phase, and TikTok has said

15:08

it's going to exhaust all the possible legal avenues

15:11

it can to try and prevent any

15:13

kind of divestment, and Beijing potentially

15:15

has the means to block any such divestment

15:18

as well.

15:20

This is Bloomberg Daybreak Europe, your morning

15:22

brief on the stories making news from London

15:24

to Wall Street and beyond.

15:26

Look for us on your podcast feed every

15:28

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15:31

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and Bloomberg dot Com.

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15:46

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15:48

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15:52

on Bloomberg day Break Europe