Friday 12 June 2026
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: ECB increases interest rates to 2.25%
Business: Frasers Group makes $2 billion bid for Hugo Boss
Markets: SpaceX lists on Nasdaq today with $1.77 trillion value
Foreign Affairs: Allied ambassadors meet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Security and intelligence: US and South Korea discuss nuclear deterrence
Domestic politics: UK Defence Secretary resigns over funding dispute
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 10,303.88 (up 0.48%)
S&P 500 = 7,394.30 (up 1.75%)
Nasdaq = 25,809.66 (up 2.54%)
Stoxx 600 = 621.53 (up 0.54%)
£1 = $1.34 / €1.16
Lab / Con / Reform / Green = 16 / 18 / 25 / 17 per cent (Find Out Now, 10-11 June)
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The Mighty Detail
Economics: The European Central Bank has increased interest rates for the first time since 2023. The 0.25 percentage point increase means that the main interest rate now stands at 2.25 per cent. ECB President, Christine Lagarde, cited the Iran War as a factor because it was “generating inflation pressures”.
Business: Frasers Group has made an offer of around $2 billion (€38 a share) to complete its takeover of Hugo Boss. Frasers Group, which is owned by billionaire Mike Ashley, already owns around 26 per cent of the fashion brand.
Frasers also owns Sports Direct, Gieves & Hawkes and Slazenger.
Markets: Elon Musk’s SpaceX will list on the Nasdaq stock exchange today. The IPO is expected to raise $75 billion in a deal which values the company at around $1.77 trillion. SpaceX is offering 555.6 million shares at a price of $135 a share.
It is the largest IPO in history and follows Saudi Aramco’s then record IPO of $29.4 billion in 2019.
Foreign Affairs: The ambassadors of Britain, France and Germany met the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Galuzin, in Moscow yesterday for a rare discussion of the war in Ukraine. They called for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia with European and US support.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the ambassadors had proposed a “dead-end Zelenskyy formula”.
Security and intelligence: US and South Korean officials met in Seoul, South Korea yesterday to discuss nuclear deterrence. It follows concerns in recent days about North Korea’s growing nuclear ambitions which saw North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, inspect a new nuclear production plant.
Domestic politics: The UK Defence Secretary, John Healey, resigned from the Government yesterday. Healey said that the Government’s proposed funding for UK defence was insufficient. Prime Minister Starmer responded by suggesting that the military would have sufficient resources.
Healey has been replaced by Dan Jarvis, a Home Office minister since 2024 and a former army officer.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
SpaceX goes public with IPO on the Nasdaq
UK GDP data (April) – set to fall by 0.1 per cent
Football World Cup:
South Korea vs Czechia (3.00am)
Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (8.00pm)
Lookahead to the weekend
Saturday
The King attends the Trooping of the Colour (with gun salutes in Green Park at 12.52pm and at the Tower of London at 1.00pm)
Football World Cup:
USA vs Paraguay (2.00am)
Qatar vs Switzerland (8.00pm)
Brazil vs Morocco (11.00pm)
Sunday
President Trump’s 80th birthday
Referendum in Switzerland on a population cap
F1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans 2026
Football World Cup:
Haiti vs Scotland (2.00am)
Australia vs Turkey (5.00am)
Germany vs Curaçao (6.00pm)
The Netherlands vs Japan (9.00pm)
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Cloudy but dry in the southeast of England. Light rain in the northeast. Heavy rain in the northwest and morning drizzle in the southwest. High of 22C and low of 12C in London. Morning rain in Belfast. Sunny spells in Edinburgh.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow, and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune's control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.” – Seneca, Ancient Roman philosopher
Mighty takeaway: Try not to postpone things.
That’s it for this morning and for this week. We hope that you have a splendid weekend!
Cheerio!
The Mighty Memo team
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