July 20, 2026

Leadership Change in the United Kingdom: Andy Burnham Takes Office as Prime Minister

International

On the international front, Labour’s Andy Burnham took office today as the United Kingdom’s prime minister, replacing Keir Starmer and becoming the seventh British head of government in the last decade. In his first speech, Burnham emphasized the need to restore political stability and promised to push for structural changes in the economy. The appointment of Shabana Mahmood as the new finance minister was viewed favorably by investors in British government bonds (gilts).

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

The major U.S. stock indexes closed Friday with widespread losses. The Nasdaq led the declines with a drop of -1.4%, followed by the S&P 500 with a decline of -1.0%, while the Dow Jones fell -0.8%. With these results, the indices have posted year-to-date gains of +9.8%, +8.9%, and +8.5%, respectively.

As for bond yields, the U.S. Treasury yield curve saw slight increases at the shorter end. The 1-year Treasury note rose from 3.97% to 3.99%, while the 3-year Treasury note rose from 4.19% to 4.21%. Meanwhile, the 10-year bond remained virtually unchanged at 4.55%.

Also on Friday, the University of Michigan released its preliminary July Consumer Sentiment Index, which came in higher than expected at 54.4 points, above the analysts’ consensus estimate of 51.0 points and June’s final reading of 49.5 points.

Finally, in the commodities market, price movements were mixed. Gold rose +0.9% to USD 4,012.3 per ounce, while soybeans climbed +0.8% to USD 442.3 per metric ton. In the energy sector, oil prices rose sharply: WTI rose +4.2% to USD 82.2 per barrel, and Brent gained +4.4% to close at USD 87.9 per barrel.