South Korea elects a president as EU rules on Bulgarian euro entry

Hey and welcome to the working week.

It’s determination time on quite a lot of fronts in the course of the subsequent seven days. I’ll begin with South Korea, which can on Tuesday elect a brand new president at a vital time for Asia’s fourth-largest economic system.

South Korea is wrestling with slowing progress whereas being battered by international commerce tensions. The clear frontrunner, in keeping with the polls, is the 61-year-old leftwinger Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Social gathering of Korea. In the meantime, the ruling proper of centre Folks Energy occasion has fallen into disarray, largely because of its reluctance to interrupt with disgraced former PPP president Yoon Suk Yeol, a hardline former prosecutor who was impeached midway via his five-year time period and subsequently removed following his ill-fated martial legislation declaration final yr.

Whoever triumphs on Tuesday should grapple with a slowing economic system below stress from the consequences of US President Donald Trump’s aggressive commerce insurance policies, in addition to a North Korea emboldened by its rising nuclear arsenal and its blossoming relationship with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. For extra on that, read this.

The Eurozone might be making each financial and political selections this week. On Wednesday, the European Fee is anticipated to publish its long-awaited view on whether or not Bulgaria is able to undertake the euro. Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov is confident of getting the inexperienced mild and making the forex authorized tender as quickly as January 1 2026.

The opposite little bit of euro information this week might be from Frankfurt, the place the European Central Financial institution’s rate-setting committee has a choice to make. The hawks have been lining as much as urge caution, however a 25 foundation factors lower is taken as a given, priced in at near 100 per cent likelihood, in keeping with Reuters. Need to maintain updated with rates of interest (and inflation) globally? The FT has a tracker for that.

In UK politics, the selection is extra between weapons and butter as we await the publication of the federal government’s strategic defence assessment on Monday, which can define new threats, the capabilities wanted to deal with them, the state of the British armed forces and the sources obtainable. The reply to that final query is prone to be not a lot. The general answer, like the reply to so lots of life’s trendy questions it appears, is to go digital.

Some choices are already made, however want backing. With this in thoughts Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to Saskatoon on Monday, hoping to nurture a love-in among the many first ministers of the Canadian provinces and push his “strongest economic system within the G7” ambition.

A key objective on this effort (led by Canada’s minister for transport and inside commerce, and former FT deputy editor, Chrystia Freeland) is to exorcise federal commerce boundaries, estimated to price the economic system $200bn a yr, by July 1 (Canada Day). Carney can be anticipated to stipulate “One Canadian Economic system” laws to quick monitor initiatives equivalent to ports, important mineral mines and commerce corridors.

The company outcomes trickle via once more, bulging in the course of the week. It’s the same story for the financial experiences, probably the most notable being US employment figures, the OECD financial outlook and the buying managers’ index (PMI) comparisons between the bigger economies. Extra particulars under.

Another factor . . . 

A few of us had been turned on to laptop gaming by Sinclair’s ZX Spectrum. For my Gen Z youngsters, it was the Nintendo Change. This might be a momentous week for them (and one through which I really feel the era hole yawning ever wider) as Nintendo launches its a lot anticipated next-generation Change 2 video games console with forecasts of 15mn unit sales within the firm’s present monetary yr. The brand new machine guarantees a bigger display, upgraded magnetic controllers, referred to as Pleasure-Cons, and a brand new chat perform. The one characteristic I want for them to maintain is the app that permits me to see how a lot time my offspring spend on the machine once they might need been learning.

Are you excited a few new video games console? Can Nintendo prime the communal shout fest that’s Tremendous Smash Bros? E-mail me at jonathan.moules@ft.com or, if you’re studying this out of your inbox, hit reply.

Key financial and firm experiences

Here’s a extra full listing of what to anticipate when it comes to firm experiences and financial knowledge this week.

Monday

• US Federal Reserve board member Christopher Waller speaks on the financial outlook on the 2025 Financial institution of Korea Worldwide Convention: Structural Shifts and Financial Coverage, in Seoul

• Catherine Mann, a Financial Coverage Committee member on the Financial institution of England, joins a fireplace chat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors IF seventy fifth anniversary convention in Washington

• Canada, Eurozone, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, UK, US: S&P World/HCOB/HSBC Could manufacturing buying managers’ index (PMI) knowledge

• China: Dragon Boat Competition vacation (Tuen Ng). Monetary markets closed.

• UK: British Retail Consortium Could Financial Monitor report and Nationwide Could Home Value Index

• Outcomes: The Campbell’s Firm Q3, Sirius Actual Property FY

Tuesday

• Financial institution of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda provides a speech on the Naigai Josei Chosa Kai assembly in Japan.

• Sarah Hunter, assistant governor (financial) on the Reserve Financial institution of Australia provides a keynote speech on the Financial Society of Australia Queensland Enterprise Lunch in Brisbane

• De La Rue shareholders to vote on the proposed takeover of the corporate by Atlas at a normal assembly. If accepted, the deal will change into efficient on July 2

• OECD Financial Outlook

• China: Caixin Could manufacturing PMI knowledge

• EU: flash Could inflation estimate and April unemployment knowledge

• US: April Job Openings and Labor Turnover (Jolts) knowledge

• Outcomes: British American Tobacco HY buying and selling assertion, Chemring HY, CrowdStrike Q1, Greenback Basic Q1, FD Applied sciences FY, Ferguson Q3, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Q2, Pennon FY

Wednesday

• Australia: Q1 GDP estimate

• Canada: rate of interest announcement

• Canada, Eurozone, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, UK, US: S&P World/HCOB/HSBC Could companies PMI knowledge

• UK: Worldwide Reserves knowledge

• US: Beige E book printed

• Outcomes: B&M European Worth Retail FY, Descartes Methods Q1, DiscoverIE FY, Greenback Tree Q1, Empiric Pupil Property AGM and Q1 buying and selling assertion, Ninety One FY, Paragon Banking Group HY, Seraphim Area Funding Belief Q3, WHSmith buying and selling assertion

Thursday

• Nintendo releases its new Change 2 video games console, that includes a much bigger display and higher graphics than its extremely in style predecessor. The corporate is forecasting sales of 15mn within the new product’s first yr, regardless of US tariffs

• Econdat’s two-day spring assembly at King’s School London, the place central bankers and researchers will collect to debate the economics concerned in non-traditional knowledge and analytical instruments.

• The CBI Nationwide Enterprise Dinner is held in London, historically addressed by a senior member of the federal government

• China: Caixin Could companies PMI knowledge

• Eurozone, France, Germany, Italy, UK: S&P World/HCOB building PMI knowledge

• EU: European Central Financial institution rate of interest announcement

• Germany: April manufacturing orders knowledge

• UK: Could Resolution Maker Panel analysis

• US: April worldwide commerce in items and companies

• Outcomes: Broadcom Q2, Brown-Forman This autumn, Ciena Q2, CMC Markets FY, Dr Martens FY, Lululemon Athletica Q1, Mitie FY, PVH Q1, Samsara Q1, Victoria’s Secret Q1, Smart FY, Wizz Air FY, Workspace FY

Friday

• EU: Q1 GDP estimate

• Japan: Consumption Exercise Index

• South Korea: Memorial Day. Monetary markets closed

• UK: Halifax Home Value Index

• US: Could employment report

• Outcomes: ABM Q2

World occasions

Lastly, here’s a rundown of different occasions and milestones this week.

Monday

• Canada: Prime Minister Mark Carney joins the elected heads of the north American nation’s provinces on the Assembly of First Ministers in Saskatoon

• Poland: two-day EU-US Justice and Residence Affairs ministerial assembly begins in Warsaw

• UK: authorities publishes its strategic defence assessment

Tuesday

• Austria: Vienna hosts the Austrian World Summit. The occasion, now in its ninth yr, is organised by the Schwarzenegger Local weather Initiative, a physique created by the Austrian-American actor Arnold Schwarzenegger

• South Korea: presidential election

Wednesday

Thursday

• fiftieth anniversary of the UK voting to hitch the Frequent Market, which later grew to become the EU, in a nationwide referendum. It voted to go away the EU in 2016

• Naksa Day noticed by Palestinians to recognise the “Day of the Setback” in 1967 when Israel gained the six-day battle, taking management of the West Financial institution and Gaza Strip leading to hundreds of Palestinians being displaced

• Belgium: Nato defence ministers assembly in Brussels

• Burundi: parliamentary and native elections

• UK: begin of the fifth London Design Biennial, showcasing the position of design in fixing challenges. This yr’s theme is Floor Reflections

Friday

• Eid al-Adha, the second of the 2 predominant festivals in Islam, begins this night. Celebrations and observances are usually carried ahead to the three following days, generally known as the Tashreeq days.

Saturday

• France: Roland-Garros French Open 2025 tennis ladies’s singles ultimate day in Paris. The lads’s ultimate will happen on Sunday

• UK: thirteenth Liverpool Biennial, Britain’s largest free up to date visible arts competition, begins. Occasions will happen throughout the town’s public areas, galleries and museums till September 14 below the theme Bedrock

Sunday

• Germany: Uefa Nations League ultimate, concluding the fourth version of the worldwide males’s soccer event

• US: 78th Tony Awards for the American theatre trade, introduced in New York’s Radio Metropolis Music Corridor