FirstFT: Attempted coup in Bolivia fails

Good morning.

We start with news of a dramatic day in Bolivia after armed forces arrested a general accused of launching a botched coup.

Juan José Zúñiga, who commanded the South American country’s army, was detained in La Paz in front of television cameras last night after armed soldiers attempted to storm the national palace.

President Luis Arce, a onetime protégé of former leftist leader Evo Morales, called on Bolivians to “mobilise against the coup plotters”. He then replaced Zúñiga with an army commander who called on the soldiers to stand down. Here’s the latest following a dramatic day in La Paz.

And here’s what I’ll be tracking today:

• Biden vs Trump: The current and former US presidents go head to head in a 90-minute debate on CNN tonight. Here’s are five expected flashpoints to watch out for during the first in-person encounter between the pair in four years.

• Economic data: The final reading of US first-quarter gross domestic product figures will be released as well as durable goods orders for May and new applications for US unemployment aid for the week ending June 22.

• Companies: Walgreens Boots Alliance is set to report results for its fiscal third quarter before markets open and Nike reports annual results after the bell. Rivian Automotive is set to hold an investor day after revealing a tie-up with Volkswagen earlier this week.

• Webtoon Entertainment IPO: Shares in the online comics platform that has become South Korea’s latest successful cultural export will begin trading on the Nasdaq today after it sold 15mn shares at the top of its price range.

• EU summit: European leaders will meet in Brussels to decide the line-up of senior positions at the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.

Five more top stories

1. All 31 of the largest US banks passed the Federal Reserve’s yearly so-called stress tests, satisfying regulators that they could withstand a theoretical scenario in which unemployment rose to 10 per cent during a severe recession. The Fed’s scenario also involved a 40 per cent decline in commercial real estate prices, a substantial rise in office vacancies and a 36 per cent fall in house prices. Here’s what the tests mean for the capital requirement ratios at the US’s top banks.

2. Global merger and acquisition deals hit $1.5tn in the first half of 2024 as a surge in US takeovers and an uptick in megamergers offset a declining number of acquisitions. The value of deals struck was 22 per cent higher than a year earlier, according to mid-year data compiled by the London Stock Exchange Group, driven by a 70 per cent rise in big deals worth more than $10bn. Here’s more on the tentative M&A recovery.

3. Amazon is planning to fight back against rising competition from rivals Temu and Shein, mirroring their business models with a new direct-from-China discount section. In a recent meeting with top Chinese sellers, the US group outlined the new channel, which aims to airship goods to American shoppers from warehouses in China, according to a presentation seen by the Financial Times. Here’s what we’ve learnt about the new service.

4. The US Supreme Court appears poised to authorise emergency abortions in the state of Idaho, according to a document published erroneously online yesterday in the latest mishap involving a high-profile case over reproductive rights. The leaked filing said the Idaho case should be dismissed as “improvidently granted”.

5. Boeing yesterday hit back at suggestions that two Nasa astronauts had become “stranded” on the International Space Station following the postponement of the Starliner spacecraft’s return to earth for a second time. Starliner was “performing well”, Boeing said, and astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore could return to earth at any time, if necessary. The delay comes at the worst possible time for Boeing.

Today’s big read

An indictment unveiled in a California court last week highlighted the links between Chinese money launderers and Mexican drug cartels that is fuelling the fentanyl crisis in US towns and cities. The Financial Times has spoken to more than a dozen current and former agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration and high-ranking law enforcement officials in the UK and Italy for a special investigation into this growing network.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Jordan Bardella interview: The far-right candidate to be France’s next prime minister pledged to fight a “cultural battle” against Islamism in an interview with the FT.

• The great wealth transfer: Compared with their parents, children often have different expectations when it comes to managing their money, writes Faith Glasgow.

• Lebanon’s “dead zone”: Data gathered by the FT suggests that 5km north of the UN-drawn border between Israel and Lebanon, known as the Blue Line, is uninhabitable.

Chart of the day

The Japanese yen yesterday fell to its weakest level against the US dollar since 1986, surpassing the level it reached in late April before Japan’s finance ministry spent a record ¥9.8tn ($62bn) to boost the currency. In response to the latest leg lower, Japan’s top currency official, Masato Kanda, told reporters that the government was “seriously concerned” about the yen’s decline.

Take a break from the news

Japanese matcha tea has become popular around the world, with devotees swearing by the feelgood qualities of the vitamin- and antioxidant-rich “superfood”. Here’s where to get your fix of the green tea this summer.

Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo and Benjamin Wilhelm