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Premium electric vehicle brand Zeekr unveiled its first plug-in hybrid sport utility vehicle, joining the growing number of Chinese EV makers incorporating gasoline engines into new models to help ease range anxiety.

Built on the new 900-volt Sustainable Experience Architecture-S platform developed by parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., the full-sized 9X is equipped with ultra fast charging that will see its battery power reach 80% from 10% in just 10 minutes.

China’s top auto and tech companies are in the race to reduce charging times even further, though the widespread roll out of technology like BYD Co.’s five-minute charge battery requires the building of thousands of stations that can support upgraded EVs.

Close Federal Reserve watchers have a message for anyone who thinks the next leader of the US central bank will deliver lower borrowing costs on a silver platter: Don’t count on it.

While it’s an unlikely outcome, some investors have staked out positions in futures markets that will profit if interest rates drop immediately after Jerome Powell’s term as chair ends in May 2026. The trade has been fueled by President Donald Trump’s pledge to nominate “somebody that wants to cut rates.”

Those investors have targeted futures contracts linked to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, which closely tracks the benchmark federal funds rate. They’ve sold off contracts that expire prior to Powell’s exit and piled into contracts that expire just after the expected arrival of a Trump-appointed chair.

HSBC Holdings Plc is ramping up growth plans for its UK wealth-management operations as Europe’s largest bank seeks to double the assets it oversees for well-heeled individuals in its home nation.

The London-based lender is undertaking a recruitment drive for bankers to cater to affluent, high-income and super-rich individuals, according to a statement and interview on Tuesday. The bank is also opening 50 dedicated spaces this year to bolster its wealth services in flagship branches across Britain.

Building on similar efforts in Asia, HSBC launched its first UK wealth center this week in London’s St. James’s district to boost services for ultra-wealthy individuals at its private banking division and affluent clients in the so-called “Premier” unit, which is hiring about 200 staff this year.

The European Stoxx Aerospace and Defense index rose to a new record high this morning, following a gain of around 1.1%. So far this year, the index has surged more than 53%.

Top performers in the sector on Wednesday include Germany’s Renk, which jumped 5.3% after Bloomberg reported the military vehicle parts maker was considering expanding to offer a civilian business. Poland’s Lubawa was last seen trading 3% higher, while Airbus was up by 1.2%.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declined to rule out extending a freeze in income tax thresholds as his government faces growing pressure to boost tax revenues in order to fill a swelling budgetary hole.

Starmer reiterated his Labour government’s commitment to an election pledge not to raise income tax, value added tax and national insurance on workers when asked to do so in the House of Commons on Wednesday. But asked if he would recommit to an existing plan to resume uprating income tax thresholds from 2028-29 in line with inflation, Starmer failed to do so.

“We will stick to our manifesto commitments and we will stick to our fiscal rules,” Starmer said in the House of Commons on Wednesday. “No prime minister or chancellor can write a budget in advance.”

The Bank of England will review the overall level of capital requirements it sets for banks for the first time since 2019 after officials determined that lenders have largely been able to keep an adequate cushion against hard times for much of the past decade.

The central bank will provide an update on that assessment in November, according to its twice-yearly Financial Stability Report published Wednesday. The Financial Policy Committee left the countercyclical buffer at 2% at its meeting on June 27.

“Considered over a longer time horizon, capital levels in aggregate had been broadly stable since the completion of the phase-in of the post-global financial crisis bank capital framework in 2019,” the minutes of their meeting said. While describing the level of capital currently as “broadly appropriate,” it was time to “refresh that assessment.”

BP Plc has agreed to sell 300 fuel-retail sites and 15 electric-vehicle charging hubs in the Netherlands to Catom BV, according to a statement on Wednesday. A figure for the transaction was not disclosed.

The deal includes EV charging sites under construction and the associated Dutch fleet business. It comes after BP said earlier this year that it intended to sell over 260 fuel-retail sites in Austria, including EV charging assets.

The sale is part of BP’s broader strategy to streamline its downstream portfolio — which encompasses fuel stations, EV charging points and refineries — following a strategic reset unveiled in February. As part of that plan, the energy giant aims to divest $20 billion in assets by the end of 2027, in a bid to enhance cash flow and operational efficiency.

Poland is scrapping plans to carve out unprofitable coal assets from state-controlled utilities and instead seeks to introduce new support measures to keep the country’s electricity system stable.

Warsaw-listed power producers traded higher after an initial drop, with the WIG-Energy sub-index advancing as much as 2.4% on Wednesday to within touching distance of the highest level in a decade.

Poland’s government has dragged its feet about the NABE carve-out project, which was drafted by the previous administration, as it seeks to reduce the role of dirty coal-fired power plants and roll out more renewable energy capacity. Despite an acceleration in its green transformation, the country still relies on coal for a greater share of its electricity production than any other European Union member.

BP Plc has agreed to sell 300 fuel-retail sites and 15 electric-vehicle charging hubs in the Netherlands to Catom BV, according to a statement on Wednesday. A figure for the transaction was not disclosed.

The deal includes EV charging sites under construction and the associated Dutch fleet business. It comes after BP said earlier this year that it intended to sell over 260 fuel-retail sites in Austria, including EV charging assets.

The sale is part of BP’s broader strategy to streamline its downstream portfolio — which encompasses fuel stations, EV charging points and refineries — following a strategic reset unveiled in February. As part of that plan, the energy giant aims to divest $20 billion in assets by the end of 2027, in a bid to enhance cash flow and operational efficiency.

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