Global bond yields on the rise, Amazon shares tumble and Duterte’s message from God

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Global government bond yields have climbed to multi-month highs after surprisingly robust UK economic data reinforced concerns that central bank policy was about to change.

The sell-off has prompted some analysts to ask if this is the beginning of the end of the great bond bull run.

The developments come as it emerged that governments have sold a record $49bn of debt with ultra-long maturities this year. Bonds with maturities of more than 30 years remain rare. But investors this week bought Austria’s 70-year offering and one mystery buyer this year even bought €100m of 100-year debt from Ireland and Belgium. (FT)

In the news

China signals return to strongman rule President Xi Jinping has been anointed as the “core” leader of the Communist party, a different direction following a decade and a half of consensus leadership among the country’s elite. (FT)

Amazon shares tumble The online retailer’s shares fell 6 per cent in after-hours trading after it missed earnings expectations in the third quarter, and forecast operating income of as little as zero next quarter, amid a sharp rise in operating costs. (FT)

Qualcomm buys NXP in $47bn chip deal The US chipmaker has agreed to buy its Dutch rival, the latest in a series of blockbuster takeovers in a consolidating semiconductor industry. Lex thinks Qualcomm got a good deal. (FT)

Ceta breakthrough The EU’s trade deal with Canada was pulled back from the brink on Thursday after Belgian regional leaders dropped their objections to Belgium’s government signing the pact in an eleventh-hour rescue. (FT)

Britain feels the bite Apple has raised the price of some of its products in Britain by 20 per cent — roughly the same amount that the pound has slid against the dollar since the UK voted to leave the EU. (Bloomberg, Guardian)

Test your knowledge with the week in news quiz. Who slammed their abrupt ousting from India’s $100bn Tata Group as “illegal”?

It’s a big day for

The US economy After a sluggish start to the year, data on Friday are expected to show that the US economy gathered steam in the third quarter. Wall Street estimates that GDP rose at a 2.5 per cent pace, a pick-up from the 1.4 per cent rate in the previous quarter.

Keep up with the important business, economic and political stories in the coming days with the FT’s Week Ahead.

Food for thought

Duterte’s message from God Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine president who has referred to both US President Barack Obama and the Pope as a son of a bitch, says God spoke to him on his recent flight home and threatened to bring the plane down if he did not stop swearing. (FT)

Trump makes Democrats feel less lonely in Texas The lone star state has voted Republican for decades but it is now becoming a battleground state as a Democratic candidate for the Texas state legislature describes Donald Trump as “the single biggest asset” of his campaign. (FT)

Keep track of the 2016 presidential race with our daily US politics newsletter. Sign up here.

Crimes of the future Predictive policing uses algorithms to analyse data and cut crime. But does it really work, and can it be trusted? (Aeon)

Avast, me hearties! This weekend Iceland could get taken over by pirates. Its election is expected to result in its centre-right coalition walking the plank, possibly to be replaced by a coalition including the Pirate party. (FT) 

Kung Fu master returns Shaw Brothers, Hong Kong’s iconic film production company, is set to make a comeback to the territory after a 30-year hiatus. (NAR)

Video of the day

How the US elects its president As Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump close in on November 8, the FT’s Barney Jopson explains why the American people will not be voting in a straight popularity contest. (FT)