but can the rally last? walmart shares jump — as profits at the retail giant rise with wealthier customers shopping in—store and online. butjapan�*s gdp slumps again — with india on—track to overtake it as the world's number four economy. welcome to business today, i'm ben thompson. we start in new york where we can witnes a historic moment... keep an eye on this number. because it has crept through 40,000 for the first time ever. that is the dow jones industrial average. us stock

markets have climbed since the start of the year boosting tech stocks. also some robust earnings from the incorporates and hopes that the central bank will start to ease monetary policy this year. just talk us through this rally. it is an auspicious moment, but what does it tell us about what is happening? it does it tell us about what is happening?— does it tell us about what is haueninu? ,., , ., happening? it is a funny moment, you have not happening? it is a funny moment, you have got the — happening? it is a funny moment, you have got the dow _ happening? it is a funny moment, you have got the dow jones _ happening? it is a funny moment, you have got the dow jones up _ happening? it is a funny moment, you have got the dow jones up 40,000 i have got the dowjones up 40,000 points, there are a caps on sale that you can buy that it's a dell 40,000. they are selling for around $25 a hat right now. all of this for anindex $25 a hat right now. all of this for an index that represents about 30 countries. not totally representative really, of the whole us economy. it is psychological. the

significance here is that despite the fact that you have got inflation, high interest rates, geopolitical concerns, worries that consumers are beginning to buckle under these higher prices, despite all of that, the us economy seems to be doing well. that is the message that descends and why people are getting excited about it. it is, if you like, a moment where you see these big numbers on wall street crossing into maine street where, for the most part, if you talk to average americans, they feel pretty pessimistic about the us economy as we are seeing in after poll. yes. pessimistic about the us economy as we are seeing in after poll.— we are seeing in after poll. yes, we are looking — we are seeing in after poll. yes, we are looking at _ we are seeing in after poll. yes, we are looking at the _ we are seeing in after poll. yes, we are looking at the numbers - we are seeing in after poll. yes, we are looking at the numbers on - are looking at the numbers on screen, actuallyjust below that 40,000 mark now but it will fluctuate in a moment and we will see how it ends up closing. that you are right to make that disconnect between what the stock markets are doing and what ordinary consumers

are feeling great now. in an election year, the politicians will be helping people start to feel that her cars and that inflation comes down, that there is more money and optimism to go and spend. yes. down, that there is more money and optimism to go and spend.— optimism to go and spend. yes, if ou look optimism to go and spend. yes, if you look at _ optimism to go and spend. yes, if you look at the — optimism to go and spend. yes, if you look at the messages - optimism to go and spend. yes, if you look at the messages from . optimism to go and spend. yes, if l you look at the messages from both campaigns, the former president donald trump and joe biden i centred around inflation and prices. certainly under republican side, hammering the biden administration for those higher prices. last week we saw that americans are feeling pretty pessimistic, one of the big issues come november that they are voting about is the economy. and the fact that they do not feel great right now. so, when you have these days where markets are kind of signalling green lights across the board, that sends a message of optimism. it is most americans are exposed to the stock market through the 401 k, their retirement funds.

whether that feel—good moment lasts beyond that this day. i whether that feel-good moment lasts beyond that this day.— beyond that this day. i suppose that is what will now _ beyond that this day. i suppose that is what will now play _ beyond that this day. i suppose that is what will now play out _ beyond that this day. i suppose that is what will now play out as - is what will now play out as inflation starts to ease, maybe we will get that cut in interest rates, a bit more money in the pockets of consumers. if you look at what is happening around the world, those problems are not unique to the united states, but everything feels a little bit more focused, given that it a little bit more focused, given thatitis a little bit more focused, given that it is an election year and consumers have not been feeling any better off right now. here consumers have not been feeling any better off right now.— better off right now. here we are, talkin: better off right now. here we are, talking towards _ better off right now. here we are, talking towards the _ better off right now. here we are, talking towards the end _ better off right now. here we are, talking towards the end of - better off right now. here we are, talking towards the end of the - talking towards the end of the earnings season. 0ne talking towards the end of the earnings season. one of the things that has sort of merged is a kind of split picture when it comes to how consumers are doing. there have been lots of ramblings about low income consumers struggling or starting to pull back, that isn't necessarily true for wealthier customers. just look at what might�*s results today, one of the areas of growth was that wealthier customers are shopping

more at walmart and continuing to buy things like travel, plane tickets, and big ticket items. i think that is where the concern comes in, that pressure, keep an eye on the lower income consumers who are essentially struggling with these higher prices and who may vote on that when it comes november. that is something that the biden administration is trying to with the messaging, things like the inflation reduction, does helping createjobs. beautiful, thank you, we will talk about walmart somewhere. 0n the day that the dowjones hits 40,000 for the first time ever. shares of us retail giant walmart are up more than 5 percent, after it raised its sales and profit forecast, betting on easing inflation to further boost to demand foressentials and discretionary products like electronics.

profits more than tripled to $5.1 billion on a six—percent rise in revenues to $161.5 billion. revenue came in at a cool 161.5 billion. while mote is doing pretty well with wealthier customers. here is eric responding with what is driving or success. certain businesses within wal—mart are actually generating some really off the charts metrics. one in particular is their ads business, which is actually one of the fastest growing in the entire company. advertising for retailers in general has been very, very strong. amazon showed that it's possible and walmart is generating quite a bit of business through its walmart connect business. so that's one, its e—commerce business is doing incredibly

strongly and that's a global story, notjust in the us their business, even in india like flipkart, is doing very, very well. so we saw 20 plus percent growth of walmart�*s e—commerce year over year business, which is simply incredible. we haven't seen that level of growth in very many retailers in e—commerce in the last several years. so they're doing particularly well and picking up share. so that's definitely a part of it. it's international business is doing well and that includes markets like mexico. so those are all factors. it is definitely gaining share from all consumer segments. i mean, certainly more affluent consumers, but it's also a lot of consumers across different socioeconomic rungs who are finding value at walmart. that is the story at walmart. i will stay at businesses that are on the lower end of the market in terms of cost. at the low cost airline easyjet, its all change at the top. the big boss — chief executivejohan lungren — is to step down early next year.

succession is in place with the chief financial 0fficer stepping up. speaking to us earlier, mr lungren said he was dedicated to the airline and focused on what he called �*another record summer�* whilst defending the hundreds of flights it was forced to cancel last year. that has been something that has been happening really across the whole of the industry. we have had a great start to the year from an operation point of view, in terms of our on—time performance as well. and summers are challenging, you know. this is true that there's less airspace available and there's more capacity, but that is something that is happening and taking place, and all the airlines and airports are exposed to it. but on the other hand, i must also say that i think every player is better now invested and equipped in order to make sure we can deliver a great experience for our customers. that is the outgoing boss as we spoke to him earlier. the financial officer will step up to take up

early next year. let's head to asia now. japan's economy has front japan is on track to lose its status as the world's number four economy to india, which could overtake it next year, according to the international monetary fund. japan's total economic output or gross domestic product shrank at an annual rate of 2 percent betweenjanuary and march — that's a lot worse than the i point 5 percent fall expected by economists. so why is it struggling? 0ur asia business reporter mariko 0i explains. it boils down to the purchasing power of mr and mrs watanabe, as some economists like to call it — watanabe being a very common family name injapan. basically, it is about private consumption which accounts for more than half of the economy, and that fell by 0.7% in the first three months of this year, which is much worse than expected. but if i honest i'm not surprised

at all because 95% of the messages i received from my own mother who lives in tokyo is about how things are getting so much more expensive. inflation injapan is nothing compared to the rest of the world but of course japan had decades of no inflation or even deflation where prices fall, and authorities have been desperate for prices to rise, but ordinary consumers just not are used to it and while wages have risen a bit after decades of no pay rise, wages adjusted for inflation, that has been falling for some two years. and of course the weakness of the japanese yen does not help because it makes imported products like oil more expensive, and that is why people have been tightening their purse strings. there are a lot of talks on the growing wealth gap because, as we have been talking about it, the japanese stock market has been doing really well, so those who invest have been getting wealthier but the number of people who put money in the stock

market are still not the majority. looking at the wellsford japan's economies. let me bring you up—to—date with some of the other main business stories that we are following. after a year presence, the us energy giant chevron is set to sell all it's remainingoil all it's remainingoil and gas assets there. the process comes as chevron prepares for the $53 billion acquisition of rival hess which it said will include up to $20billion in assets sales around the world. the sale of the north sea assets could raise up to $1 billion excluding tax benefits. netflix says its advert—based subscription service now has 40 million monthly active users — up from just 5 million a year ago — a sign that the move to offer a cheaper plan is paying off. the streaming giant says the ad—based service now accounts for 40 % of new customers in the countries

where it's available chinese electric vehicle maker nio has unveiled the first car from its new lower—priced brand 0nvo, in a direct challenge to tesla's best—selling car. with prices for the l60 suv around 10% cheaper than tesla's model y. it comes in the same week that us presidentjoe biden announced he would quadruple the import tax on electric cars from china. the owner of royal mail is poised to accept an improved takeover bid worth about £3.5 billion pounds from czech billionaire daniel kretinsky. international distribution services or ids says mr kretinsky has agreed on key public interest issues — including sticking to plans we will see later today, goodbye.

hello. i'm samantha simmonds. there are reports of more civilian deaths and injuries in the sudanese city of el fasher, which is currently held by the army, but is under attack

by the paramilitary rapid support forces. residents say the rsf have been hitting populated areas on the western side of the city, and the sudanese armed forces have responded with air strikes. these are the latest images from el fasher. medical workers say that since friday dozens have been killed and hundreds injured. earlier i spoke to our africa correspondent barbara plett usher — in nairobi and asked her the latest in el fasher. well, the city el fasher is packed with civilians. you have hundreds of thousands of people there in a city, trapped in a city, that is under siege by the rapid support forces and they are getting caught up in the fighting as the battle begins to move in, which it has been over the last week, with heavy weapons. you have reports that the rapid support forces have been firing artillery shells from their positions in the eastern part of the city, those shells, some of them,

have been dropping in populated neighbourhoods