CNBC Daily Open: 'Red' diesel to hit U.S. highways

Hello, this is Leonie Kidd coming to you from London. Welcome to another edition of CNBC's Daily Open.

The price at the pump is a point of pain.

And with the midterm elections less than a month away, President Trump has turned to executive orders to try and ease the pressure on American consumers.

Read on for more.

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing so-called "red diesel" to be used more widely, in a bid to ease price pressure at the pump. Speaking during a rally in Nebraska, Trump said the fuel — normally reserved for off-road agricultural and construction use — could be used more widely on American public roads and highways. He claimed this would cut costs "substantially."

On Truth Social, he argued that fuel costs were not being driven up by supply disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, and once again blamed Ukraine and attacks on Russian refineries.

Trump has offered to help Russia following the death of a worker at a plague institute in Siberia that has caused global concern of a wider outbreak.

"We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly," a State Department spokesperson who did not wish to be identified told CNBC.

For more on what we know so far about this case, you can read on here.

Contagion concerns are keeping European bond investors on edge, after the Governor of France's central bank told the Financial Times that the country is at risk of being "strangled by interest rates." In a separate op-ed for the paper, former ECB board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said its time for the central bank to pause its quantitative tightening programme.

Meanwhile, in the U.K., Prime Minister Andy Burnham is "in hock to the bond market," according to his informal advisor and former Chief Economist of the Bank of England, Andy Haldane.

Catch that exclusive interview on "Squawk Box Europe" here.

Stateside, Treasury yields are holding at elevated levels, with the 10-year at a fresh 2002 high, while the 30-year hit its highest peak in 24 years.

Russian gold floods Hong Kong as Western sanctions redraw bullion trade

Russian gold is pouring into Hong Kong at a record pace, highlighting how Western sanctions have rerouted bullion bound for London toward China and other Asian markets. 

Hong Kong imported 112.7 tonnes of Russian-origin gold in the first seven months of 2026, according to precious metals investment firm BullionVault's analysis of data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. 

Imports have already surpassed the record 92.1 tonnes imported during all of 2025, and compares with just 3.3 tonnes in 2021, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

— Lee Ying Shan