It's been a tricky week for the UK government, and a turbulent week for financial markets as a result.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' much-touted welfare reform bill faced a huge rebellion from backbench Labour MPs and had to be heavily watered down to get over the line. Last minute-concessions by Keir Starmer's government – primarily the scuppering of plans to restrict eligibility for the so-called personal independence payments (PIP) – are likely to blow a hole in the £5bn a year the reforms were designed to save.

It was enough to send gilt yields higher as investors questioned the government's grip on the public finances. Things got worse on Wednesday when Reeves appeared emotionally distraught in the House of Commons as an oblivious Starmer refused to explicitly back her. The yield on 10-year government bonds shot up by the most since the ill-fated Liz Truss minibudget in 2022.

Claims that Reeves' tears were brought on by a "personal issue", and a belated insistence by the PM that she would remain in post for "a long time to come" finally brought some calm.

There was another piece of legislation, described by its creator as "big and beautiful" making headlines during this tumult. Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump's hugely contentious tax cuts and spending bill was passed after a series of furious and often emotionally-wrought debates.

"The golden age of America is upon us," a grinning Trump said at the White House Independence Day picnic after signing the bill into law.

The president's former friend and aide Elon Musk was unequivocal in his critique of the bill's price and how it treats clean energy. He said in recent days that the $3.3 trillion increase in debt expected from the bill makes a "mockery" of his work at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Let's take a look at these and other stories stirring the markets in the last few days.

With geopolitical tensions dominating headlines, June's investing trends have strongly leaned towards defence and tech stocks. Fast-moving tariff news and the enduring conflict in the Middle East have been among the main market-moving topics during the month. Elsewhere, Tesla, (TSLA), bitcoin (BTC-USD) and gold (GC=F) assets were hot topics.

The presiden't signature spending legislation moved through the Senate on a 50-50 tally that required vice president JD Vance to break the tie before the 870-page bill passed the House a few days later in a vote of 218-214.