FirstFT: Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum as its first female president

Good morning. Claudia Sheinbaum, a close ally of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is set to become Mexico’s first female leader after preliminary results showed her on course to win a landslide victory in the Latin American nation’s election.

The left-wing former Mexico City mayor was leading by nearly 30 percentage points, according to a partial official count. Her ruling party Morena is also set to win both houses of congress and with two allied parties appears to be close to the two-thirds majority needed to secure constitutional changes, the results showed.

“We will respect business freedom and . . . promote and facilitate with honesty private national and foreign investment,” Sheinbaum said after the preliminary results were announced. “My government will be honest, without influences or corruption, it will be a government with republican austerity.”

Sheinbaum’s victory is a big step for Mexico, as Michael Stott and Christine Murray highlighted in their portrait of the 61-year-old on the Friday before the vote. She is the first female president in a country with a long history of machismo and the first Mexican leader of Jewish descent.

In other world election news: Indian markets hit record highs after exit polls forecast a landslide election win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose third term promises investors a resumption of his infrastructure-led economic drive and market-friendly reforms.

Chinese investment turns to Vietnam and Mexico: China’s companies are increasingly favouring countries such as Vietnam and Mexico as trade tensions rise with the US.

And here’s what I’m keeping tabs on today:

Economic data: Manufacturing purchasing managers’ indices will be published for Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, the EU, UK and US.

Hunter Biden: The US president’s son stands trial on gun charges brought by the Department of Justice.

Aviation: The International Air Transport Association holds its annual general meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Dubai.

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: Russia’s attempts to conclude a major gas pipeline deal with China have stalled over what Moscow sees as Beijing’s unreasonable demands on price and supply levels, according to three people familiar with the matter. China’s hardball stance also underscores Vladimir Putin’s dependence on Xi Jinping for economic support.

2. Tens of thousands of Tesla’s pivotal retail investors outside the US may be unable to vote at its annual meeting because investment platforms have failed to put adequate cross-border systems in place. The company has been lobbying investors to back resolutions at its June 13 meeting over chief executive Elon Musk’s $56bn pay award and plans to reincorporate the company in Texas. Here’s how the tight vote could be affected.

3. The strong US jobs market is being propped up by spending on healthcare, which analysts say is vulnerable to Donald Trump’s re-election and the end of a boom in medical procedures delayed by Covid-19. Here are the concerns.

4. Shein is planning to confidentially file for a London listing as soon as the coming days, according to people familiar with the matter. The online fashion giant had been leaning towards a London listing after tensions between the US and China stalled its plans for an initial public offering in New York. Here’s more on its plans for a blockbuster IPO in the UK.

Opinion: Has the City rediscovered its mojo as a capital-raising venue? The short answer is no, writes Craig Coben, former global head of equity capital markets at Bank of America.

5. Benjamin Netanyahu has shied away from a US-backed plan to end the war with Hamas as Israel’s prime minister seeks space to quell a revolt in his ruling coalition. Despite White House pleas, officials close to Netanyahu made clear yesterday that any agreement to permanently halt the fighting in Gaza would be unacceptable.

The Big Read

Radical advances in neurotechnology are helping disabled people walk and could provide the link between human and artificial intelligence. Computerised implants that interact with the brain and central nervous system can bypass neural impediments that prevent people who are severely disabled by accident or disease from moving their limbs — and enable those who cannot speak or operate a keyboard to communicate.

We’re also reading and listening to . . . 

US interest rates 🎧: In the latest edition of The Economics Show, a top Federal Reserve official tells Soumaya Keynes that interest rates should stay on hold for an “extended” time.

Javier Milei: After nearly six months without any legislation approved in congress, Argentina’s president is seeking help from a member of the establishment he had vowed to purge.

US shale industry: Dealmaking in US oil and gas has surged to almost $200bn in the past year as the biggest producers compete to swallow up rivals in a race for scale that has redrawn the national energy landscape.

La Niña expected to return: The El Niño Pacific Ocean warming effect that has contributed to a surge in global temperatures is expected to swing to its opposite La Niña cooling phase from late summer, say weather experts, but without slowing long-term climate change.

Chart of the day

In a surprise move, Nvidia yesterday announced its next generation of AI processors, less than three months after its most recent launch. The chipmaker has gained $350bn in market value in volatile trading since it reported first-quarter earnings more than a week ago.

Take a break from the news

What did Shakespeare’s songs sound like? Which version of Hamlet is the right one? These are just two of the 28 greatest Shakespeare mysteries we try to untangle as part of the FT Magazine’s special edition on the playwright’s enduring power.

Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo