Wall Street stocks declined and the yield on short-term US government debt soared after Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell warned that the central bank could more aggressively raise interest rates if the economy grows too quickly. Powell’s comments sent the yield on the policy-sensitive two-year US Treasury above 5 per cent for the first time
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History shows that heavy spending on armaments may reduce rather than increase stability. Still, the two goals align nicely for delegates at China’s annual National People’s Congress. Within Chinese business, this will create winners among defence companies and losers across many other sectors. Chinese premier Li Keqiang mentioned the word “stability” 33 times in his
The Swiss financial regulator has concluded its two-year investigation into Credit Suisse’s failings over the collapse of specialist finance firm Greensill Capital, finding there had been a “serious breach of Swiss supervisory law”. The implosion of Greensill in March 2021 caused Credit Suisse to suspend and close $10bn worth of funds that had lent money
The biggest selling point for the UK stock market in recent months has been its slow, steady, boring nature. This is a quality that should not be taken for granted. The era dominated by whizz-bang, US tech-led stocks is fading. Sure, it made a good shot at reasserting itself in the final months of last
This winter, American realtors have a plethora of problems to ponder. Surging interest rates have created a frozen residential housing market and shifting working practices will push office vacancies to 55 per cent above their pre-pandemic peak by 2030, according to new research from Cushman & Wakefield. The prospect of stranded assets looms. But if
Western allies are pushing the United Arab Emirates to halt exports of critical goods to Russia as they seek to starve Vladimir Putin’s military of components to sustain its war against Ukraine. Officials from the US, EU and UK have in recent weeks visited the wealthy Gulf state to spell out the wide-ranging scope of
Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motors is demanding more than £500mn of government aid for a new battery factory in Britain, in a decision set to be “pivotal” for the future of the UK car industry. People briefed on discussions say the Indian group is close to choosing between Spain and south-west England for its
President Joe Biden’s speech in Warsaw was thickly coated in the kind of idealistic rhetoric many western Europeans discreetly roll their eyes at. Of Vladimir Putin, he said: “He thought autocrats like himself were tough and leaders of democracies were soft . . . And then, he met the iron will of America and the nations everywhere that refused
Joe Biden has said he did not think China would send weapons to Russia to help its military campaign in Ukraine, in comments that appeared to undercut claims from his top officials that Beijing was considering the idea. In an interview with ABC television on Friday that was aired on the evening of the anniversary
HM Revenue & Customs has launched a crackdown on the booming short-term lettings market by initially targeting about 1,000 property owners that it suspects have not paid enough tax. Based on information received from online bookings platforms such as Airbnb, the UK tax agency is sending its first so-called “nudge” letters this month to those
At a small rural farm about an hour’s drive from the Zambian capital city of Lusaka in late January, US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen stood before a gathering of farmers and told them she understood the destruction that global warming was causing. “We know that over the past decade, storms, floods, and droughts in Africa
Citigroup has forecast that UK inflation will plunge from double-digit rates to close to 2 per cent by the end of this year as rapid falls in gas prices give Rishi Sunak’s government hope of solving some of its biggest economic challenges. Citi said on Wednesday that consumer price inflation was likely to fall to
US stocks recorded their worst day in two months on Tuesday, as investors were unnerved by economic data suggesting interest rates have further to rise after months of increases by the Federal Reserve. The blue-chip S&P 500 index ended down 2 per cent, with declines in every sector. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 2.5 per
Less than half of the financial aid pledged to Ukraine by the west has actually reached Kyiv since Russia’s invasion last year, according to analysis of international financial support. Ukraine’s finance ministry received €31bn by December 2022 of the €64bn promised by western countries after Russia launched its full-scale attack last February, research by the
Poland’s head of state has called on Nato powers to give postwar security guarantees to Ukraine, on the eve of a visit by the US president to Warsaw to reaffirm the west’s support for Kyiv a year into Russia’s war. Andrzej Duda told the Financial Times that promises of security guarantees “would be important” for
The earthquake that has killed more than 40,000 people and brought destruction and misery to Turkey and Syria lasted approximately 75 seconds. The economic, social and political reverberations will last years. As the experiences of countries as diverse as Haiti, Japan and Turkey itself reveal, it is only once the cameras leave and the world’s
In a huge hangar in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, welders are aiming blazing torches at sheets of aluminium. The hulls of three new ships, each about 27 metres long, are taking shape. The first will hit the water sometime in the spring, ferrying workers to service wind turbines off the New England coast. The US
The dollar climbed and US stocks oscillated on Wednesday following stronger than expected retail sales figures, the latest in a string of economic data that has fuelled investor bets that the Federal Reserve will have to raise interest rates further to curb inflation. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 finished 0.3 per cent higher after flipping
US stock markets steadied on Tuesday despite disappointing inflation data that raised the prospect of more aggressive interest rate rises than investors had previously expected. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index dropped as much as 1 per cent in early trading but ended the day flat, holding on to the gains made in strong trading
US stocks rose on Monday as investors bet that forthcoming economic data would ease the pressure on the Federal Reserve to continue lifting interest rates. Wall Street’s blue-chip S&P 500 index finished 1.1 per cent higher, with all sectors except energy making gains. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.5 per cent. US equities last week