News

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. UK consumer confidence reached a two-year high in January, according to research company GfK, in the latest positive sign for the economy. The consumer confidence index, which measures people’s views of their finances as well

The S&P 500 notched its fifth consecutive record close on Thursday, with the market making broad gains after solid economic growth data. The blue-chip index traded choppily in the afternoon, but eventually closed 0.5 per cent higher for the day, with more than three-quarters of stocks in the index rising. The energy sector led the

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon has shuffled his leadership team and consolidated some of the bank’s businesses, grooming potential candidates who could eventually take over from him. The leadership changes give new responsibilities to

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s hopes of offering big pre-election tax cuts have suffered a setback after the Treasury produced internal forecasts suggesting he will have only limited scope for giveaways. The Treasury’s internal analysis said

About £75mn of assets linked to Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her husband have been frozen or restrained by court order as the pair face a National Crime Agency investigation into alleged PPE fraud. The court order seen by the Financial Times covers assets including a six-bedroom Belgravia townhouse, a country estate on the Isle

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. New EU digital regulations will worsen the experience of users of Apple’s products and expose them to security risks, a senior executive at the iPhone maker has claimed. Phil Schiller, who heads up Apple’s App

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Israel’s foreign ministry has written to diplomatic missions in the country to ask if they have back-up generators and satellite phones in case of a “security escalation”, amid fears its war with Hamas could spiral

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Rishi Sunak’s allies have claimed that supporters of ex-home secretary Suella Braverman are running an “embarrassing” campaign to bring down the prime minister, at the end of another week of Tory infighting. The claim has

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. England’s senior doctors have narrowly rejected a government pay offer aimed at averting further industrial action, as the NHS contends with one of its toughest winters on record. The British Medical Association called on the

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into the partnerships between Big Tech cloud providers and generative AI companies, targeting the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and OpenAI with demands for more information about their

Should the Federal Reserve cut policy rates in March? If you look at the so-called Taylor rule — named after the legendary American economist John B Taylor — the answer is a definite “yes”. After all, this formula — which projects the optimal rate using variables such as price levels, unemployment and real income —

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Apple, famously, does not rush into new markets. It holds back, often ceding first-mover advantage to rivals, until it believes it has a sure-fire hit on its hands. Even by the high standards of the

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Qatari-mediated talks to broker a deal for the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza have become deadlocked over Israel’s refusal to agree to a permanent ceasefire. The latest Qatari proposal included a pause

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. US gross domestic product grew at an annualised rate of 3.3 per cent during the final quarter of last year, capping off a stronger-than-anticipated 2023 for the world’s largest economy. While the fourth-quarter rate was

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said rapid wage growth was already showing signs of slowing in the eurozone, striking a dovish note on the potential for interest rate cuts even as the central bank

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Big tech myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The writer is founder of Sifted, an FT-backed site about European start-ups A brassy new venture capital investor, going by the ugly acronym Mang, has been making a lot of noise in Silicon Valley. Microsoft,

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Turkey has increased interest rates to 45 per cent as policymakers signalled that a eight-month campaign of big rises in borrowing costs was over, with the country’s prolonged inflation crisis expected to ease this year.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Blackstone plans to step up its dealmaking before a rebound in markets drives prices higher, the president of the private equity firm has told the Financial Times. “The wheels of merger and acquisition activity are

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. I’ve begun writing a book on British corruption — the growing propensity of politicians to monetise their office. I’m reading investigative journalism, parliamentary reports and wonk treatises, and interviewing everyone from party donors to spies.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. This article is an on-site version of Martin Sandbu’s Free Lunch newsletter. Sign up here to get the newsletter sent straight to your inbox every Thursday We’re coming up to a series of important central

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Qatar has accused Benjamin Netanyahu of being “irresponsible and destructive”, saying leaked remarks by the Israeli prime minister criticising the Gulf state risked undermining efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. Doha,