A month ago, the S&P 500 seemed to be heading towards an all-time high in a broad-based rally that had raised hopes for further gains this year. But on Friday afternoon, when the index finally cleared the bar, it was being carried by just a few large tech stocks as markets more broadly struggle for
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to be handed a multibillion-pound boost by official forecasters next week, paving the way for a package of pre-election tax cuts. Leading economists predict that lower UK borrowing costs could give Hunt significantly more fiscal headroom in his March 6 Budget, paving the way for income tax cuts or further
Municipal bonds were slightly weaker Friday ahead of an $8.4 billion new-issue calendar and the last full week of January. U.S. Treasuries were mixed on the day while equities saw another session of gains as markets continue to digest the unlikelihood of any Federal Reserve rate cuts in the first quarter. Triple-A yields rose two
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Demands for pay rises by European workers are the main threat to early interest rate cuts, analysts have warned, after European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde quashed investors’ hopes of a first-quarter cut this week
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A banker told me this week that when he meets corporate borrowers and investment clients to discuss what lies ahead in 2024, they always ask him the same question: What are the three big risks?
The first sign that Iran felt the need to flex its muscles more directly after months of tension and hostility across the Middle East came when its naval forces last week dropped from a helicopter to seize an oil tanker off the coast of Oman. Days later, it was the turn of the elite Revolutionary
The Illinois Supreme Court Friday upheld pension consolidation legislation championed by Gov. JB Pritzker that was challenged in court by more than a dozen suburban and downstate police and firefighter pension funds. The case, Arlington Heights Police Pension Fund et al. v. JB Pritzker et al., had pitted the governor and General Assembly against a
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority staff came under fire from their own auditor general for misleading communications and a “breach of transparency” regarding cost overruns and delays on the $12.2 billion San Jose extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. The project would extend BART, a commuter railway, through downtown San Jose into Santa
A trial over Missouri’s first-of-their-kind ESG investment rules will go ahead after a federal judge this month rejected the state’s motion to dismiss. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association sued the Show Me State last August over a pair of four-month-old anti-environmental, social and governance securities rules. The measures require advisors and broker-dealers to
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the UK tax myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Cross-party MPs and tax experts have attacked HM Revenue & Customs for its unjust treatment of tens of thousands of self-employed UK workers who were caught up in a tax avoidance crackdown since linked to
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. I wish there was a word in the English language for the queasy feeling I get when an issue that matters is co-opted by people I can’t stand. I feel it every time I see
A private equity firm’s co-president and partner has been tapped to fill one of the two vacancies on the Puerto Rico Oversight Board. President Joe Biden said Thursday he will appoint Juan Sabater, a partner and co-president of Valor Equity Partners, to the seven-member board. “I look forward to working with Juan Sabater on our
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US equities myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Wall Street stocks hit an all-time high on Friday, with strong gains for large technology companies finally pushing the index to a new record after a shaky start to the year. The S&P 500, the
A Congress that just narrowly avoided a government shutdown is getting a fresh wish list from a wide cross section of organizations of issuers, including calls for preserving the tax exemption on municipal bonds. The letter originates from the Public Finance Network, which encompasses twenty-four issuer organizations including the Government Finance Officers Association, the National
Federal transportation and housing funding will continue to flow until early March after Congress late Thursday passed a short-term appropriations bill a day ahead of a partial government shutdown. “There will not be a shutdown on Friday,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “Because both sides have worked together, the government will stay open.
William “Bill” Edward Laverty, 72, died in Vero Beach, Florida, Dec. 18, 2023. He died of natural causes several years after being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. Mr. Laverty spent most of his life living and working in New York City as a municipal bond underwriter for several Wall Street firms. Mr. Laverty worked as a
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has put out a request for competitive sealed proposals from financial advisory firms as it gears up for several major capital projects. The RFP aims to forge a multi-year, multi-issuance agreement for services around debt issuance, debt refinancing, debt reporting and other financial market-related work. Proposals are due no later than
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Electric vehicles myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares has warned carmakers cutting electric vehicle prices too fast risked a “bloodbath” in the industry, hours after Ford said it was reducing production of its battery-powered F-150 Lightning pick-up truck because
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Until this week, the UK economy looked increasingly set for a smooth “soft landing”, with inflation dropping sharply and early signs of growth picking up. But data releases in the past few days have added
A delivery man delivers packages in a Los Angeles neighborhood on January 17, 2024. Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images Sales of previously owned homes fell 1% in December compared with November to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.78 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 6.2% lower
Siebert Williams Shank has formed a six-person quantitative solutions group to be headed by public finance industry veteran Giles Nicholson. Siebert said the hire highlights the firm’s steadfast and growing commitment to expand its public finance practice. “Hiring Giles along with other senior and experienced hires over the last year demonstrates our deep commitment to