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The European Central Bank is this week set to strengthen its commitment to prop up vulnerable eurozone countries’ debt markets if they are hit by a sell-off, as policymakers prepare to raise rates for the first time in more than a decade. The bulk of the 25 governing council members are expected to support a

High levels of inflation and supply chain bottlenecks have created the best conditions for hedge funds trading bonds and currency markets since the 2008 financial crisis, according to one of the pioneers of macro investing. Kenneth Tropin, who founded $17bn-in-assets Graham Capital in 1994 and was previously chief executive of billionaire John Henry’s investment firm,

Lawyers filed a multimillion pound claim on Friday against administrators of the collapsed fund of Neil Woodford, the fallen star of British stock picking, in an attempt to recoup heavy losses of hundreds of thousands of savers. It marks the third anniversary of the suspension of the Woodford Equity Income Fund, which managed £3.7bn when

Global investors are returning to China’s stock markets after a widespread sell-off earlier this year triggered by draconian Covid-19 restrictions, the geopolitical implications of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the lingering effects of regulatory crackdowns. The country’s CSI 300 stocks index started 2022 with the worst quarterly drop since the popping of a debt-fuelled bubble

Saudi Arabia has indicated to western allies that it is prepared to raise oil production should Russia’s output fall substantially under the weight of sanctions, according to five people familiar with the discussions. The kingdom has resisted calls from the White House to accelerate production increases despite oil prices trading near $120 a barrel, the

The chief executive of Germany’s top asset management firm DWS Group has resigned after the company’s offices were raided by police over allegations of greenwashing. DWS said in a statement on Wednesday morning that Asoka Wöhrmann, chief executive since late 2018, had resigned with effect from June 10, the day after the group’s annual meeting.

The US chipmaker Qualcomm wants to buy a stake in Arm alongside its rivals and create a consortium that would maintain the UK chip designer’s neutrality in the highly competitive semiconductor market. Japanese conglomerate SoftBank plans to list Arm on the New York Stock Exchange after Nvidia’s $66bn purchase collapsed earlier this year. However, the

Pay for top British bosses has bounced back to pre-coronavirus levels as company boards shed pandemic-era pay restraint and cashed in on bonus plans set during the economic dislocation caused by Covid-19. Overall pay for chief executives in the FTSE 100 has reached a median average of £3.6mn, according to Deloitte’s 2022 AGM-season report, similar

Emerging market bonds are suffering their worst losses in almost three decades, hit by rising global interest rates, slowing growth and the war in Ukraine. The benchmark index of dollar-denominated EM sovereign bonds, the JPMorgan EMBI Global Diversified, has delivered total returns of around minus 15 per cent so far in 2022, its worst start

EY is exploring a public listing or partial sale of its global advisory business as part of the most radical transformation of a Big Four accountancy firm in two decades, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. A stake sale or listing would raise the prospect of a massive windfall for EY’s existing

EY is working on a split of its audit and advisory operations worldwide in the biggest shake-up of a Big Four accounting firm in two decades, according to three people with knowledge of the plans. The proposal, which is still being thrashed out among EY’s upper echelons, is a bold attempt to escape the conflicts

Federal Reserve officials discussed the possibility of moving the US central bank to a “restrictive” policy stance that would better fight inflation through more aggressive interest rate increases, but worried that this could undermine the strong recovery in the jobs market.  According to minutes of the most recent FOMC meeting held in early May, most

Shares in some of Britain’s biggest power companies fell sharply on Tuesday as Rishi Sunak drew up plans for a windfall tax on the energy sector to help offset spiralling domestic fuel bills. The chancellor is rushing to complete an emergency energy package to offer relief to households struggling with a spiralling cost of living

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has ordered officials to draw up plans for a possible windfall tax on more than £10bn of excess profits by electricity generators, including wind farm operators, on top of a hit on North Sea oil and gas producers. Treasury officials are working on a scheme that would go well beyond Labour’s original

A three-decade golden era for globalisation risks going into reverse according to company executives and investors, as world leaders prepare to meet in the Swiss town of Davos for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. The geopolitical fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine, combined with the disruption to global supply chains caused by

The EU’s decision to suspend its deficit and debt rules for an extra year is not an excuse for member states to persist with loose spending policies, Germany’s finance minister Christian Lindner has said, in a call for more fiscal discipline. “The fact that member states are now able to deviate from the Stability and

China is intensifying its drive for influence in the Pacific by negotiating security deals with two additional island nations following a pact with the Solomon Islands, according to officials in the US and allied countries. Beijing’s talks with Kiribati, a Pacific island nation 3,000km from Hawaii where US Indo-Pacific Command is based, are the most

UK consumer confidence has dropped to its lowest level for nearly 50 years amid the cost of living crisis, according to a survey, fuelling concerns that the economy will slide into recession in 2022. The UK consumer confidence index fell 2 percentage points to minus 40 in May, its lowest since records began in 1974,

Wall Street stocks fell on Wednesday as a bounce for global equity markets faded and downbeat earnings from discount retailer Target intensified jitters about inflation and choked-up supply chains. The benchmark S&P 500 share index dropped 1.5 per cent in early dealings and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.8 per cent. Shares in Target plunged

Twitter said it plans to enforce the $44bn takeover agreement with Elon Musk, just hours after the Tesla boss declared the purchase “cannot move forward” unless the social media company can certify the number of fake accounts. The San Francisco-based group made the comments in a detailed filing on Tuesday, outlining the whirlwind weeks in