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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US inflation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. US inflation increased unexpectedly to 3.2 per cent last month, in data set to be scrutinised by the US Federal Reserve as it decides when to reduce interest rates. Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Equities myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Growing optimism about the world economy and improved corporate earnings is driving stock markets to record highs, prompting analysts to forecast further gains in what some describe as a “risk reset”. Wall Street’s S&P 500, the

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Brussels is pushing to give Ukraine €2bn-€3bn this year from profits derived from Russia’s frozen assets, accelerating the funding plan as US financial support to Kyiv wanes. The European Commission is preparing a plan,

Last November, the $1.6tn Norwegian sovereign wealth fund asked the government for the umpteenth time if it could be allowed to invest in private equity. That’s a good excuse to explore one of the financial world’s most controversial issues. After all, this is potentially a big deal, given the size of Norges Bank Investment Management

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Americans are increasingly happy about the economy but reluctant to give credit to Joe Biden, according to a new poll that underscores the US president’s challenges as he squares off against Donald Trump in this

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Officials from some of China’s most indebted provinces and cities have met leading state bankers in Beijing in recent days as they step up efforts to renegotiate debt payments on billions of dollars in liabilities

The US has widened its productivity lead over Europe, sparking fears in the EU that it faces a “competitiveness crisis” as policymakers call for greater public and private investment. New data released on Friday showed eurozone productivity fell 1.2 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, while in the US it rose

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Central banks myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Top central bankers in Europe and the US have moved closer to declaring victory over the biggest inflation surge for a generation, with new data giving policymakers confidence they can cut rates by the summer.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Sterling is the only major developed world currency to strengthen against the dollar this year, driven by a stronger than expected UK economy and growing hopes of imminent US interest rate cuts. The pound climbed

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. [embedded content] Joe Biden called on Congress to “stand up” to Russian President Vladimir Putin as he opened his annual speech to Congress with a plea to support Ukraine and criticism of Donald Trump for

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Nothing screams For Sale louder than a cheap sticker price. A number of listed UK companies seem priced for a quick sale. On Thursday, Britain’s largest private building society Nationwide announced it had provisionally agreed

With a general election looming, chancellor Jeremy Hunt was under pressure to deliver sweeteners for voters, notably what he described as “helping families with permanent cuts in taxation”, without appearing fiscally irresponsible. He confirmed the heavily trailed 2p cut in national insurance contributions, a shake-up of the “non-dom” tax regime and the creation of a

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 claimed that Britain’s economy has “turned the corner”, as his pre-election Budget put a £10bn personal tax cut at the heart of the Conservatives’ bid to overturn Labour’s polling lead and

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Donald Trump cruised to victory in more than two-thirds of the states holding Republican primaries on Super Tuesday, on a night that is set to bring him to the brink of securing his party’s presidential

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 is set to cut national insurance rates as he puts personal tax reductions at the heart of his Budget on Wednesday. Government insiders confirmed that Conservative whips had been told to

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Jeremy Hunt will on Wednesday give motorists a £5bn pre-election tax break in the Budget, as hopes rise among Tory MPs that the chancellor has mustered enough money to fund a surprise 2p income tax

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Brussels has fined Apple €1.8bn for stifling competition from rival music streaming services, the first time the iPhone maker has been punished for breaching EU law. Margrethe Vestager, the bloc’s competition chief, said that for

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will use the Budget on Wednesday to cut personal taxes, as he scrapes together the money needed to fund a package intended to lift Conservative MPs’ spirits ahead of the general election.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Britain’s Labour party is on alert for Rishi Sunak to use next week’s Budget as a springboard for a surprise May general election, including using the fiscal event to steal some of the opposition’s key

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Israel has “basically signed on” to a six-week ceasefire that would be used to facilitate a second round of swaps of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, a senior US administration official said. Several hurdles remain

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Joe Biden rebuked Israel on Friday, saying it had “no excuses” for not letting more aid into Gaza as he announced the US will soon begin airdropping food into the enclave. Biden’s announcement and criticism

Germany and France on Friday expressed alarm at the deaths of dozens of Gazans seeking aid as Israel faced an outcry over its troops opening fire close to a humanitarian convoy. Germany, which has been a staunch ally of the Jewish state since its war with Hamas began in October, called for an explanation from

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, alleging the ChatGPT-maker’s multibillion-dollar alliance with Microsoft has compromised the start-up’s original mission of building artificial intelligence systems for the benefit

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Dozens of people were killed in northern Gaza on Thursday after the Israeli military opened fire on Palestinians rushing towards trucks carrying food but said some had died in a crush to reach the supplies.

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Vladimir Putin has said that western support for Ukraine risks triggering a global war, in his most explicit threat to use nuclear weapons since he ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the UK tax myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Jeremy Hunt has drawn up emergency Budget plans to scrap or scale back Britain’s “non-dom” tax rules, in the event that he needs to raise billions of pounds to fund mass-market pre-election tax cuts. The

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Alexei Navalny will buried in Moscow on Friday, with a memorial service set to take place in the neighbourhood where he lived for many years, according to the late Russian opposition leader’s team. The anti-corruption

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Thames Water is lobbying the government and industry regulator Ofwat to let it increase bills, pay dividends and face lower fines as it seeks to avoid a potential multibillion-pound taxpayer bailout. Britain’s largest water monopoly

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the UK tax myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Jeremy Hunt lacks the fiscal firepower to prevent Britain’s taxes climbing to a record high as a share of national income no matter what he announces in next week’s Budget, new analysis has found. Tax

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Sweden has overcome the last remaining hurdle in its quest to become a Nato member as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine redraws the geopolitical map. Hungary’s parliament voted on Monday to approve Stockholm’s application to