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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The UK economy returned to growth in January helped by the expansion of the services sector, following a technical recession in the second half of 2023. Gross domestic product rose 0.2 per cent between December

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 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,

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

A mysterious Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Aden faces intensifying scrutiny among maritime experts concerned that the ship is helping Houthi rebels target commercial sea traffic. The Behshad, which outwardly looks like a standard dry bulk carrier, moved to the Gulf of Aden in January after years in the Red Sea, just as attacks

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

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

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. 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. Venezuela will hold its presidential election on July 28, ending speculation over when polls will be held as political repression increases in the South American country. Socialist strongman President Nicolás Maduro is expected to run

Your browser does not support playing this file but you can still download the MP3 file to play locally. Rates are up and so are the markets, baffling the bears. Today on the show, FT correspondents Ethan Wu and Katie Martin look at five reasons the market might be rationally booming, including investor sentiment numbers,

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

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

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.