Fed’s Beige Book Shows Weaker Consumer Is Weighing on Sales
US economic activity increased at a slight to moderate pace across most regions in recent weeks, though a growing number reported flat or declining activity, the Federal Reserve said. In its Beige Book survey of regional business contacts, released Wednesday, the US...
Panic Sweeps Korean Stocks in Biggest One-Day Crash on Record
Panic swept through South Korea’s trading floors as concerns over the Middle East conflict sent the world’s hottest stock market to its biggest-ever selloff. The Kospi Index plunged 12% — following a 7.2% drop on Tuesday — as heavyweights Samsung Electronics Co., SK...
China’s Abrupt Yuan Reversal Reveals Anxiety Over War, Oil Shock
The Iranian war is forcing Chinese policymakers into abrupt shifts on the yuan. Just days after easing a derivatives rule that signaled tolerance for yuan weakness, the People’s Bank of China abruptly reversed course, setting its daily reference rate stronger this...
Emerging Currencies See Worst Day Since 2024 on Middle East Risk
An index tracking emerging-market currencies closed for its worst session since November 2024 as the dollar jumped and traders dumped risk assets amid risks of a prolonged military conflict in the Middle East. An MSCI total return gauge of developing nation currencies...
Goldman Traders See ‘Painful’ Path for US Stocks Before Rebound
US equities may need to pull back further before they can mount a durable advance, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s trading desk warned, citing fragile sentiment and choppy flows that left the S&P 500 vulnerable after its latest attempt to clear the 7,000 level fizzled....
Surging Gasoline Prices Create New Political Woes for Trump
Gasoline and diesel futures surged on the first day of trading after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, threating to blot out one of the biggest bright spots of President Donald Trump’s energy agenda. Gasoline futures jumped as much as 9% Monday as the flow...
Iran’s Missile Math: $20,000 Drones Take on $4 Million Patriots
Which side runs out of munitions first could determine the outcome of the war. Just three days into the conflict, the Iran war has become attritional. Waves of drone attacks by the Islamic Republic are putting pressure on the defenses of the US and its partners from...
Dimon Warns Higher Inflation Risks Being ‘Skunk at a Party’ for US Economy
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon warned that inflation could become a “skunk at a party” for the US economy. “There’s some risk there’s more inflation than people think, and that could be like a skunk at a party if that ever happens,” Dimon...
Amazon’s Extreme AI Spending Sends Stock to Worst Month in Years
Amazon.com Inc. may be a leader in the artificial intelligence race, but investors are increasingly unwilling to pay up for the cost of maintaining that position. Shares of the e-commerce and cloud computing giant plunged 12% in February, their worst month since...
Missiles Seen Over Abu Dhabi Financial Hub Dent Safe Haven Image
The United Arab Emirates’ twin hubs of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as Qatar’s capital Doha, have transformed themselves into global financial centres built on a bedrock of safety, stability and proximity to deep pools of capital. Iran’s attacks on Saturday came as a...
Bank Shares Walloped by More AI and ‘Cockroach’ Credit Woes
Financial firms ended February where they spent much of the month: enduring another dizzying blow from the threat of artificial intelligence and grappling with signs those cockroaches Jamie Dimon warned about in the world of private credit are starting to scurry. The...
SpaceX Weighs Confidential IPO Filing as Soon as March
SpaceX is targeting filing confidentially for an initial public offering as soon as next month, according to people familiar with the matter, as billionaire Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company moves forward with plans for the biggest-ever listing. The Starbase,...
Wells Fargo Deepens Private Equity Lending Push With New Team
Wells Fargo & Co. — nearly two years after starting a venture with Centerbridge Partners — is building out another new hook to the bank’s lending machine: offering loans to smaller private equity shops. The bank has formed a mid-cap sponsor group in its commercial...
Smartphone Market Set to Shrink 13% Due to Memory Chip Crisis, IDC Says
The global smartphone market will contract 12.9% in 2026 because of the unprecedented memory chip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” according to researcher IDC. The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of...