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The S&P 500 eked out its fourth consecutive record high close on Wednesday, helped by several big tech names rising to new peaks. The blue-chip index ended 0.1 per cent higher with early gains moderating during afternoon trading. Half a dozen of the index’s biggest companies by market capitalisation closed at record highs. Tech names

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The French government is pressing the UK to help plug a multibillion-pound hole in the budget of nuclear power projects being built in Britain by France’s electricity operator EDF. The call for a contribution from

US stocks ticked higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 closing at a record high for the third session in a row. The benchmark ended the day 0.3 per cent higher, notching a four-session winning streak, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4 per cent. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 0.05 percentage points to 4.14

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Donald Trump will win the New Hampshire Republican primary, the Associated Press projected on Tuesday night, cementing his frontrunner status and raising questions about whether Nikki Haley would end her bid for the White House.

The battle between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley has emerged as a contest of competing foreign policy visions, with voters in New Hampshire set to deliver a verdict on America’s role in the world, including on whether to keep funding Ukraine. The vote in the New England state on Tuesday could represent an early watershed

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The writer is editorial director and a columnist at Le Monde Emmanuel Macron burst on to the European scene in 2017 as the innovative politician who stopped the populist wave then sweeping Britain, America, Italy

Round two of the Republican primary season takes us to New Hampshire this week, and former president Donald Trump is once again the runaway favourite. The pressure at this Tuesday’s caucuses is on the also-rans, particularly Nikki Haley. She finished third in Iowa last week, underperforming polls, and is facing pressure from her backers to

A week ago in Iowa, Ron DeSantis scathingly described how Donald Trump was forcing Republican politicians to “kiss the ring” of the former president in order to earn his praise and avoid public humiliation. But on Sunday afternoon the Florida governor wasted no time in bowing down to Trump, endorsing him as he exited the

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. US corporate bond markets are “on fire” as companies have sold a record $150bn of debt since the start of this month, the busiest opening to the year for more than three decades. Investment-grade groups

This time last year Murray Auchincloss appeared to have little ambition to ever be chief executive of Britain’s most storied oil company. The Canadian former tax analyst had carved out a highly successful, quiet career inside BP, but as finance chief he was destined to be the numbers guy keeping his more flamboyant boss in

The US House of Representatives passed a short-term spending bill on Thursday that will avert a partial government shutdown and free up lawmakers to focus on contentious negotiations over aid to Ukraine. Passage in the House came after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill earlier on Thursday. The bill will now go to President Joe

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Pakistan carried out a pre-dawn attack on suspected militant bases in Iran on Thursday, a retaliatory strike that threatened to escalate tensions after Iran attacked a jihadi group in Pakistan this week. Pakistan’s foreign ministry

Rishi Sunak’s election supremo Isaac Levido this week issued a stark warning to Tory MPs, telling them: “Divided parties fail.” But the Conservative rebellion over the government’s Rwanda asylum bill over the last 48 hours is an ominous sign for the prime minister that the warning is not being heeded. Tory MPs may have pulled

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. European stocks and bonds fell after European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde signalled that interest rates would come down in summer rather than spring and UK inflation rose unexpectedly for the first time in 10

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The writer is author of ‘Black Wave’, distinguished fellow at Columbia University’s Institute of Global Politics and an FT contributing editor Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, made a startlingly frank admission of powerlessness

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US foreign policy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Those parochial Democrats. Those globalist Republicans. Last week, when US forces struck Houthi rebels in Yemen, some Congressional left-wingers objected to the action itself or to the lack of legislative consent for it, or

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Donald Trump is expected to win the first ballot of the 2024 presidential race, as voters in Iowa gather on Monday night for caucuses that will set the pace for the Republican campaign for the

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the German economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. German output contracted 0.3 per cent last year as high inflation, rising interest rates and elevated energy costs made Europe’s largest economy one of the weakest performers in the world, according to an initial estimate

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Security officials from 83 countries gathered in Davos on Sunday to discuss Ukraine’s demands for ending the war with Russia, in talks marked by rising non-western participation but limited progress towards peace. Held on

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Donald Trump is the first choice of just under half of likely Republican caucus goers, according to a new poll that underscores the former president’s dominance heading into the Iowa caucuses on Monday. The poll,