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Beijing has slammed the US decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon that flew across North America this week, underscoring how the episode has undermined efforts to stabilise relations between the military powers. China accused the US of “seriously violating international conventions” and repeated its claim that it was a balloon for “civilian use” that

Hedge funds wrongfooted by a sharp surge in stocks this week rushed to exit losing bets on falling markets at the fastest pace in years. Equity markets have risen sharply so far this year, led by many of the speculative stocks that were clobbered hardest during 2022’s global sell-off. Many of the funds that profited

The UK’s FTSE 100 hit an all-time high on Friday, as the blue-chip index dominated by multinational companies overcame the drag of a domestic economy headed for recession. The FTSE added as much as 1.1 per cent on the day to trade at 7906.58, eclipsing its previous peak in May 2018, before closing at 7902.

European government bond markets surged the most in years while stocks also rallied as investors bet that interest rates on both sides of the Atlantic would soon peak. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England both raised rates by half a percentage point on Thursday, with the BoE expressing optimism inflation would fall

Adani Enterprises has called off its $2.4bn equity fundraising in the latest blow to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who has seen shares in his industrial empire tumble after a short seller made allegations of fraud and stock manipulation. The decision to pull the share sale and refund investors marks an abrupt turn after Adani Enterprises’

More UK companies went bust last year than at any point since the financial crisis as soaring inflation, rising interest rates and the stalling economy hit businesses. The total number of company insolvencies registered in 2022 was 22,109 — the highest since 2009 and 57 per cent higher than 2021 — according to data issued

A US appeals court has dismissed a bankruptcy petition filed by a unit of Johnson & Johnson, upending the healthcare company’s attempt to resolve billions of dollars of legal claims from customers alleging its talcum powder caused cancer. The Third US Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday said it had dismissed a bankruptcy filing from

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has sacked Nadhim Zahawi as chair of the Conservative party after his ethics adviser concluded there had been “serious breaches” of the ministerial code. Sunak finally jettisoned Zahawi after weeks of stories about his tax affairs, which have been politically damaging for the ruling party during a historic cost of

The UK tax authority has admitted that it gave misleading information last summer when it said no government minister was being investigated, even though Nadhim Zahawi was the subject of a probe. HM Revenue & Customs has now apologised for wrongly stating last June that no ministers were under investigation — mistakes it blames on

Goldman Sachs paid chief executive David Solomon $25mn for 2022, down almost 30 per cent compared to a year before, after the Wall Street bank reported a steep drop in profits, cut thousands of jobs and slashed employee bonuses. In a regulatory filing on Friday, Goldman disclosed that Solomon received a base salary of $2mn,

The US economy logged better than expected growth in the final quarter of 2022, even as the Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign to raise borrowing costs began to weigh more heavily on business activity. The world’s largest economy expanded 2.9 per cent on an annualised basis between September and December, according to data published by the

The US and Germany will send main battle tanks to Kyiv, a significant increase of western military aid that was condemned by Russia and prompted cheers throughout Ukraine. The US will be sending 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine — or the equivalent of one Ukrainian tank battalion, senior Biden administration officials confirmed on Wednesday.

Several senior Ukrainian officials have resigned after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy swiftly sought to defuse concerns over corruption at a time when he is requesting more western weaponry to repel Russian forces. “We have made personnel decisions . . . regarding officials of various levels in ministries and other central government bodies, in the regions, and in the law enforcement

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has asked his ethics adviser to investigate the tax affairs of Nadhim Zahawi in a move that raises questions about the future of the Conservative party chair. Downing Street also admitted on Monday that when Sunak publicly defended Zahawi last week, the prime minister had not known that the former

The eurozone will avoid a recession this year according to a widely-watched survey of economists which illustrates the sharp about-turn in global economic sentiment in the past couple of weeks. As recently as last month, analysts surveyed by Consensus Economics were predicting the bloc would plunge into recession this year. But this month’s survey found

Banks are gearing up for the biggest round of job cuts since the global financial crisis, as executives come under pressure to slash costs following a collapse in investment banking revenues. The lay-offs — which are expected to be in the tens of thousands across the sector — reverse the mass hirings banks made over

Google’s parent company has announced it will axe 12,000 staff, pushing total tech job losses above 200,000 since the start of last year, as industry bosses concede they overextended during the pandemic’s digital boom. The latest cuts will affect about 6 per cent of the total workforce at Alphabet, which also owns autonomous car company

Christine Lagarde warned financial markets on Thursday that the European Central Bank was determined to “stay the course” and signalled further big interest rate rises lay ahead to get inflation down. In comments that bolstered the euro, the ECB president told the World Economic Forum in Davos that markets should ditch their view that the

The stress for investors is not yet over after stock markets cleared out the “crap” that built up after the outbreak of Covid-19, with a long period of drab returns still lying ahead, the chief executive of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has warned. US inflation could be poised to reaccelerate before this summer, in part

Goldman Sachs’ profits plunged by two-thirds last quarter, missing expectations and capping a grim year that has forced the bank to embark on its biggest cost-cutting exercise since the financial crisis. It was the Wall Street bank’s fifth straight quarter of falling profits and Goldman has already moved to cut more than 3,000 jobs, slash