News

Hedge funds trading bonds and currencies are on track for their best year since the global financial crisis, boosted by the steep interest rate rises that have inflicted heavy losses on equity specialists and mainstream investors. So-called macro hedge funds, made famous by the likes of George Soros and Louis Bacon, endured a barren period

Apple’s business is under threat from a widespread coronavirus outbreak in China, with supply chain experts warning of a growing risk of months-long disruption to the production of iPhones. The US tech giant has had to contend with more than a month of chaos at its main assembler Foxconn’s megafactory in Zhengzhou, China, known as

Chinese officials estimate about 250mn people, or 18 per cent of the population, were infected with Covid-19 in the first 20 days of December, as Beijing abruptly dismantled restrictions that had contained the disease for almost three years. The estimates — including 37mn people, or 2.6 per cent of the population, who were infected on

Passengers flying into the UK face months of disruption at the border as passport officers gear up for prolonged strikes, the head of the civil service union has warned. Border Force officers on Friday began eight days of strikes and government officials have warned people to prepare for long queues and drafted in the military

The UK economy contracted by more than previously estimated in the third quarter and lagged further behind other advanced economies, as households struggled with high inflation. Data published by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday also suggested that consumers are not dipping into their savings as much as forecast, suggesting the UK’s recession could

UK health secretary Steve Barclay on Wednesday doubled down on the government’s decision not to negotiate on pay with striking NHS staff, as he accused ambulance unions of jeopardising patient safety. The government is braced for severe disruption within the NHS across England and Wales, following the decision by about 10,000 ambulance workers represented by

A Russian court has ordered the seizure of a luxury hotel complex owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, one of the few oligarchs to have criticised President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, in a sign of the pressure facing the country’s tycoons since the invasion. The legal dispute, following an initial claim brought by a science

Twitter users have voted for Elon Musk to step down as the social network’s chief executive, adding to turmoil over the future of the San Francisco-based company. The billionaire entrepreneur, who bought Twitter for $44bn in October, launched a poll via the platform on Sunday asking whether he should remain at the helm, adding: “I

Covid-19 is spreading rapidly through China’s biggest cities, leading to widespread medicine shortages and exposing Beijing’s lack of preparation after authorities reversed strict pandemic controls. Residents of Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities reported pharmacies have sold out of fever medicine and Covid tests, while social media images contrast long queues outside Covid clinics with otherwise

The EU’s trading partners have hit out at the bloc’s plan to introduce the world’s first carbon border tax, saying it is protectionist and puts export industries at risk, as negotiations to complete the deal stretch into the weekend. Several developing nations have already begun to negotiate with Brussels for waivers on the proposals, which

Evidence of a wave of Covid-19 deaths is beginning to emerge in Beijing despite official tallies showing no fatalities since an uncontrolled outbreak began sweeping through China’s capital this week. Staff at one crematorium in Beijing said they cremated the bodies of at least 30 Covid victims on Wednesday and Financial Times reporters saw two

The UK’s health minister on Thursday said that the government had no realistic way of meeting nurses’ pay demands as the first day of historic strikes got under way. Nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will stage industrial action for 12 hours, after ministers refused to negotiate with the Royal College of Nursing over

UK inflation dipped to 10.7 per cent in November as an easing in the rise in petrol prices helped to lower the rate from a 41-year high of 11.1 per cent last month. The figure was better than an expected 10.9 per cent and economists said the annual inflation rate had now probably passed its

US securities regulators have charged Sam Bankman-Fried with defrauding investors in his bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX following his arrest in the Bahamas. The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday it had charged Bankman-Fried with defrauding venture capitalists and other equity investors who pumped $1.8bn into Nassau-based FTX, the majority of whom are based in

Microsoft has agreed to buy a £1.5bn stake in London Stock Exchange Group as part of a 10-year strategic partnership between the US software company and the 300-year-old UK exchange. The deal, announced on Monday, marks the latest tie-up between finance and Big Tech. In November, Google invested $1bn in Chicago-based CME as part of

The White House’s chief energy adviser has described as “un-American” the refusal of US shale investors to ramp up drilling, even as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine causes havoc on global oil and gas markets. US oil groups have been under pressure from Wall Street to funnel record profits back to investors this year, despite repeated

Jeremy Hunt has warned trade unions not to jeopardise Britain’s recovery, saying that high pay demands will hit the fight against inflation and harm the workers they are trying to protect. In an interview with the Financial Times, the UK chancellor did not deny that ministers had blocked a potential 10 per cent pay offer

UK ministers blocked a possible deal to call off this month’s rail strikes by preventing the industry from offering unions higher pay deals and adding tough new conditions at the last minute. Employers had planned to offer a 10 per cent pay rise over two years to the RMT union, but were blocked by the

Trafigura is handing more than $1.7bn to its top traders and shareholders after its net profit more than doubled from already record levels last year, fuelled by the energy crisis stoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Swiss-based commodities trading company, which is owned by 1,100 shareholders mainly made up of executives and traders at

China has announced wide-ranging relaxations to President Xi Jinping’s contentious zero-Covid restrictions, including for the first time home quarantine, as further evidence emerged of the economic damage from the pandemic controls. The new measures, outlined on Wednesday by the State Council, China’s cabinet, were foreshadowed by a meeting of the Chinese Communist party’s politburo that