WORLD
London’s mansions are struggling to sell
There were just 10 sales above £30 million, compared with 38 in the previous period. In total, super prime sales volume in London came in at £2.77 billion in the 12 months through July, down from £4.3 billion in the period ending in July 2023
WORLD
Zelenskiy will pitch ‘Victory Plan’ to Biden, meet with Trump
“The Victory Plan, this bridge to strengthening Ukraine, can contribute to more productive future diplomatic meetings with Russia,” Zelenskiy told reporters in a briefing on Friday. “Russia should see it.”
BUSINESS
Global money is chasing Indian stocks again as bull run extends
Frequent interventions by the nation’s central bank have transformed the rupee from Asia’s most volatile currency to one of the least.
BUSINESS
Boeing faces long strike as gig economy gives workers clout
Striking employees received their final Boeing paycheck on Thursday, and the company stops paying for their health insurance on Sept. 30.
WORLD
FTC sues drug middlemen over manipulating insulin market
The agency said it filed a complaint in its administrative court alleging that CVS’s Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts and UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx accepted money from drugmakers in exchange for keeping lower-cost insulin off their lists of approved drugs
BUSINESS
OpenAI to decide which backers to let into $6.5 billion funding
The deal is set to value OpenAI at $150 billion, a total that does not include the new investment, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The company was last valued at $86 billion in an earlier financing deal.
BUSINESS
China weighs removing major homebuying curbs to boost demand
The government may also end distinctions between first- and second-home purchases, paving the way for smaller down payments and lower mortgage rates on second residences, the people added.
BUSINESS
Shaktikanta Das tames volatile Rupee with $689 billion in forex reserves
Clamping down on volatility and building up a stockpile of foreign exchange holdings to safeguard the economy in the event of skittish overseas investors pulling funds has been a key plank of the RBI governor’s tenure.
MARKETS
S&P 500 hits all-time high on Wall Street investors soft-landing hopes
Almost every major group in the S&P 500 gained, with the benchmark up 1.7% and poised for its 39th record this year. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 2.9% and the Russell 2000 of small caps extended its advance into a seventh straight session. Bitcoin jumped 5%. Bonds and the dollar fell
BUSINESS
Wall Street’s $5.1 trillion triple-witching is the next market test
The quarterly “triple-witching” will see some $5.1 trillion worth of options tied to individual stocks, indexes and exchange-traded funds fall off the board, according to an estimate from derivatives analytical firm Asym 500.
INDIA
FATF calls for stricter checks on India’s precious metal deals
The South Asian nation, one of the world’s biggest importers of gold and an important processor and exporter of diamond jewelry, has about 175,000 businesses in this sector, but only some 9,500 are registered with the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council that verifies proof of identity, the Financial Action Task Force said in its report Thursday
BUSINESS
Blackstone sees Asia as growth engine, has ‘scale’ in India
In India, where the firm holds about $50 billion worth of private equity investments and real estate, Blackstone has “scale” and is among the top investors
BUSINESS
Apple gets EU warning to open up iPhone operating system
EU watchdogs announced under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act that the Cupertino, California-based firm must step into line with strict new laws on making operating systems fully functional with other technologies
BUSINESS
IIFL Finance faces downgrade risk on gold loan ban
IIFL Finance is at risk of a credit rating downgrade from AA to AA- due to an unresolved regulatory ban on its gold loan business, impacting funding and workforce.
TRENDS
Diddy’s sex trafficking charges suggest a crime hiding in plain sight
The indictment against music mogul Sean Combs should be a reminder that we often fail to recognize trafficking even when it’s right in front of us
BUSINESS
Bitcoin edges higher after Fed cuts for first time in four years
The US central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by a half percentage point. Projections released following their two-day meeting showed a narrow majority, 10 of 19 officials, favored lowering rates by at least an additional half-point over their two remaining 2024 meetings
MARKETS
Fed slashes rates by 50 bps in pre-emptive strike against economic slowdown
Projections released following their two-day meeting showed a narrow majority, 10 of 19 officials, favored lowering rates by at least an additional half-point over their two remaining 2024 meetings.
BUSINESS
Gold rises to record after US Fed makes first rate cut since 2020
Gold, which tends to benefit from lower rates, rose as much as 1.2% before erasing gains after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference that no one should see this as a “new pace.”
BUSINESS
US Fed cuts rates by half point in decisive bid to defend economy
The Federal Open Market Committee voted 11 to 1 to lower the federal funds rate to a range of 4.75 percent to 5 percent, after holding it for more than a year at its highest level in two decades
MARKETS
SEC approves its overhaul of stock pricing, exchange fees
That might help trading venues such as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Inc., among others, to better compete with wholesalers that can quote in finer increments outside of an exchange.
WORLD
Traders lock in Fed bets as rate-cut size debate to finally end
The market is fully pricing in a quarter-point rate reduction on Wednesday, when the US central bank is expected to kick off its rate-cutting cycle, with the chance of a bigger move viewed as a coin-flip. Treasuries have rallied into the decision, climbing for a fifth-straight month and driving short-dated yields — those most sensitive to Fed policy — to their lowest in two years
BUSINESS
Ray Dalio downplays next US Fed move as investors flag China risks
Bridgewater Associates LP founder Ray Dalio said what the Fed will do this week “doesn’t make a difference” over the longer term as policymakers will ultimately need to keep real interest rates low to allow servicing of mounting debts.
WORLD
Exploding phone, toxic spray: A timeline of covert Israeli hits
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attack, which came after almost a year of cross-border rocket fire between the two sides in a second front to the war in Gaza
BUSINESS
Centre considering easing rice export limits, aiding global supply
Any further efforts to remove export hurdles could help cool benchmark Asian rice prices, which reached the highest in more than 15 years in January and remain historically elevated.
