Today UK Times
Markets, banking, investment, insurance and assets.
Donald Trump made more than 1,000 stock purchases and sales worth between $79m and $270m in July, a Guardian analysis of his latest financial disclosure found, including up to $25m each of Amazon and Microsoft stock sold on a single day. The White House says the portfolio is independently managed through index-replicating model accounts, even as the House passes a Trump-endorsed trading ban that exempts the president himself.
A fortnight of instability in government bond markets has pushed the 10-year US yield to 4.8% and the 30-year yield to its highest since 2008, as investors reassess US debt above $40tn, oil above $90 a barrel, a wave of AI-driven corporate borrowing and the end of Japan's deflation era — with knock-on effects for mortgages, budgets and developing economies.
Investors enter 2026 expecting global stock markets to keep rising even as a Deutsche Bank poll of 440 market participants puts a plunge in technology valuations, loss of Fed independence and a private credit crisis at the top of the risk list. UBS sees global equities up about 15% and the S&P 500 at 7,700, Goldman Sachs expects sturdy 2.8% world growth, the FTSE 100 has just broken 10,000 points, oil is forecast to fall to $58 a barrel while copper heads for a clear deficit — a bullish consensus built on foundations its own authors admit are fragile.
After a tariff-driven spring scare, the S&P 500 is on track for a third straight year of double-digit gains. This analysis unpacks the AI-fuelled rally, the concentration risk in Big Tech, and the policy landmines heading into 2026.
The Bank of Russia cut its key rate by 0.5 percentage points to 16% on December 19, 2025 — the fifth consecutive reduction of the easing cycle that began in June from a record 21%. Annual inflation was estimated at 5.8% as of December 15 and is expected to end the year below 6%, under the floor of the regulator's October forecast.
The first half of 2025 was the strongest start for U.S. IPO issuance since 2021, with 102 listings versus 78 a year earlier, and both deal count and capital raised surpassed full-year 2024. SEC chairman Paul Atkins now wants to make going public more accessible — cutting disclosure burdens, allowing arbitration and loser-pays bylaws, and curbing what he calls politicized activists — while NYSE president Lynn Martin hails a market that is strong across all sectors.
The Bank of Korea kept its benchmark interest rate at 2.5 percent on 27 November 2025, citing the won's slide to a seven-month low of 1,477.1 per dollar, while raising its 2025 economic growth outlook to 1 percent on strong exports and resilient domestic consumption.
The value of Russia's gold reserves reached a record $250 billion at the end of August and gold holdings climbed 2.6% to $255 billion, the highest in modern history, while gold's share in the country's reserve assets rose to 37% — the maximum since October 1999, Bank of Russia data reviewed by RIA Novosti showed.
Private credit has grown from a niche lender to middle-market companies into a $1.7 trillion industry. Moody's Analytics warns its web of connections can act as a 'shock amplifier', while experts flag record dry powder and the rise of PIK loans. Others argue capital cushions and post-2008 discipline make contagion fears overblown.
Activist investor Carl Icahn reached an agreement with Caesars Entertainment in March 2025 to expand the board to twelve directors and appoint Jesse Lynn and Ted Papapostolou of Icahn Enterprises. Icahn, who owns 1.15% of the company, said he looks forward to exploring strategic alternatives for Caesars' underappreciated digital business, which generated $1.16 billion in revenue in 2024, up 19.5% year on year.
Total global gold demand reached a record 4,974 tons in 2024, the World Gold Council says. Central banks bought more than 1,000 tons for a third straight year — led by Poland, Turkey and India — while investment demand jumped 25% to a four-year high of 1,180 tons on strong ETF inflows. Jewelry was the only weak spot, falling 11%, as bullion prices set 40 record highs during the year.
On 5 December 2024 Bitcoin passed $100,000 for the first time, hours after President-elect Donald Trump named former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins to run the Wall Street regulator. The price was up 40% from US election day and more than double its start-of-year level, with spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024 by firms including BlackRock, Fidelity and Grayscale pulling in billions. Behind the milestone lie seven wild moments in the cryptocurrency's history, from the 2010 pizza purchase to the fall of the 'Crypto King'.
On 25 October 2024 the Bank of Russia board of directors raised the key rate by 200 basis points to 21% per annum, well above the 100-point step most analysts expected. The regulator said inflation was running substantially above its July forecast and did not rule out another hike at the next meeting on 20 December. The Russian stock market turned lower after the decision.
HSBC named chief financial officer Georges Elhedery as its new group chief executive on 17 July 2024, replacing Noel Quinn who announced his departure in April after five years. The Lebanese-born, Mandarin-speaking banker takes over in September as the bank prepares for fresh US-China tensions. Chair Mark Tucker called him the 'outstanding candidate' with a record of 'driving growth, delivering simplification and containing costs'.
Sberbank earned 1.5086 trillion roubles of net profit under IFRS in 2023, a 5.2-fold increase on the restated 2022 result and slightly above consensus, with return on equity jumping to 25.3% from 5.2% and the capital base strong enough to support payouts of at least half of profit as dividends.
JPMorgan Chase announced a senior executive reshuffle in January 2024 to 'position the firm for the future', moving Jennifer Piepszak and Troy Rohrbaugh to jointly run an expanded commercial and investment bank division while Marianne Lake takes sole leadership of consumer and community banking. The changes sharpen the succession picture for CEO Jamie Dimon, who is under contract until at least 2026 and earned a record $36 million in 2023.
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