Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Photo: daniel leal/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Rishi Sunak must not have heard the story of the curse of getting what you most want. On Monday, he became Britain’s prime minister by default, the third in two months when conservative lawmakers failed to nominate an alternative candidate. Now Mr. Sunak control … Read more
Signs that the Federal Reserve may soon slow the pace of its rate hikes helped calm government yields late last week, giving investors hope that a more stable bond market could ease pressure on stocks. U.S. Treasury yields, which move in the opposite direction of bond prices, fell broadly on Friday after The Wall Street … Read more
The world’s deepest and most liquid interest rate market is in big, big trouble. For months, traders, academics and other analysts have worried that the $23.7 trillion Treasury market could be the source of the next financial crisis. So last week, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged concerns about a potential collapse in sovereign debt … Read more
The future of British economic policy may not yet have a name attached to it, but it does have an acronym: OBR, or Office for Budget Responsibility. In theory, it is almost impossible to predict what policies will follow after her political death. The Conservative Party is in turmoil, with local media reporting that Mrs … Read more
The pressure on depressed US bonds shows little sign of letting up, driving Treasury yields to new highs and threatening further pain across financial markets. With bond investors already facing their worst returns in living memory, government yields continued to rise last week in response to more bad news on inflation, stubbornly strong economic activity … Read more
British stocks and bonds are trading at their lowest levels in decades. It has not been enough to lure investors back into the market. Since Liz Truss won the race for prime minister in early September, Britain’s FTSE 250, a broad index of domestically oriented stocks, has fallen nearly 10%, outstripping losses for the Dow … Read more
In 2018, the Bank of England examined whether a large rise in interest rates would trigger a cascade of forced selling by bond investors, destabilizing the financial system. The answer was no, even though long-term yields rose a full percentage point in a week, which had never happened in records dating back to 1990. Subscribe … Read more
LONDON – British financial markets rose on Thursday as investors bet the government would reverse course on its latest tax cut plans as Prime Minister Liz Truss grapples with a growing backlash from both investors and lawmakers from her own Conservative Party. Subscribe to newsletter Markets A pre-market primer packed with news, trends and ideas. … Read more
LIVERPOOL, England – Pension funds accustomed to thinking for decades have been thrown into real-time firefighting by the crisis in British markets. Many UK pensions are rushing to raise cash to meet collateral requirements, triggered by rapid movements in normally stable government bonds. Adding to the urgency: the Bank of England’s plans to end its … Read more
WASHINGTON—Governments fighting inflation should limit spending increases to programs focused on helping the poor, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, as rising food and energy prices create hardship worldwide. Such measures could include rebates on utility bills and allowances for school meals and public transport, limited to low-income households, IMF economists said in their latest … Read more