J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images Long-term mortgage rates reached their highest level since early September of 2025, according to the latest Freddie Mac ( FMCC ) Primary Mortgage Survey. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.46% as of April 2, up from 6.38% last week but below the year-ago level of 6.64%. 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.77%, compared to 5.75% last week and down f...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images Long-term mortgage rates reached their highest level since early September of 2025, according to the latest Freddie Mac ( FMCC ) Primary Mortgage Survey. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.46% as of April 2, up from 6.38% last week but below the year-ago level of 6.64%. 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.77%, compared to 5.75% last week and down from 5.82% a year ago. "With spring homebuying season in full swing, aspiring buyers should remember to shop around for the best mortgage rate, as they can potentially save thousands of dollars by getting multiple quotes," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist. Here is a look at the mortgage rate movements in the past year: Source: Freddie Mac More on Mortgages Mortgage demand continues to fall amid rising rates Treasury yields surge in March, posting the biggest monthly jump since 2024
The Iran war is pushing the euro-area economy closer to the European Central Bank ’s adverse scenario, meaning the next policy move is very likely to be an increase in interest rates, Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said. “The prolongation of the conflict is obviously a negative factor,” the Bank of France governor said Thursday at a speech in Paris. As of today, “we are close...
The Iran war is pushing the euro-area economy closer to the European Central Bank ’s adverse scenario, meaning the next policy move is very likely to be an increase in interest rates, Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said. “The prolongation of the conflict is obviously a negative factor,” the Bank of France governor said Thursday at a speech in Paris. As of today, “we are closer to the intermediate adverse scenario than to the baseline.” The comments align with those of several of Villeroy’s colleagues , who are concluding that after nearly five weeks of fighting in the Middle East, higher energy costs will leave a lasting impression on consumer prices in Europe. March saw the steepest jump in euro area inflation since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, while governments and national central banks have begun trimming their forecasts for activity as Donald Trump threatens further escalation. Despite those headwinds, Villeroy said it’s premature to determine when monetary policy should be tightened. He also said the euro zone is at a much better starting point than it was four years ago and the current situation isn’t a repeat of that at this stage. “It is far too early to predict a timetable for ECB interest-rate rises,” Villeroy said. “But it is clear that we have the capacity to act when and in whatever way necessary. Obviously, the next change in key interest rates is highly likely to be upwards.” Investors see as many as three hikes this year, with a first later this month deemed more likely than not. The ECB will next set rates on April 30. That will be the last meeting for Villeroy after he announced he’d quit before the end of his second term. An increase in the deposit rate from its current level of 2% would help keep inflation expectations in check — something Villeroy said the ECB is keeping a close eye on for households, companies and markets. “This time even more so, we will act without haste but without any hesitation if this proves nece...
The S & P 500 was fighting in midday trading to break a streak of Thursdays being negative for the broad index. Over the last nine Thursdays, the index has ended in the red. It's the longest streak going back to the 1980s. If the benchmark declines ends the session lower, the total of 10 in a row would be the longest negative streak ever for the weekday. Markets have traded in a fairly consistent ...
The S & P 500 was fighting in midday trading to break a streak of Thursdays being negative for the broad index. Over the last nine Thursdays, the index has ended in the red. It's the longest streak going back to the 1980s. If the benchmark declines ends the session lower, the total of 10 in a row would be the longest negative streak ever for the weekday. Markets have traded in a fairly consistent pattern since the Iran war began: They rise to start the week on hopes that the war's end — just to see those positive outlooks evaporate and the selling resume at the end of the week. "Early week optimism, and then the reality smacks us as we work our way later in the week that we're not as close to the end of the conflict as we thought we were," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. On Thursday, markets initially declined after investors were left disappointed when President Donald Trump on Wednesday night failed to signal a clear path to end the war in Iran. At its session low, the S & P 500 fell 1.5%. Stocks, however, were able to erase much of their losses after a report that Iran and Oman are drafting a way to "monitor" traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. The weekly trading pattern is backed up by data. In a post on X , Bespoke Investment Group noted that the S & P 500 has averaged this year a 0.28% decline on Thursdays. Fridays are also negative on average, while Monday through Wednesday have on average been positive ones. "It's certainly an incredible streak," Bespoke co-founder Paul Hickey said in an email to CNBC, about the Thursday trend. He added that Fridays' relative weakness too shows this trend is about investors not wanting to take on too much risk heading into the weekend, amid geopolitical uncertainty. "As long as the U.S. military has a massive and building presence in the Middle East, and Iran is saying 'Bring it On,' I would expect this pattern to continue in the short-term," Hickey said.
Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic features interviews with cast members and will air on 5 April HBO has more Harry Potter magic up its sleeve – today, the company announced a standalone, behind-the-scenes special to accompany its upcoming TV adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic will offer “an in-depth look at the making of the fi...
Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic features interviews with cast members and will air on 5 April HBO has more Harry Potter magic up its sleeve – today, the company announced a standalone, behind-the-scenes special to accompany its upcoming TV adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic will offer “an in-depth look at the making of the first season”, including plenty of production footage and details on the lengthy, UK-wide casting process for Harry, Ron and Hermione, played by Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton. Continue reading...
Donald Trump’s primetime address on Wednesday evening provided little clarity on the US’s strategy in its war against Iran. Trump said that, while military action has made Iran ‘no longer a threat’, the US will continue to hit the country ‘extremely hard’ for several weeks and ‘bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong.’ Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s global affairs correspondent, ...
Donald Trump’s primetime address on Wednesday evening provided little clarity on the US’s strategy in its war against Iran. Trump said that, while military action has made Iran ‘no longer a threat’, the US will continue to hit the country ‘extremely hard’ for several weeks and ‘bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong.’ Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s global affairs correspondent, Andrew Roth. Continue reading...
Private credit investment firm’s move is latest sign of crumbling confidence in unregulated lending market A major private credit investment firm, Blue Owl Capital, has imposed a cap on withdrawals after investors tried to pull $5.4bn from two key funds, in the latest sign of crumbling confidence in the unregulated lending market. The New York-headquartered firm released filings on Thursday that s...
Private credit investment firm’s move is latest sign of crumbling confidence in unregulated lending market A major private credit investment firm, Blue Owl Capital, has imposed a cap on withdrawals after investors tried to pull $5.4bn from two key funds, in the latest sign of crumbling confidence in the unregulated lending market. The New York-headquartered firm released filings on Thursday that showed a surge in redemption requests, with investors asking to take back 21.9% of the cash stored in Blue Owl’s $20bn (£15bn) Credit Income Corp fund between January and March. Meanwhile, investors requested 40.7% of funds from its $3bn tech lending fund. Continue reading...
Earnings Call Insights: Acuity Inc. (AYI) Q2 fiscal 2026 Management View CEO Neil Ashe said Acuity delivered a Q2 marked by “strong execution,” citing growth in net sales, expansion in adjusted operating profit and margin, and higher adjusted diluted EPS, while also emphasizing the company “generated strong cash flow and allocated capital effectively.” CEO Ashe framed the lighting backdrop as weak...
Earnings Call Insights: Acuity Inc. (AYI) Q2 fiscal 2026 Management View CEO Neil Ashe said Acuity delivered a Q2 marked by “strong execution,” citing growth in net sales, expansion in adjusted operating profit and margin, and higher adjusted diluted EPS, while also emphasizing the company “generated strong cash flow and allocated capital effectively.” CEO Ashe framed the lighting backdrop as weak, saying, “In Acuity Brands Lighting, we are managing our business aggressively in a soft lighting environment,” and added Acuity is “aligning our cost structure to current market dynamics.” CEO Ashe tied operational actions to productivity gains: “These efforts have expanded capacity in our manufacturing network and given us greater flexibility to evaluate our production costs. As a result, this quarter, we took certain actions, including targeted labor cost reductions.” CEO Ashe highlighted AIS momentum and product expansion, saying, “Acuity Intelligent Spaces, which continued to deliver strong sales and margin performance,” while noting Distech’s Eclypse platform and the release of “the Eclypse retrofit solution,” plus QSC’s expansion into smaller spaces with “the RoomSuite Modular System.” CFO Karen Holcom said, “For total Acuity, we generated net sales of $1.1 billion,” adding it was “$49 million or 5% above the prior year,” driven by AIS growth and “an additional month of QSC sales,” partially offset by ABL declines. Outlook Management updated ABL’s full-year sales view: “we now expect our full year ABL sales performance will be flat to down low single digits year-over-year” (Chairman, President & CEO Neil Ashe). In Q&A, CFO Holcom confirmed no change to AIS growth expectations and EPS guidance: “no change to AIS growth, still low to mid-teens, and no change in EPS as well.” Compared with last quarter’s messaging that “nothing changed” in guidance (Senior VP & CFO Karen Holcom, Q1), Q2 introduced a more cautious ABL sales range (Chairman, President & CEO Neil Ashe). F...