The US, Japan, India and Australia launched new joint initiatives for the Indo-Pacific region as the countries' foreign ministers gathered in New Delhi for a summit. (Source: Bloomberg)
The US, Japan, India and Australia launched new joint initiatives for the Indo-Pacific region as the countries' foreign ministers gathered in New Delhi for a summit. (Source: Bloomberg)
07.44 BST Introduction: Oil rising back towards $100... Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Global investors are clinging to hopes that a US-Iran peace deal could be close, but optimism could be waning after fresh US strikes in the Middle East. Brent crude oil is creeping back towards the $100 a barrel mark, up 2.5% today at $...
07.44 BST Introduction: Oil rising back towards $100... Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Global investors are clinging to hopes that a US-Iran peace deal could be close, but optimism could be waning after fresh US strikes in the Middle East. Brent crude oil is creeping back towards the $100 a barrel mark, up 2.5% today at $98.57 a barrel, having dropped below that $100 mark yesterday for the first time in a fortnight. US and Iranian negotiators are in Doha to discuss a potential end to the three-month war, after Donald Trump declared last weekend that a peace deal with Iran “has been largely negotiated”. However, yesterday US forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines, which has created some doubts that a deal is genuinely close. Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank suggests the US attacks were “a warning shot that the ceasefire is fragile”, explaining: double quotation mark These actions were described as “defensive” and not an end to the ceasefire with Iran. Net net, optimism is still elevated that an agreement can be made to end the war. We have been here before, of course, but it has felt for some time that the move towards peace has been three steps forward and one or two back. There are encouraging moves in the government bond market too. The yields (or interest rates) on US debt have dropped today as prices rally, lifted by hopes that a peace deal will reopen the strait of Hormuz and ease the inflationary pressures hitting the world economy. Wall Street, which was closed yesterday, is on track to open higher. Markets have become more “risk-sensitive,” reports Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com, who cautions: double quotation mark Markets are still leaning optimistic, but the tolerance for negative headlines is shrinking. If negotiations stall further or the Strait disruption worsens, the reaction across oil, yields and equities could become muc...
Bitcoin’s expected volatility has fallen to the lowest level in nine months, as subdued trading and a shift in speculative interest away from the largest cryptocurrency dampen demand for options protection. The Bitcoin Volmex Implied Volatility Index fell to 36.11 Monday in Singapore, its lowest since September last year and close to its lowest since 2023. The index reflects the market’s expected ...
Bitcoin’s expected volatility has fallen to the lowest level in nine months, as subdued trading and a shift in speculative interest away from the largest cryptocurrency dampen demand for options protection. The Bitcoin Volmex Implied Volatility Index fell to 36.11 Monday in Singapore, its lowest since September last year and close to its lowest since 2023. The index reflects the market’s expected 30-day volatility in Bitcoin, derived from real-time crypto options prices. The decline comes as Bitcoin struggles to break above $80,000, trading around $77,000 today and still down nearly 40% from its record high above $126,000 set in October. US spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have seen net outflows of about $1 billion so far in May, reversing a two-month stretch of net inflows and adding to signs that investor demand has cooled. “Bitcoin volatility is nearing all-time lows,” said Caroline Mauron , co-founder at Orbit Markets. “Retail interest is understandably going elsewhere to take advantage of other trading opportunities, as also seen from ETF outflows data.” That stands in contrast with a broader rally across risk assets: US stocks climbed to record highs on hopes that a deal to end the US-Iran war is nearing, while South Korea’s Kospi and Taiwan’s equity market have also touched peaks, buoyed by demand for AI and semiconductor exposure. “ETF flows have been negative for Bitcoin but the overall picture for risk has been positive for markets and I think those two factors have been canceling out each other,” said Damien Loh , chief investment officer at Ericsenz Capital. Bitcoin’s low implied volatility reflects a recurring pattern this cycle, where any pickup in price swings has quickly attracted volatility sellers, keeping options premiums suppressed. Rajiv Sawhney, head of international portfolio management at Wave Digital Assets, said volatility selling has been one of the defining trades of recent months, with investors repeatedly stepping in after spikes and ...
Attacks from residents complicate the fight against a rare type of Ebola toggle caption Moses Sawasawa/AP BUNIA, Congo — Every time Vanny Birungi, a volunteer with the Red Cross in eastern Congo, goes out to raise awareness about the latest Ebola outbreak as suspected cases near 1,000, she faces a double threat. One is the rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola, with no vaccine or treatment. The other is t...
Attacks from residents complicate the fight against a rare type of Ebola toggle caption Moses Sawasawa/AP BUNIA, Congo — Every time Vanny Birungi, a volunteer with the Red Cross in eastern Congo, goes out to raise awareness about the latest Ebola outbreak as suspected cases near 1,000, she faces a double threat. One is the rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola, with no vaccine or treatment. The other is the anger and suspicion of residents who have pelted her with stones and verbal abuse in Bunia, a city at the heart of the outbreak. "We continue to tell them that the disease is out there. Some accept, and others don't," Birungi told The Associated Press on Monday as she and colleagues spoke with groups of people in a working-class neighborhood under the scorching sun. Sponsor Message Aid workers are especially at risk in this volatile region where residents, like Birungi, have long been under threat of armed groups that have killed thousands of people and displaced many more in recent years. Trust is hard to find among the traumatized population that is wary of outsiders, even those trying desperately to contain the rapidly spreading outbreak that experts say was discovered weeks late. Surveillance for such diseases has been weakened by U.S. and other aid cuts. "These people should stop bothering us. They just want to get rich. Let's not forget that Ebola is a white man's invention," declared Pierre Basola, a 56-year-old resident of Bunia, who added: "Stop talking to me anyway." toggle caption Moses Sawasawa/AP Cases are nearing 1,000 but health centers are burned Three times in the past week, healthcare facilities have been attacked. On Sunday, angry young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients, forcing medical staff to evacuate them as gunfire rang out. On Saturday, a group of residents set fire to a tent for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases run by Doctors Without Borders in Mongbwalu, and more than a dozen people suspected to have the virus fled. On Thursday,...
Do you honestly think Max will quit F1 at the end of the season if the engine changes aren't coming? - Paddy There is no questioning the fact that Max Verstappen is being genuine when he says he doesn't think he can face another year driving the cars as they are. In Montreal, he made it pretty clear that he does not fancy sticking around if the engine rules don't change. "It's just mentally not do...
Do you honestly think Max will quit F1 at the end of the season if the engine changes aren't coming? - Paddy There is no questioning the fact that Max Verstappen is being genuine when he says he doesn't think he can face another year driving the cars as they are. In Montreal, he made it pretty clear that he does not fancy sticking around if the engine rules don't change. "It's just mentally not doable for me to stay like this," he said. "It's really not." After the race, he admitted he had "enjoyed a lot" his battle with Hamilton. But he also expanded on why he doesn't like the new cars or, more precisely, the new engines, with their need for constant energy management. Verstappen said that racing in the Nurburgring 24 Hours had reminded him "how pure motorsport can be". In F1, this year, he said: "For me, while driving, it's all a bit confusing. It's not what Formula 1 should be about. It's way too complex. "Most of the rules, the fans don't even know what we are dealing with while driving, what is allowed when you're behind or when you're the car ahead, what we have to do on a formation lap or what we have to do in an out-lap, or how much battery that we're allowed to charge. "It's just such a shame that we have to deal with all these things. F1 just needs to be more pure and I really hope that what they try to do [for] next year will go through because I think that is necessary, the minimum necessary, to make it a bit more natural and a bit more back to normal, or at least a bit more pure racing. "As drivers, give us any kind of car, we'll always race and give good entertainment or a good show. Doesn't matter that people say, 'Oh, but look now, the show is great, the cars were fighting.' But it has nothing to do with the car. It just needs to be more pure." Verstappen is the most outspoken, but all the drivers basically feel the same way. Antonelli said after the race that "still sometimes it triggers you a little bit how the system works". And Hamilton said: "It...
Micron is the only US manufacturer of memory, and the Virginia expansion is aimed squarely at domestic industrial customers. The 1α node is designed for long-lifecycle memory applications — DDR4 and LP4 products — serving the automotive, defence and aerospace, industrial, networking and medical device sectors. Qualified production from the Manassas fab is expected by the end of 2026, according to ...
Micron is the only US manufacturer of memory, and the Virginia expansion is aimed squarely at domestic industrial customers. The 1α node is designed for long-lifecycle memory applications — DDR4 and LP4 products — serving the automotive, defence and aerospace, industrial, networking and medical device sectors. Qualified production from the Manassas fab is expected by the end of 2026, according to a press release from the company. The expansion supports more than 3,100 direct manufacturing and community jobs and is backed by federal, state and local incentives. The Manassas milestone is part of Micron's broader USD 200 billion US investment plan, which also includes memory manufacturing complexes under development in Boise, Idaho — where initial wafer output is expected in mid-2027 — and Clay, New York, where ground was broken in January 2026. Combined, those projects are expected to create an estimated 90,000 jobs. "We are proud to bring advanced 1α DRAM manufacturing to American soil, strengthening domestic supply for U.S. customers and the global markets we serve," said Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO of Micron Technology. The Virginia expansion will run in parallel with the ramp of Micron's leading-edge memory technologies at the Idaho and New York sites, which target advanced DRAM nodes for AI infrastructure. The distinction matters: the 1α node produces DDR4, a mature technology being phased out by hyperscalers in favour of DDR5 and HBM. The strategic value here is domestic supply security for sectors where long qualification cycles and US-origin requirements matter more than raw performance — a consideration that has grown significantly in the current geopolitical climate.
Finland Flourishes As Freedom Flounders In The 'Land Of The Free' Global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025, according to Freedom House. More than 50 countries saw political rights and civil liberties deteriorate, including the United States. This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen , ranks the world’s most and least free countries using Freedom House’s 2026 Freedom ...
Finland Flourishes As Freedom Flounders In The 'Land Of The Free' Global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025, according to Freedom House. More than 50 countries saw political rights and civil liberties deteriorate, including the United States. This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen , ranks the world’s most and least free countries using Freedom House’s 2026 Freedom in the World report, which evaluates political rights and civil liberties across 195 countries and territories. Finland topped the rankings with a perfect score of 100, followed by New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden at 99. Meanwhile, South Sudan scored 0, the lowest possible rating, highlighting the widening divide between the world’s strongest democracies and most repressive regimes. Why Europe Dominates the Freedom Rankings Europe accounts for most of the world’s highest-scoring countries, led by the Nordics and Western Europe. Strong electoral systems, independent courts, press freedom, and protections for civil liberties helped countries like Finland, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands rank near the top globally. There are two European outliers with low scores out of 100: Belarus (7) and Russia (12). Both are run by repressive autocratic regimes that have been in power for over two decades. The two Eastern European countries feature neither press independence nor free and fair elections, and rank among the least free countries worldwide. The below data table shows the countries with the highest freedom scores in 2025: Outside of Europe, the world’s freest countries include New Zealand (99), Canada and Uruguay (97), and Japan (96). Within each of these countries, robust civil society and independent journalism help keep elected officials accountable, while political transitions are handled without fear of violence. The Decline of the U.S. Alongside Bulgaria and Italy, the United States had one of the steepest declines in its score in 2025 among countries classified as Fre...
For about 50 years, sending money across borders has meant going through SWIFT—the network behind roughly 11,500 banks. It was never fast and it was never cheap, but for moving trillions of dollars between countries every year, it was the only game in town. Then Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP) showed up promising to replace it, and ... Ripple vs SWIFT vs Visa: The Quiet Battle Over Cross-Border Payments
For about 50 years, sending money across borders has meant going through SWIFT—the network behind roughly 11,500 banks. It was never fast and it was never cheap, but for moving trillions of dollars between countries every year, it was the only game in town. Then Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP) showed up promising to replace it, and ... Ripple vs SWIFT vs Visa: The Quiet Battle Over Cross-Border Payments
Elbit Systems ( ESLT ) has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $1.4B by a European customer for extensive military modernization programs, it said on Tuesday. The contract will be performed over a period of five years. The modernized programs will provide improved maneuverability and survivability, spanning the entire battle domain. "This contract reflects the breadth and attractivenes...
Elbit Systems ( ESLT ) has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $1.4B by a European customer for extensive military modernization programs, it said on Tuesday. The contract will be performed over a period of five years. The modernized programs will provide improved maneuverability and survivability, spanning the entire battle domain. "This contract reflects the breadth and attractiveness of Elbit Systems’ defense portfolio, as well as our ability to deliver both highly capable, best in class systems and comprehensive, integrated solutions tailored to evolving operational needs," Bezhalel (Butzi) Machlis, President and CEO of Elbit Systems ( ESLT ) said. More on Elbit Systems Elbit Systems: War Premium Builds, But Capacity Caps The Upside Elbit Systems Execution Remains Strong But Expectations Run High Elbit Systems Ltd. (ESLT) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Elbit Systems Q1 2026 Earnings Preview Elbit wins $212M U.S. Army order for enhanced night vision goggles
Daniel Grizelj/DigitalVision via Getty Images Investment Approach Fidelity® Balanced Fund invests across a mix of stocks and bonds – with a 60%/40% neutral allocation – in seeking income and capital growth. The fund is managed by multiple portfolio managers, with each member dedicated to a particular asset class or market segment, plus a lead manager responsible for determining the appropriate ass...
Daniel Grizelj/DigitalVision via Getty Images Investment Approach Fidelity® Balanced Fund invests across a mix of stocks and bonds – with a 60%/40% neutral allocation – in seeking income and capital growth. The fund is managed by multiple portfolio managers, with each member dedicated to a particular asset class or market segment, plus a lead manager responsible for determining the appropriate asset allocation, general team oversight, cash management and risk monitoring. The equity subportfolio is largely sector-neutral and run by a team of sector-focused managers who look to add value through active stock selection. The investment-grade bond strategy seeks outperformance through sector and security selection and yield-curve positioning. The fund also has a dedicated high-yield bond portfolio, considered out-of-benchmark. Focused sector and asset class expertise, supported by our deep research infrastructure, is combined with disciplined portfolio construction to provide investment-process consistency in seeking to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns over time. Market Review U.S. stocks returned -4.33% in the first quarter, according to the S&P 500® index, as concern about the viability of artificial intelligence-related investments began to surface and conflict in the Middle East took center stage in late February, sapping a stock market that entered 2026 with strong momentum. The Iran war sent a shockwave through oil markets, with the potential to dampen growth and stoke inflation. Against this backdrop, growth stocks widely lagged value in Q1, while small caps topped large caps. This environment was in stark contrast to the one underpinning the historically fast rally that began in early April 2025, when U.S. equities were supported by strong corporate fundamentals, a resilient economy, an ongoing boom in spending on AI, and beginning in September, the Federal Reserve's first interest-rate reductions since December 2024. As 2026 began, investors expected the...
Microsoft Corporation stock remains in focus after the latest quarterly dividend timeline and ongoing AI expansion keep the software giant in the spotlight, even as the share price has recently come off its highs. Microsoft Corporation stock remains a core focus for global investors after the software group moved past its most recent quarterly ex-dividend date and continues to be discussed as a ke...
Microsoft Corporation stock remains in focus after the latest quarterly dividend timeline and ongoing AI expansion keep the software giant in the spotlight, even as the share price has recently come off its highs. Microsoft Corporation stock remains a core focus for global investors after the software group moved past its most recent quarterly ex-dividend date and continues to be discussed as a key player in the ongoing artificial-intelligence build?out. The last ex?dividend date for Microsoft was May 21, 2026, according to Stock Analysis as of 05/23/2026. At the same time, the shares trade below their 2026 highs but still reflect a market capitalization above three trillion US dollars, as shown by CompaniesMarketCap as of 05/24/2026. As of: 26.05.2026 By the editorial team – specialized in equity coverage. At a glance Name: Microsoft Microsoft Sector/industry: Software and cloud computing Software and cloud computing Headquarters/country: Redmond, United States Redmond, United States Core markets: Global enterprise IT, productivity software, cloud and gaming Global enterprise IT, productivity software, cloud and gaming Key revenue drivers: Cloud services, productivity software, operating systems Cloud services, productivity software, operating systems Home exchange/listing venue: Nasdaq (ticker: MSFT) Nasdaq (ticker: MSFT) Trading currency: US dollar (USD) Microsoft Corporation: core business model Microsoft is one of the largest global software and cloud providers, with activities that span operating systems, productivity applications, infrastructure?as?a?service, platform?as?a?service and business applications. The group’s long?standing Windows and Office franchises still underpin much of its profitability, while newer segments such as Azure cloud services and security solutions contribute an increasing share of revenue. According to the company’s recent filings, the business is structured into segments often described as Productivity and Business Processes, Inte...