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The US’s S&P 500 index has risen more than 20 per cent for the second year in a row, as investor excitement about artificial intelligence fuels strong gains in megacap technology stocks. Despite a sell-off in December, the basket of blue-chip stocks has ended 2024 up 23.3 per cent, following a 24.2 per cent gain

A recent feature of the FT’s annual predictions has been that what was once seen as a light-hearted exercise has increasingly had to grapple with issues of war and peace. This year our writers offer predictions on conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan — and another kind of war, of tariffs. Readers may disagree,

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Investors pulled a record $450bn out of actively managed stock funds this year, as a shift into cheaper index-tracking investments reshapes the asset management industry. The outflows from stockpicking mutual funds eclipse last year’s previous

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A record number of senior lawyers moved jobs in London this year as the arrival of US law firms in the capital continues to disrupt the market and fuel pay wars for talent. Law firms

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president who later won the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, has died at the age of 100, the Carter Center said on Sunday. He died peacefully

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. At least 80 people were killed on Sunday after a South Korean passenger jet crashed and burst into flame on landing, according to local authorities, in one of the country’s worst-ever aviation disasters. The Jeju

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Vladimir Putin has apologised to Azerbaijan for what he described as a “tragic incident” involving an Azerbaijani aircraft in Russian airspace on Christmas Day. Moscow phoned Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and the Russian president expressed

The inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the US will take place on January 20 — the same day as the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Since the end of the cold war, the annual Davos meeting — which brings together business and political leaders from all over the world —

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Global corporate debt sales soared to a record $8tn this year, as companies took advantage of red-hot demand from investors to accelerate their borrowing plans. Issuance of corporate bonds and leveraged loans climbed by more

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Private equity myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The wealth of US private capital bosses jumped by more than $56bn in 2024 as shares of Blackstone, Apollo and KKR hit new highs, fuelled by rapid growth and their addition to the main US

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Russian anti-aircraft fire may have caused a plane to crash in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, according to defence experts and officials in the region. The Azerbaijan Airlines flight was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku

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Every night without fail, a mobile phone rings in the Holy Family church in Gaza, and a parish priest answers. The voice at the end of the line is that of Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church and spiritual leader to a global flock of 1.4bn people. For more than a year, the pontiff

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. De Beers Group has amassed its biggest stockpile of diamonds since the 2008 financial crisis, laying bare the group’s challenge in reviving demand for jewels long seen as the pinnacle of luxury. A slump in

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. US companies are defaulting on junk loans at the fastest rate in four years, as they struggle to refinance a wave of cheap borrowing that followed the Covid pandemic. Defaults in the global leveraged loan

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Property sector myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The UK’s listed housebuilders are on track to build the fewest new homes for sale in a decade, as planning rules and high mortgage rates hold the market back despite the new Labour government’s push

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump’s former pick for US attorney-general, was accused by the House ethics committee of having sex with an underaged girl, paying women for sex and using illegal drugs in an

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The UK economy failed to grow in the third quarter, in the latest blow to a government already under fire from businesses for its tax-raising Budget. GDP did not register any growth in the three

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Nick Candy, the new treasurer of Nigel Farage’s rightwing Reform party, has promised Britain “political disruption like we have never seen before” as he claimed to have several other billionaire backers in addition to Elon

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Sovereign bonds myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Investors poured record amounts into global bond funds this year as they bet on a shift towards easier monetary policy by major central banks. Bond funds attracted more than $600bn in inflows so far this