US initial jobless claims rose to a level of 231,000 in the week ended Jan. 31 from an unrevised 209,000 level in the previous week, compared with expectations for a smaller increase to 212,000 in survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg. The four-week moving average increased by 6,000 to 212,250 after increasing by 2,250 to a level of 206,250 in the previous week.
The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week amid winter storms, and while job openings fell to a more than five-year low in December, the decline was concentrated in a single industry.
The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week, likely boosted by snowstorms across much of the country, but labor market conditions remain stable. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped 22,000 to a ?seasonally adjusted 231,000 for the week ended January 31, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
* FTSE 100 down 0.9% and FTSE 250 down 1% * Shell misses profit expectations, drags energy stocks lower. * Bank of England holds rates after narrow 5-4 vote. * Rio Tinto and Glencore scrap merger talks. * Software, tech stocks rebound from global rout. By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi.
Ladder Capital Corp (LADR) today announced operating results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2025. ?2025 was a pivotal year for Ladder, with the Company achieving investment grade credit ratings, reducing our cost of capital, and expanding our access to the unsecured corporate bond market.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey on Thursday ?welcomed U.S. President ?Donald Trump's choice of ?former Federal ?Reserve ?Governor Kevin Warsh to ?head the U.S. ?central bank when Jerome Powell's ?leadership ?term ?ends in May. "I welcome the nomination of Kevin ?Warsh," Bailey told a press conference.
* Pound and gilts hit as vote sends doveish signal. * Policymakers voted 5-4 to keep rates at 3.75% * Reuters poll had expected 7-2 vote split. * Lower inflation, political risk in focus. By Lucy Raitano.
The US dollar rose against its major trading partners early Thursday ahead of the release of weekly jobless claims data at 8:30 am ET, rescheduled job openings and hiring data for December at 10:00 am ET and weekly natural gas stocks data at 10:30 am ET. Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic is due to speak at 10:50 am ET.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook signaled a cautious ?wait and see? approach to monetary policy on Wednesday, describing current interest rates as only ?mildly restrictive? while expressing concern over a ?K-shaped? economic divergence that is leaving low-income families behind.
BBVA Research said it expects Mexico's central bank to leave the policy rate unchanged at 7.00% later Thursday and to continue to stress downside risks to growth despite near-term inflation risks. BBVA Research estimates that Banxico will revise its inflation forecasts upward.
* Bank of England leaves rates unchanged, pound drops. * Euro down ahead of ECB decision, focus on rate outlook. * Dollar strengthens amid risk aversion and central bank decisions. By Amanda Cooper.
* BoE keeps Bank Rate at 3.75%, as expected. * MPC's 5-4 vote was closer than 7-2 seen in Reuters poll. * Policymakers expect further reduction in rates. * BoE cuts inflation forecasts, sees less growth in 2026. * Some MPC members worry inflation might stay too high. By William Schomberg, David Milliken and Andy Bruce.
Sterling and two-year gilt yields fell on Thursday after the Bank of ?England held rates steady in a ?surprisingly narrow vote and said ?it expected a future ?cut if ?inflation continued to slow.
Euro zone bond yields were broadly steady on Thursday against a backdrop of fragile global markets and ahead of a European Central Bank interest rate decision which investors widely expect will keep rates unchanged.
The euro has continued to correct lower against the US dollar ahead of Thursday's European Central Bank policy meeting, said MUFG. After briefly hitting a high of 1.2081 last week, EUR/USD has dipped back below the 1.1800 level overnight Wednesday, wrote the bank in a note to clients.
Nearly 1.4 million United States jobs projected to be open across seven core trades PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Feb. 5, 2026 Bring Back the Trades Inc. together with F.W. Webb Company today released a landmark economic impact report that sounds the alarm on the skilled trades shortage across the United States, and every state in the country.
European bourses tracked moderately lower midday Thursday despite firming tech stocks, as traders awaited pending rate-decisions by the Bank of England and European Central Bank. Retail stocks also led gains on continental trading floors, while bank and property shares lagged. On the commodities front, British oil major Shell slipped 0.7% after missing Q4 profit expectations.
The EUR/USD this week has remained quite resilient -- especially given the recent spike in energy prices, said ING. Thursday's challenge to EUR/USD will come from the European Central Bank press conference on the policy decision later in the day at 2:45 p.m. CET. It isn't just EUR/USD that has been strong.
* FTSE 100 down 0.4% and FTSE 250 down 0.7% * Shell misses profit expectations, drags energy stocks lower. * BoE expected to hold rates. * Software, tech stocks ?rebound from global rout.
In the 15 years since leaving the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh has lectured often that the ideal central bank is one with the smallest possible footprint in the economy, focused intently on controlling inflation, and bound in part by policy rules rather than letting officials act as free-ranging "overlords."
In the 15 years since leaving the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh has lectured often that the ideal central bank is one with the smallest possible footprint in the economy, focused intently on controlling inflation, and bound in part by policy rules rather than letting officials act as free-ranging "overlords."
Girard Sharp LLP, a national investment and securities class action firm in,?announces an investigation into potential securities claims on behalf of Oracle Corporation investors who purchased senior notes or bonds issued on September 25, 2025.
* Tech selloff pressures Asian stocks. * Ukraine, Russia start second day of talks. * Czech central bank expected to hold rates steady. * MSCI FX off 0.3%, stocks shed 1.5% By Purvi Agarwal. Most emerging-market currencies treaded water against a rising dollar on Thursday, while an ongoing rout in technology stocks pressured Asian bourses and dampened investor appetite for other EM equities.
DUBAI, UAE, Feb. 5, 2026 Hisense, a leading brand in global consumer electronics and home appliances, announced that the Hisense Visual Technology Qingdao Factory has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Customer Centricity Lighthouse, becoming the first and only Lighthouse factory in the global television industry.
* ECB set to keep rates steady at 1315 GMT. * Bank of England also expected to hold rates, decision due 1200 GMT. * Dollar-yuan little changed after Trump-Xi phone call. By Gregor Stuart Hunter and Amanda Cooper.
Britain's construction sector showed signs at the start of the year that it might be past the worst of a slump, as recent interest rate cuts and less of a decline in new work raised hopes of a turnaround, a survey showed on Thursday. The S&P Global/CIPS UK construction ?Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 46.4 in January from December's 40.1, which was just above a 5-1/2 year low.
Euro zone bond yields were steady on Thursday against a backdrop of fragile global markets and ahead of a European Central Bank interest rate decision which investors widely ?expect will keep rates unchanged.
China opposes any country undermining the?international economic ?and trade order ?through rules imposed ?by small ?groups, ?the Chinese foreign ministry ?said on ?Thursday, after the United States ?unveiled ?plans ?for a preferential trade bloc of allies ?for critical minerals.
The European Central Bank left interest rates on hold as expected on Thursday and played down the impact of dollar moves on its future choices, with a largely unchanged inflation outlook also suggesting steady policy for months to come.
* Dollar moves already incorporated in baseline, says Lagarde. * Keeps guidance for meeting-by-meeting, data-dependent approach. * Investors betting on steady interest rates all year. * Economic growth healthy, inflation seen at target in medium term. By Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday it would not adjust large bank capital levels during the 2026 stress testing cycle, as the central bank considers several changes to the annual exercise aimed at boosting ?transparency.
* ECB set to keep rates steady at 1315 GMT. * Bank of England also expected to hold rates, decision due 1200 GMT. * Dollar-yuan little changed after Trump-Xi phone call. By Gregor Stuart Hunter.
MSCI's global equities gauge slumped more than 1% on Thursday as worries deepened about the enormous cost of the artificial intelligence boom, while U.S. Treasuries were in demand after weak labor market data and, in commodities, silver took another hammering.
The U.S. dollar hit a two-week high?on Thursday as fresh volatility gripped stocks and the pound tumbled?after the Bank of England voted by a razor-thin?margin to leave UK rates unchanged. The greenback found firmer footing this week as investors turned more risk-averse and financial markets assessed results so far in the U.S. corporate earnings season, now halfway complete.
* ECB set to keep rates steady at 1315 GMT, press conference due 1345 GMT. * Bank of England also expected to hold rates, decision due 1200 GMT. * Dollar-yuan little changed after Trump-Xi phone call. By Gregor Stuart Hunter.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Wednesday signaled that she will not support another interest-rate cut until she sees more proof that price pressures are receding, saying she is more concerned about stalled progress on inflation than a weakening labor market.
Issuance Further Enhances Lessor?s Diversified Capital Structure CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd., announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, CDBL FUNDING 1, successfully priced a single-tranche offering of senior unsecured notes totaling US$500 million on February 4, 2026.
U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Wednesday said she feels the policy interest ?rate now is only mildly ?restrictive, and signaled she supports ?taking time before reducing ?interest ?rates further.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Wednesday said she is more concerned about stalled progress on inflation than a weakening labor market, a strong signal that she will not support another interest-rate cut until price pressures that built last year due to tariffs begin to recede.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Wednesday said she is more concerned about stalled progress on inflation than a weakening labor market, a strong signal that she will not support another interest-rate cut until price pressures that built last year due to tariffs begin to recede.
The European Central Bank is all but certain to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday and signal that no policy move is imminent, even if the euro's recent surge against the dollar fuels concerns that inflation might undershoot its target.
* Euro's FX move not big enough to worry ECB. * Investors betting on steady interest rates all year. * Domestic consumption is offsetting external weakness. By Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa.
Argo Corp (ARGHF) on Wednesday said it closed a $1.5-million secured loan and extended a non-brokered private placement offering of up to 21.25-million shares at $0.40 each. Argo said it closed the loan with the strategic Canadian investment group North American Bond Company in the principal amount of $1.5 million, bearing interest at 12% per annum and maturing two years from closing.
KBRA assigns a long-term rating of AAA to Round Rock Independent School District's Series 2026A and Series 2026B Unlimited Tax School Building Bonds and Variable Rate Unlimited Tax School Building Bonds, respectively. Key Credit Considerations The rating actions reflect the following key credit considerations: Credit Positives. Credit Challenges. Rating Sensitivities For Upgrade. For Downgrade.
* * Dollar rises against yen and other currencies. * Oil rallies as traders focus on US-Iran tensions. * US Treasury yields mixed. By Sin?ad Carew and Amanda Cooper.
GE Vernova (GEV) is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced registered public offering of Senior Notes. GE Vernova (GEV) intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including financing a portion of the acquisition of the remaining fifty percent stake of Prolec GE that closed on February 2, 2026.
Fannie Mae Financing of Multifamily Affordable Housing Segment Increases 31 Percent Year Over Year WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2026 Fannie Mae today announced it provided approximately $74 billion in financing to support the U.S. multifamily housing market in 2025, a year-over-year increase of 34 percent compared with $55 billion in 2024 and the company's largest annual multifamily volume since 2020.
In general the bond market is volatile, and fixed income securities carry interest rate risk. (As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities.) Fixed income securities also carry inflation risk and credit and default risks for both issuers and counterparties. Unlike individual bonds, most bond funds do not have a maturity date, so avoiding losses caused by price volatility by holding them until maturity is not possible.
Lower-quality debt securities generally offer higher yields, but also involve greater risk of default or price changes due to potential changes in the credit quality of the issuer. Any fixed income security sold or redeemed prior to maturity may be subject to loss.
Before investing, consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully.
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