Real-time News

Market news: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is hiring more than 1,000 new scientists to expedite drug reviews.

Bernstein raised its price target for Nvidia (NVDA.O) from $275 to $300 per share, maintaining its "Outperform" rating.

Market news: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will award bonuses to its employees to expedite drug review processes.

Market news: A U.S. federal judge has refused to halt Trump's proposed White House banquet hall project.

Market news: New York Governor Kathleen Hozul sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessenter, urging the return of tariffs.

Some U.S. private equity funds retreated after two consecutive days of gains. Blackstone Group (BX.N) fell 1.8%, KKR and Apollo Global Management both fell 4%, and Ares Asset Management fell 2.5%.

According to the New York Times, US President Trump will meet with New York City Mayor Mamdani in Washington on Thursday.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that air defense forces shot down 167 Ukrainian drones within six hours, including 12 drones that were flying towards Moscow.

The Afghan government claims that its military has captured 15 Pakistani outposts.

Jefferies shares fell 6.1% after reports that the company had a £100 million exposure to the now-defunct UK lender Market Financial Solutions.

Fitch Ratings: Following the credit boom, high interest rates have eroded the financial buffers of Brazilian companies.

February 27th - The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in the United States fell below 6% for the first time since 2022, a milestone that could inject momentum into the upcoming spring home sales season. Data from Freddie Mac on Thursday showed that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.98%, down from 6.01% last week. The last time it fell below 6% was in September 2022. The drop to the 5% range will slightly ease the burden of homeownership and may prompt some hesitant buyers to enter the market. Since the interest rate surge in 2022, the housing market has been in a wait-and-see mode, with many potential buyers squeezed out of the market due to high prices, and most homeowners unwilling to sell due to lower interest rates. Mike Simonson, chief economist at real estate brokerage Compass Inc., said that the slow improvement in affordability could make this spring's sales season the best in years. "With interest rates below 6%, national sales will see solid growth," Simonson said, "but without significant changes in economic data, it won't be enough to replicate the boom of 2021."

Meta Platforms (META.O) has filed a lawsuit against Brazil-based B&B Suplementos e Cosméticos Ltd.

Meta Platforms (META.O): has issued "cease and desist" letters to eight marketing consulting firms that previously advertised their ability to help circumvent the company's law enforcement system.

February 27th - According to Politico, officials from multiple departments of the Trump administration are working on legal strategies to retain billions of dollars in tariff revenue after the Supreme Court ruled that certain tariffs were "illegally collected." Several people familiar with the internal discussions said that initial plans include using policy measures to discourage companies from applying for refunds, preventing the government from actually paying refunds, or retaining at least some of the tariff revenue through other means. One plan is to claim that tariffs collected over the past year are legitimate revenue under a new tariff framework that the government is preparing to implement under different legal jurisdictions. Another option would allow companies to receive priority processing during the expectedly long refund queue, provided they agree to waive a portion of their refunds from the government.

Cheniere Energy's Chief Commercial Officer: If LNG prices stabilize, Asian LNG demand is expected to grow from 270 million metric tons per year to over 400 million metric tons per year.

February 27 - Afghan government spokesman Mujahid posted on social media on the evening of the 26th that Afghan forces had struck Pakistani military facilities in the border region in response to "provocations" by the Pakistani military.

The German DAX 30 index closed up 100.09 points, or 0.40%, at 25271.17 on Thursday, February 26; the UK FTSE 100 index closed up 41.04 points, or 0.38%, at 10847.45; and the French CAC 40 index closed up 61.86 points, or 0.72%, at 8620.93. The Stoxx 50 index closed down 15.57 points, or 0.25%, at 6157.75 on Thursday, February 26; the Spanish IBEX 35 index closed up 22.33 points, or 0.12%, at 18483.33 on Thursday, February 26; and the Italian FTSE MIB index closed up 252.06 points, or 0.53%, at 47422.50 on Thursday, February 26.

US Treasury auction for the 8 weeks ending February 26 - bid-to-cover ratio 2.8, previous value 2.82.