FT News Briefing

Claire Jones, U.S. economics editor at the Financial Times, offers crisp analysis of rising US inflation and its ripple effects. Ian Smith, senior markets correspondent at the Financial Times, explains gilt sell-offs, investor risk premiums and political volatility shaking UK borrowing costs. They discuss soaring fuel costs, market reactions and drying private credit inflows in short, punchy segments.

Nico Perazzi, FT Gulf business correspondent in Dubai covering M&A and markets; Gideon Rachman, FT chief foreign affairs commentator on geopolitics and US-China ties. They talk about Trump, Iran ceasefire prospects and how the Iran war has frozen Gulf dealmaking. They discuss the stakes of the Trump–Xi summit and why Taiwan could be a dealbreaker.

Peter Campbell, a transport industry reporter with expertise in airlines and fuel supply, and Lucy Fisher, a Whitehall correspondent known for political analysis, discuss soaring energy wins for oil majors, a Qatari gas tanker clearing the Strait of Hormuz, airlines cutting fares amid jet-fuel worries, and Keir Starmer’s make-or-break speech as pressure rises on his leadership.

Jen Williams, Northern England correspondent reporting from Manchester; Stephen Bush, political columnist known for sharp UK analysis; Jim Pickard, FT deputy political editor tracking vote trends. They unpack Reform UK's surge and the collapse of traditional two-party dominance. They map Labour and Conservative losses across regions and debate what fragmented voting means for future leadership and strategy.

Victoria Craig, FT contributor on diplomacy, Krishna Kaushik, Mumbai markets reporter, and James Fontanella-Kahn, US finance editor, discuss Big Tech’s cash squeeze from AI spending. They cover investor outflows from India amid an energy-driven rupee slide. They dig into Ryan Cohen’s audacious leveraged bid for eBay and how he might finance and pursue the deal.

Kostas Morsellas, an FT markets reporter, and Adrienne Classe, an FT luxury correspondent in Paris, dive into hedge funds’ big rebound on the AI tech rally, why those funds still rise and fall with broader markets, Samsung’s worker clash over chip profits, and why LVMH may sell brands like Marc Jacobs and its Fenty stake as luxury demand cools.

George Steer, FT US markets correspondent, tackles the SEC’s plan to let companies report earnings twice a year. Hortense Aliyei, FT banking editor, unpacks HSBC’s fraud-linked hit. Also in focus: oil reserves plunging as conflict strains supplies, and Google, xAI and Microsoft agreeing to US security checks on new AI models.

Ryan McMurrow, an FT San Francisco finance correspondent covering tech and AI, joins Anna Nicolaou, the FT’s US media editor covering Disney and media power plays. They dig into US-Iran clashes in the Strait of Hormuz, Anthropic’s $1.5bn Wall Street tie-up and the AI rivalry with OpenAI. Then the focus shifts to Disney’s new chief facing a Trump-era political firestorm.

Lucy Fisher, FT’s Whitehall editor and UK politics watcher, and Stephanie Findlay, an FT energy correspondent in Houston, unpack how the Iran war is squeezing airlines, carmakers and fertiliser supply. They also dig into why US oil majors are holding steady, how Britain’s political map is splintering, and why a milk glut is hammering dairy farmers.

Toby Nangle, FT Alphaville reporter and former investor, digs through archives to see how history’s great minds handled money. He explores Newton’s South Sea Bubble blunder, Churchill’s reckless speculation, Darwin’s surprisingly strong portfolio moves, Turner’s sharp bond trade, and Keynes’s shift from fast trading to a more patient style.