Stocks

  BLOOMBERG The dollar and stocks worldwide climbed, as investors awaited additional clues on the health of the global economy amid speculation higher interest rates in the U.S. may come as soon as July. The pound and oil gained. The U.S. currency touched its strongest level since March against the euro, while Australia’s dollar and South Korea’s won posted the …

  Bloomberg Insurers have had about enough of hedge funds. Stung by market-trailing returns, the industry in the U.S. is reversing course after more than doubling its hedge fund allocation over five years, to $17.7 billion as of Dec. 31, according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Just this month, American International Group Inc. said it submitted …

  BLOOMBERG Commodities slid, led by metals, while U.S. stocks fluctuated as investors awaited more clarity on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s next increase in interest rates and the outlook for inflation. The yen strengthened. Oil fell for a fourth day after Iran said again that it won’t countenance freezing output until its production is back at pre-sanctions levels, …

  Bloomberg Cracks in the foundation of the bull market in U.S. stocks are quickly spreading. The Wall Street deal-making machine that powered 2015 to one of the biggest years ever for mergers and acquisitions has slowed, and that means the pop to stock prices that investors could count on from corporate transactions has been reduced. While there are still …

  Bloomberg Hedge funds are piling into the same shares that zapped their returns at the start of the year. They just added momentum stocks for a fifth consecutive quarter, according to an Evercore ISI analysis of 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those shares, loosely defined as the ones that went up the fastest in the past …

  Bloomberg After overtaking the U.S. as the world’s largest wheat exporter, Russia is becoming a bigger part of the corn market with expectations for a record crop. Russian farmers will boost production to 13.7 million metric tons in the season starting in October, an all-time high, according to Moscow-based consultant SovEcon. While the nation’s corn shipments are still a …

  BLOOMBERG Global stocks slid to a six-week low and commodities fell as markets braced for the possibility that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as soon as next month. A gauge of the dollar’s strength stood at a seven-week high. The MSCI All Country World Index declined for a third day after the minutes of the last Fed …

  Bloomberg Egyptian stocks declined after the nation’s flagship airline said one of its passenger planes went missing on the way back to Cairo from Paris. Most equities dropped across the Middle East as oil retreated. The EGX 30 Index fell 1.8 percent to 7,499.49 at the close. About 538 million Egyptian pounds ($61 million) of shares traded, 21 percent …

  BLOOMBERG Financial markets reawakened to the risk of the Federal Reserve expediting interest-rate increases, buoying the dollar while crimping emerging markets and commodities. U.S. stocks were little changed after slumping on Tuesday. The dollar climbed to a seven-week high and Treasuries fell, pushing two-year yields to highest since April, before Wednesday’s release of minutes from the Federal Open Market …

  Bloomberg The world’s mines and steel plants got so devalued during the commodity slump that some were just given away by owners struggling to cut losses or debt. But there’s at least one metal that’s been attracting a lot of attention. Niobium — named for a Greek goddess who became a symbol of the tragic mourning mother — is …