Bloomberg Peru extended its biggest-ever phase of monetary tightening in a bid to curb a spike in inflation that is now being aggravated by anti-government protests and road blockades. The central bank raised its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points to 7.75%, the highest level in more than two decades. The decision was in line with expectations, and was ...

  Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co., announcing a “new strategic direction” for a mortgage empire that was once the largest in US banking, said it will stop funding home loans arranged by outsiders and shrink the portfolio of debts that it services. The retreat from so-called correspondent lending and reduction in servicing caps years of efforts to clean up a ...

  Bloomberg US mortgage rates retreated for the first time in three weeks, helping provide a modest lift to refinancing activity. The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage decreased 16 basis points to 6.42% in the week ended January 6, according to Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data. That helped boost applications for refinancing, which rose 5.1% in the week. ...