United States

US blue chips' strong earnings numbers are spurring the belief that the improving economic fundamentals are behind the global equity rally of the first four months. But investors fear that their peers' confidence is fragile and an unforeseen geopolitical event could deal it a heavy blow.

Bank of America sold two tranches of senior debt totalling €2.5bn in the euro market on Tuesday, joining several of its North American peers in obtaining competitive funding costs across the pond.

Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) has concluded its placement of new units on the Singapore Exchange.

Boutique investment bank Alantra has made new hires across its offices in Europe, Asia and the US.

Huatai Securities has taken a further step to selling shares in an indirect subsidiary, AssetMark Financial Holdings, after filing initial paperwork for the US listing.

In this round-up, numerous agreements were signed on the sidelines of the second Belt and Road Summit, US-China trade negotiations will continue next week and Chinese president Xi Jinping replied to a letter to students from an America high school

The cost of funding in euros or sterling has swung back into favour for dollar-focused financial institutions in recent months, heralding the return of several North American banks to the market, including Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

The US decision not to renew sanction waivers for Iran’s remaining export markets has boosted the price of oil and opened a window for oil and gas capital markets activity, write Sam Kerr and Mike Turner.

Netflix’s blockbuster high yield issuance this week shows the love debt investors continue to have for the streaming service, but instead of adding to an already leveraged balance sheet, it should consider issuing new shares.

Chinese plastic surgery social network So-Young International hit the road for its Nasdaq listing this week, eyeing proceeds of up to $179.4m.

A tough quarter scuppered Goldman Sachs's strategic update but the bank places deeds before words and is already well advanced in its new strategy, writes David Rothnie

Credit Suisse was first off the blocks among big European investment banks in releasing its first quarter results on Wednesday. While trading revenue was strong, underwriting and advisory revenues disappointed, compared with US peers.