Watch CNBC's full interview with former Treasury Secretary and former Fed Chair Janet Yellen
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Average long-term US mortgage rate eases to 6.74%, keeping home loan borrowing costs elevated
The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage eased this week, offering little relief for prospective homebuyers facing record-high home prices. The long-term rate slipped to 6.74% from 6.75% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.78%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also eased. The average rate dropped to 5.87% from 5.92% last week. A year ago, it was 6.07%, Freddie Mac said. Shop Top Mortgage Rates Personalized rates in minutes A quicker path to financial freedom Your Path to Homeownership Elevated mortgage rates have been weighing on the U.S. housing market, which has been in a sales slump going back to 2022, when rates started to climb from the rock-bottom lows they reached during the pandemic. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes, which sank to their lowest level in nearly 30 years in 2024, have remained sluggish this year as rising home prices and stubbornly high mortgage rates have made homeownership financially untenable for many Americans. Elevated mortgage rates are also discouraging many homeowners from selling because they locked in mortgage rates when they were much lower. Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors' expectations for the economy and inflation. The main barometer is the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The yield was at 4.41% at midday Thursday, down from 4.40% late Wednesday, following the latest signals that the U.S. economy seems to be holding up OK despite all the pressures on it from tariffs and elsewhere. Yields have moved higher for most of this month as traders bet that the Fed will hold its key short-term interest rate steady at its upcoming meeting next week, despite President Donald Trump demanding that the Fed to lower rates. A less independent Fed could mean lower short-term rates, which influence the interest consumers pay on credit cards and auto loans, but it could have the opposite effect on the longer-term bond yields that influence the rates on home loans. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has remained relatively close to its high so far this year of just above 7%, set in mid-January. The 30-year rate's low point this year was in early April when it briefly dipped to 6.62%.
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Volta Finance Limited - Net Asset Value(s) as at 30 June 2025
Volta Finance Limited (VTA / VTAS)June 2025 monthly reportNOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION, OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES Guernsey, July 24, 2025 AXA IM has published the Volta Finance Limited (the 'Company' or 'Volta Finance' or 'Volta') monthly report for June 2025. The full report is attached to this release and will be available on Volta's website shortly ( Performance and Portfolio Activity Dear Investors, In June, Volta Finance achieved a net performance of +0.4% bringing the cumulative performance from August 2024 to date to +11.2%. Both the CLO Debt and CLO Equity assets of the Volta Finance portfolio delivered positive returns, in the context of a positive momentum across credit markets after the volatility induced by tariffs. June marked a return to a 'risk on' environment, with strong gains in U.S. equity markets amid significant weakening of the US Dollar. This shift was fuelled by easing trade tensions and moderating inflation. Despite inflation levels being close to target, the Fed decided to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.25%-4.50% during their June meeting while elaborating on the unpredictable effects of Trump's tariffs. In Europe, sentiment was mixed, with major indices ending the month flat. The ECB cut rates by 25 basis points while Christine Lagarde signalled a likely pause in future rate cuts. This easing comes as the eurozone inflation has returned to the central bank's target of 2%. However, significant uncertainties still loom as we enter summer. Only a handful of countries reached agreements with their U.S. counterparts and the approaching deadline could trigger further disruptions notably in supply chains. The sudden escalation of the Iran/Israel situation, culminating in the U.S. bombings of Iranian nuclear facilities, also raised concerns regarding the stability of the region and added disruptions to oil supplies. This led to a spike in crude oil prices and increased interest in traditional safe-haven assets although they retraced by the end of the month due to a temporary resolution of the conflict. Credit markets shrugged those worries off and hedged close to the tightest levels experienced over the last year. For instance, the European High Yield index (Xover) settled at 283bps (from 300bps), close to the 280bps resistance level. On the Loan side, Euro Loans closed roughly unchanged at 97.70px (Morningstar European Leveraged Loan Index) while US Loans closed c. 40c up at 97.00px. Primary CLO levels moved sideways across all rated tranches, providing stability and the right environment for CLO formation. In terms of performance, US High Yield returned +1.9% over the month while Euro Loans were up +0.13% and US Loans +0.80%. The median CCC assets exposure in CLO portfolios remained stable at 4.5% in the US, slightly above the exposure of European CLOs to CCCs (4.1%). Loan maturity walls continued to transition towards 2030 and beyond, with the next significant refinancing deadlines in 2028 and 2031 in the US, while loan recoveries remained significantly higher than bonds at approximately 62% vs 48%. In terms of activity, the month was particularly busy as we faced some CLO debt redemptions (€4.8m) and actively replaced risk to maintain overall risk exposure unchanged. We purchased BB (600bps context), single-B (up to 900bps) and Equity risk from both the Primary and Secondary markets. Cash stood at 11% at the end of the month. Volta Finance's cashflow generation was slightly up at €28.3m equivalent in interests and coupons over the last six months, representing close to 21% of June's NAV on an annualized basis. Over the month, Volta's CLO Equity tranches returned +1.6%** while CLO Debt tranches returned +1.0% performance**. The EUR/USD move to 1.18 had an impact on our long dollar exposure in terms of performance (0.4%). As of end of June 2025, Volta's NAV was €273.0m, i.e. €7.46 per share. *It should be noted that approximately 0.14% of Volta's GAV comprises investments for which the relevant NAVs as at the month-end date are normally available only after Volta's NAV has already been published. Volta's policy is to publish its NAV on as timely a basis as possible to provide shareholders with Volta's appropriately up-to-date NAV information. Consequently, such investments are valued using the most recently available NAV for each fund or quoted price for such subordinated notes. The most recently available fund NAV or quoted price was 0.07% as at 30 May 2025, 0.07% as at 31 March 2025. ** 'performances' of asset classes are calculated as the Dietz-performance of the assets in each bucket, taking into account the Mark-to-Market of the assets at period ends, payments received from the assets over the period, and ignoring changes in cross-currency rates. Nevertheless, some residual currency effects could impact the aggregate value of the portfolio when aggregating each bucket. CONTACTS For the Investment ManagerAXA Investment Managers ParisFrançois +33 (0) 1 44 45 80 22 Olivier (0) 1 44 45 87 30 Company Secretary and AdministratorBNP Paribas S.A, Guernsey +44 (0) 1481 750 853 Corporate BrokerCavendish Securities plcAndrew WorneDaniel Balabanoff+44 (0) 20 7397 8900 ***** ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities. Volta's home member state for the purposes of the EU Transparency Directive is the Netherlands. As such, Volta is subject to regulation and supervision by the AFM, being the regulator for financial markets in the Netherlands. Volta's Investment objectives are to preserve its capital across the credit cycle and to provide a stable stream of income to its Shareholders through dividends that it expects to distribute on a quarterly basis. The Company currently seeks to achieve its investment objectives by pursuing exposure predominantly to CLO's and similar asset classes. A more diversified investment strategy across structured finance assets may be pursued opportunistically. The Company has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris an investment management company with a division specialised in structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets. ***** ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERSAXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the BNP Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with 2,800 professionals and €859 billion in assets under management as of the end of June 2024. ***** This press release is published by AXA Investment Managers Paris ('AXA IM'), in its capacity as alternative investment fund manager (within the meaning of Directive 2011/61/EU, the 'AIFM Directive') of Volta Finance Limited (the "Volta Finance") whose portfolio is managed by AXA IM. This press release is for information only and does not constitute an invitation or inducement to acquire shares in Volta Finance. Its circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no recipient may circulate copies of this document in breach of such limitations or restrictions. This document is not an offer for sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States or to persons who are 'U.S. persons' for purposes of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 'Securities Act'), or otherwise in circumstances where such offer would be restricted by applicable law. Such securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration from the Securities Act. Volta Finance does not intend to register any portion of the offer of such securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of such securities in the United States. ***** This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the 'Order') or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as 'relevant persons'). The securities referred to herein are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. *****This press release contains statements that are, or may deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "anticipated", "expects", "intends", "is/are expected", "may", "will" or "should". They include the statements regarding the level of the dividend, the current market context and its impact on the long-term return of Volta Finance's investments. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Volta Finance's actual results, portfolio composition and performance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. AXA IM does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements. Any target information is based on certain assumptions as to future events which may not prove to be realised. Due to the uncertainty surrounding these future events, the targets are not intended to be and should not be regarded as profits or earnings or any other type of forecasts. There can be no assurance that any of these targets will be achieved. In addition, no assurance can be given that the investment objective will be achieved. The figures provided that relate to past months or years and past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance or construed as a reliable indicator as to future performance. Throughout this review, the citation of specific trades or strategies is intended to illustrate some of the investment methodologies and philosophies of Volta Finance, as implemented by AXA IM. The historical success or AXA IM's belief in the future success, of any of these trades or strategies is not indicative of, and has no bearing on, future results. The valuation of financial assets can vary significantly from the prices that the AXA IM could obtain if it sought to liquidate the positions on behalf of the Volta Finance due to market conditions and general economic environment. Such valuations do not constitute a fairness or similar opinion and should not be regarded as such. Editor: AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS PARIS, a company incorporated under the laws of France, having its registered office located at Tour Majunga, 6, Place de la Pyramide - 92800 Puteaux. AXA IMP is authorized by the under registration number GP92008 as an alternative investment fund manager within the meaning of the AIFM Directive. ***** Attachment Volta - Monthly report-June 2025Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Hill
15 minutes ago
- The Hill
Cuomo: Mamdani has advantage as the Democrat on ballot
New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo said in a Thursday interview that his opponent, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, has an advantage as the Democrat listed on the general election ballot this November. The former New York governor — who launched an independent bid after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary — said he fears voters will flock to the democratic socialist assemblyman simply because he's listed as the Democrat. 'A multi-candidate field favors Mamdani — because he's a socialist on the Democratic line. I'm a Democrat on an independent line,' Cuomo said in an interview on CNBC's 'Squawk Box.' 'Because politics is all upside down in this country right now,' he added. 'But you have a lot of people who knee-jerk go to the Democratic line, right? About 70 percent of the voters are Democrats in the general election, and he'll be on the Democratic line. So multi-candidate field favors him,' Cuomo said. Cuomo formally announced he is running as an independent in New York City's mayoral race on July 14, shortly after losing the primary election to Mamdani. Mamdani defeated Cuomo by about 12 points, 56 percent to 44 percent, in the third round of ranked choice voting in the primary. Cuomo joins Mamdani, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is also running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the general election race. Mamdani's critics fear that a crowded general election could result in his opponents splitting the vote, easily handing Mamdani a victory. Cuomo has proposed an arrangement whereby he and Adams agree to drop out of the race by mid-September if neither is in the lead against Mamdani.
