US stocks and government bonds climbed on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve adopted a more dovish stance on interest rates, a day after a signal of more potential stimulus from the European Central Bank sparked one of the strongest global rallies of the year.

The Federal Reserve cuts its forecast for US price growth, mirroring the central bank’s dovish shift on interest rates.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday ditched its language about a “patient” approach to policy and said it would “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion”.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday signalled no interest rate cuts this year but signalled easing in 2020 following its two-day monetary policy-setting meeting.

US government bond yields eyed multiyear lows and stocks rallied in the wake of the Federal Reserve adopting a dovish outlook but ultimately keeping interest rates on hold at its meeting today.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady but shifted towards a more dovish stance and pointed to possible interest rate cuts in the future, citing rising “uncertainties” about the economic outlook.

The international governing body for Rugby Union has been forced to drop a £6bn deal to create a new annual tournament dubbed the Nations Championship, in a move that will strengthen plans by private equity group CVC to gain commercial control over the sport.

The analyst who brought about the near collapse of Noble Group has turned his attention to Trafigura, a much bigger commodity trader that in his opinion has been inflating the value of assets to help manage a huge debt pile.

The universe of negative-yielding bonds has jumped to a new record of $12.5tn, after the European Central Bank poured more fuel on the global fixed income rally by hinting that it could restart its “quantitative easing” programme.

Last year brought some big retail bankruptcies including that of 125-year-old company Sears. By volume, however, 2019 so far has already outpaced the comparable year-ago period, with companies like footwear retailer Payless and US children’s clothing chain Gymboree filing for bankruptcy.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is to stand trial on accusations of influence peddling after a final appeal was rejected by courts on Wednesday.

Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative, said Washington was “ready to engage” with Beijing ahead of a high-stakes meeting between Donald Trump, the US president, and Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, at the G20 summit in Osaka, adding that there was a shared goal to “resolve” the trade dispute.

The challenge facing Elliott Management to turn around Barnes & Noble was on display, with the bookstore chain reporting weaker revenue and a steeper net loss in its most recent quarter than the market had forecast.

Canadian inflation unexpectedly jumped in May to hit its highest level in seven months, news that is likely to fuel bets that the central bank will not be in a hurry to raise interest rates anytime soon.

Rio Tinto was among the worst performing blue-chip stocks in London on Wednesday after the Anglo-Australian group cut production guidance for iron ore, its key commodity and source of profits.

Axalta Coating Systems is exploring options, including an outright sale of the business, less than 19 months after talks to sell itself to Japanese rival Nippon Paint fell apart.

Dutch prosecutors have charged four military and intelligence officers from Russia and Ukraine with murder and involvement in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014, ramping up international pressure on Moscow over the downing of the jet.

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, expressed “cautious optimism” that EU leaders would soon agree a slate of presidents for the bloc’s main institutions as doubts mounted over centre-right parties’ candidate to head the European Commission.

Vanguard has escalated the price war raging in Europe’s asset management market after firing a broadside that threatens the profits of rival UK-based fund managers.

Many more airlines are likely to follow Germany’s Lufthansa in issuing profit warnings, a major investment bank said on Wednesday, as it flagged “rapidly weakening demand” in the sector.

Hargreaves Lansdown last year began holding monthly calls with Neil Woodford to address his mounting liquidity crisis — but Britain’s biggest fund supermarket continued to include his flagship fund on its “best buy” list.

The Guernsey stock exchange harboured concerns about the valuations of the listed assets of Neil Woodford’s flagship even after the fund froze over £3bn of investors’ money.

The head of Duff & Phelps’s European secondary market business has left the US corporate finance advisory firm, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The Scottish economy expanded 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, matching the pace set by the UK as a whole.