US stocks built on last week’s rally with investors bracing themselves for the start of earnings season and assessing election polls that show a strong lead for former vice-president Joe Biden. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.6 per cent, with tech heavyweights Twitter and Apple up 5 per cent and 4

EU regulators are drawing up a “hit list” of up to 20 large internet companies, likely to include Silicon Valley giants such as Facebook and Apple, that will be subject to new and far more stringent rules aimed at curbing their market power. Under the plans, large platforms that find themselves

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, has rejected a higher $1.8tn fiscal stimulus offer from the White House, dashing hopes of a breakthrough in the negotiations. In a letter to Democratic lawmakers on Saturday, Ms Pelosi said the Trump administration’s latest proposal marked “one step forward,

President Donald Trump has raised his offer for a new fiscal stimulus package to $1.8tn in a bid to strike a final compromise with congressional Democrats on relief for the US economy before the November election. The revised bid is higher than the $1.6tn previously proposed by the White House

Donald Trump has said he will not take part in the second US presidential debate after the independent commission that sets debate rules announced it would be held remotely because of coronavirus concerns. “I'm not gonna waste my time on a virtual debate,” the US president said in an interview

Larry Kudlow, the top White House economic adviser, said there was a “low probability” that Congress would agree with Donald Trump’s call for a series of piecemeal stimulus measures to help the US economy. His comments on Wednesday came after a day of confusion over the US president’s stance on providing

US president Donald Trump has abruptly broken off talks with congressional Democrats on a new economic stimulus package until after next month’s presidential election. “Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 Trillion Dollars to bailout poorly run, high crime, Democrat States, money that is in no way related to COVID-19. We made a very generous

The White House chief of staff said he was “optimistic” Donald Trump would be discharged from Walter Reed hospital on Monday, saying the president’s health was continuing to improve after three nights at the medical centre. “We are still optimistic that he will be able to return to the White House

Donald Trump could be discharged from hospital on Monday, after a weekend of obfuscation by the White House that played down the severity of the US president’s condition when he was admitted to the Walter Reed medical centre on Friday. Sean Conley, the White House physician, told reporters on Sunday morning

Donald Trump’s physician said he was “extremely happy” with the progress that the president had made since being admitted to Walter Reed hospital with Covid-19 one month before the US election.  Sean Conley, the White House physician who is attending to the president with a team of doctors at the military