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President Donald Trump had targeted Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., for opposing GOP priorities. View More

Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, speaks during a campaign event ahead of a primary election at Veterans Memorial Park in Vanceburg, Kentucky, US, on Monday, May 18, 2026. Kentucky will hold a primary election on May 19. Jeffrey Dean | Bloomberg | Getty Images Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL backed by President Donald Trump, defeated incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie in a Republican primary Tuesday in Kentucky's 4th congressional district, the latest in a series of successful attempts by the president to pick off his political opponents.The Associated Press, NBC News and other outlets called the race Tuesday night less than two hours after the first polls closed. Massie was down nearly nine percentage points at the time the race was called.Massie has represented the district since 2012 and has become most known as a contrarian within the ranks of the House GOP. The Libertarian-leaning conservative led the charge with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to release files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, over the initial opposition of Trump. And he's at times voted against Republican priorities on the House floor.His independence drew the ire of Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Massie and made it his mission to oust him from office. "The worst Congressman in the long and storied history of the Republican Party, is Thomas Massie. He is an obstructionist and a fool. Vote him out of office tomorrow, Tuesday. It will be a great day for America! President DJT," Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social, then reposted on Tuesday. Read more CNBC politics coverageGas tax holiday as Trump promises? Not so fast, trucking, construction industries sayTrump doesn't need Congress to restart Iran strikes: HegsethAnalysis: Iran war hangs over Trump's China trip — and his presidencyCongress members push Chinese auto parts ban before Trump China trip Massie becomes the latest casualty in Trump's revenge tour, as the president shows he still holds considerable sway over the Republican electorate.Earlier this month, Trump successfully campaigned to oust a group of Indiana state Republicans who opposed his redistricting push. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in 2021 after the House impeached him, finished third in the Louisiana primary over the weekend and will not advance to a runoff. Trump had supported Rep. Julia Letlow, who finished first in the contest.On Tuesday, Trump added Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to the list to be punished for being insufficiently loyal. Trump endorsed Cornyn's primary opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton."John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough and, despite having the Most Successful Economy in the History of our Country during my First Term and, with all of the many other things that I accomplished," Trump posted to Truth Social.The primary between Gallrein and Massie was the most expensive on record, with $32.6 million spent on ads according to AdImpact. Of that, $7.9 million was used to fund attack ads aimed at Massie, as money from Trump allies and pro-Israel groups flooded the district. Massie is an anti-interventionist and has voted against aid to Israel.On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took the unusual step of traveling to the district to campaign against Massie, despite a federal law prohibiting sitting cabinet officials from engaging in politics in their official capacity.Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth was in Kentucky in his "personal capacity" and that the appearance had been "thoroughly vetted and cleared by lawyers."  Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

SpaceX has picked Goldman Sachs to lead what's expected to be a record-setting IPO. View More

In this articleGSMSFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends a state banquet for President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026.Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images SpaceX, which is getting set to publicly disclose its IPO prospectus, has picked Goldman Sachs to lead what's likely to be a record offering, according to people familiar with the matter.Goldman will have the lead left position on the prospectus, followed by Morgan Stanley, and then Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, said the people, who asked not to be named due to confidentiality.Elon Musk's reusable rocket company could make its prospectus public as soon as Wednesday after confidentially filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month. The offering is expected to bring in a record sum as SpaceX was most recently valued at $1.25 trillion by Musk, when he merged the company with xAI, his artificial intelligence startup, in February.SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Only two tech companies — Facebook and Alibaba — have been valued at even $100 billion after their first day of trading on U.S. exchanges. AI chipmaker Cerebras debuted on the Nasdaq last week, and closed with a market cap of about $95 billion, setting the stage for what could be a year of mega IPOs tied to the AI trade. SpaceX is looking to get to the public market ahead of AI model leaders OpenAI and Anthropic, which are each valued at close to $1 trillion by private investors. Those companies are eyeing to go public as soon as this year. For Musk, the highly anticipated prospectus is set to land just days after he suffered a stinging defeat in court to OpenAI and Sam Altman, its CEO. Musk sued Altman in 2024, claiming he broke a promise to keep OpenAI, which Musk helped start nine years earlier, a nonprofit. An advisory jury in Oakland, California, on Monday said Musk waited too long to sue OpenAI and Altman over the claims, and the verdict was immediately adopted by District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Musk called the decision a "calendar technicality," and vowed to appeal. The last time Musk took a company public was 2010, when Tesla hit the Nasdaq, Goldman led that offering as well, with Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank next on the filing. WATCH: SpaceX debut will be 'otherworldly' for IPO market watch nowVIDEO6:1006:10SpaceX debut will be 'otherworldly' for IPO market: MergermarketEurope Early Edition Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

The war with Iran has now blown past the 60-day requirement under the War Powers Act for the president to seek the authorization of Congress. View More

In this article@LCO.1Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT The U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. Eric Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Senate on Tuesday advanced a resolution to halt military action in Iran after a surprise defection from Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump's war effort. The vote, though preliminary, shows that the Senate now could have the votes to force Trump to pull back the military from Iran or seek congressional approval for additional action. Despite the War Powers Resolution advancing 50-47, it still has little chance of becoming law. It would need to pass a final vote in the Senate, clear the House and Trump would be almost certain to veto it. But the vote does show increasing headwinds to the war with Iran, especially as gas prices continue to soar ahead of the summer driving season and the 2026 midterms. Cassidy, who failed to advance to a runoff against Trump-endorsed challenger Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., in a primary election last week, is now in the final months of his term in the Senate. His vote indicates that he is now more willing to challenge Trump. "While I support the administration's efforts to dismantle Iran's nuclear program, the White House and Pentagon have left Congress in the dark on Operation Epic Fury," Cassidy said in a statement to his X account after the vote. "In Louisiana, I've heard from people, including President Trump's supporters, who are concerned about this war. Until the administration provides clarity, no congressional authorization or extension can be justified." U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) attends a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Senate Committee confirmation hearing on Marty Makary's nomination to be commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 6, 2025. Kent Nishimura | Reuters The war with Iran has now blown past the 60-day requirement under the War Powers Act for the president to seek the authorization of Congress for the use of military force. Though the Trump administration has challenged the law as unconstitutional, and claimed that a tenuous ceasefire in early April has stopped the clock by ceasing hostilities. Republicans, who broadly opposed the measure, may have also been hindered by absences that allowed the measure to proceed. Several senators, including Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., John Coryn, R-Texas and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., were absent from the vote. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the sole Democrat to vote against the measure, while 46 Republicans voted for it.Democrats in the House and Senate have pushed more than a dozen war powers resolutions since the war in Iran started. So far, all have been defeated. Some Republicans in Congress, however, have begun to support requiring the administration to seek approval from Congress after the conflict surpassed the 60-day point. Congress has the sole authority to declare war, according to the Constitution.The war, which has nearly reached the three-month mark, has wreaked havoc on the global economy and spiked oil prices in the U.S. Iran has largely held the Strait of Hormuz shut for the duration of the war, a key channel which carries about a fifth of the world's oil. Gas prices in the U.S. are now more than $4.53 per gallon on average, according to AAA. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

At its annual developers conference, Google offered a first look at its audio smart glasses that will be available later this year. View More

In this articleGOOGFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Google offered a first look at its audio smart glasses that will be available later this year, at Google I/O in Mountain View, California, May 19, 2026.Benjamin Fanjoy | Getty Images Google gave a first look at its first audio smart glasses on Tuesday, as the company tries to crack a corner of the wearables market where rival Meta has been making waves. At Google's annual I/O conference, the company said it partnered with Samsung and eyewear makers Gentle Monster and Warby Parker for glasses that will embed the Gemini assistant. They'll be compatible with Android and iOS devices and available later this year, Google said. "These are the first two designs of a bigger collection coming this fall," said Shahram Izadi, head of Android XR products and platform, in a keynote at the developers conference. The glasses are meant to provide information "spoken into your ear privately, rather than shown in a display," he said. Google unveiled the glasses alongside a number of AI announcements, including new AI models and AI agents, at Tuesday's event.The reveal shows Google's willingness to place calculated bets on new devices at a time when the future of wearables remains uncertain and investors await new possible form factors for the AI era. Google announced smart display glasses last year, and said in December it was working on audio-only glasses for its Android XR platform. For Google, the user data is the source of the real value, as it can be used to improve AI models. The company didn't talk about privacy terms related to the forthcoming glasses. Google Product Manager Nishtha Bhatia during the keynote address at Google I/O in Mountain View, California, May 19, 2026.Benjamin Fanjoy | Getty Images Within AI eyewear, Meta has experienced early success with its smart glasses in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, a bright spot for a company that's been burning billions of dollars a quarter on its Reality Labs unit. The Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses, which use Meta's AI digital assistant, sold 7 million units in 2025. In September, Meta released its own display glasses, enabling users to see features like messages, photo previews and live captions through a small display that's built into one of the device's lenses.Apple is also reportedly working on several frame styles and a camera design for its first smart glasses. Other companies like Snap and Alibaba have been making their own AI glasses.At Google's conference on Tuesday, Product Manager Nishtha Bhatia performed a demo, using the audio sunglasses to launch Gemini, connect to DoorDash and order a coffee. She also had Gemini read a summary of unread text messages and add an event to her calendar. Google said in its blog post that the glasses can give turn-by-turn directions for navigation and enable users to ask Gemini about anything they see. They can also take photos and use Google's AI image generator Nano Banana to "transform images" with prompts like, "Hey Google, take a picture and put everyone in funny hats."WATCH: Google's chief AI architect lays out AI strategy watch nowVIDEO5:3105:31Google's chief AI architect lays out its AI strategyPower Lunch Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Traders on prediction market platforms see increasing odds that an interest rate hike from the central bank comes by July 2027. View More

The Federal Reserve logo is seen on the William McChesney Martin Jr. Building in Washington, Sept. 16, 2025.Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images While President Donald Trump made his pick for chair of the Federal Reserve with interest rate cuts in mind, his appointee may preside over the first rate hikes since 2023. That's according to traders on prediction market platform Kalshi, where there's a rising likelihood the Fed will move to increase rates in the next year. Traders place 64% odds on the next interest rate hike coming by July 2027. They also think there's a 43% chance tighter policy happens as soon as this year. Odds of a rate hike have jumped in the last 24 hours in reaction to ballooning yields on U.S. Treasurys, concern that inflation will continue to march higher and as oil prices show no signs of materially falling in the midst of the unresolved Iran war. Traders previously assigned just 50-50 odds that a rate hike would come in the first half of 2027.  (function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})(); The move in odds comes as the next Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, is set to be sworn in on Friday, replacing Jerome Powell. Chances of rate cuts have been falling for some time despite Trump nominating Warsh in late January after having criticized Powell for not cutting rates quickly. A stronger-than-expected labor market and rising inflation has dampened economists' outlooks for rate cuts, and several members of the Federal Open Market Committee at its last meeting made clear they weren't interested in signaling any future cuts. But rising U.S. Treasury yields have made investors reassess the outlook. The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond yield on Tuesday climbed to its highest level since 2007. Ed Yardeni, the head of Yardeni Research, said on Monday that the bond market might have more power over monetary policy than soon-to-be Chair Warsh.  Incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, April 21, 2026.Graeme Sloan | Bloomberg | Getty Images "Who's actually in the monetary-policy driver's seat? We'd argue that it's the Bond Vigilantes," Yardeni wrote. But Wolfe Research chief investment strategist Chris Senyek in a Tuesday note said the moves in the bond markets might force a resolution to the war in the Middle East, potentially easing inflation pressures. "We believe the U.S. Treasury market has been signaling persistent inflation and this week was the final straw," he said. "Our sense is that there is potential for bond vigilantes to push yields higher in [an] attempt to push the Trump Administration to come to a quick resolution on Iran."Traders on Polymarket assign 35% odds that there is a rate hike in 2026. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

President Trump agreed to drop his lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for a fund that can compensate allies who were targeted under the Biden administration. View More

Former President Donald Trump arrives at his caucus night event, with sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, at the Iowa Events Center on January 15, 2024 in Des Moines, Iowa.Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images Federal tax returns filed by President Donald Trump, family members, the Trump Organization, and related trusts and affiliates before this week are protected from potential Internal Revenue Service enforcement actions under a controversial $1.8 billion settlement with the Justice Department, a new document posted Tuesday shows.The Justice Department, as part of the settlement, barred the federal government from prosecuting or pursuing "any and all claims" that could have been made by the IRS, which included "tax returns filed before" the effective date of the settlement, according to the document, signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.The protection extends to Trump, his family members, the Trump Organization and "parties including trusts, parent, sister or related companies, affiliates, and subsidiaries." It covers any pending tax audits of Trump and the others referred to in the addendum that the IRS would have been conducting at the time of the settlement.Blanche is Trump's former criminal defense lawyer.The document, first reported by Politico, is an addendum to the conditions of the settlement first revealed Monday by the Justice Department.The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the addendum.Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said the provision violates federal law "that prohibits interference by executive branch officials in IRS audits.""Democrats are going to fight every element of this self-dealing settlement, but regardless of the outcome of those efforts, future administrations and IRS leadership should consider this illegal directive completely invalid," said Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. "The Trump family is not above the law, no matter what Trump or his personal attorney say." The federal statute that Wyden referred to states, "It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer."The term "applicable person" refers to "the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in" a presidential cabinet.The settlement resolved a $10 billion lawsuit filed in Miami federal court by Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and their company against the IRS over the leak of Trump-related tax filings by an IRS employee. Read more CNBC politics coverageGas tax holiday as Trump promises? Not so fast, trucking, construction industries sayTrump doesn't need Congress to restart Iran strikes: HegsethAnalysis: Iran war hangs over Trump's China trip — and his presidencyCongress members push Chinese auto parts ban before Trump China trip The Trumps on Monday dropped that suit in exchange for the Justice Department agreeing to finance a so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund with $1.8 billion. The fund is set up to be used to compensate purported victims of law enforcement actions by the department under the Biden administration. The Trump administration has referred to such action as "lawfare."Democratic members of Congress have called the settlement a "slush fund" for allies of Trump, including defendants convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and disrupted the confirmation of the electoral victory of former President Joe Biden.Blanche, during testimony to a Senate appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday morning, would not rule out allowing people convicted of assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6 riot to get compensation from the fund.Trump agreed as part of the settlement on Monday to withdraw two administrative claims, "including for damages resulting from the unlawful raid of Mar-a-Lago and the Russia-collusion hoax," the Justice Department said in a statement.A spokeswoman for the Justice Department, when asked why the addendum related to Trump-related tax returns was included in the settlement, and why it was not originally disclosed, told CNBC in an email, "As is customary in settlements, both sides have executed waivers of a variety of claims that were or could have been brought.""There would be little point in settling several significant claims if either party could simply turn around and seek to [initiate] more adverse claims that could have been pursued previously," the spokeswoman said. "The agreement allows for subsequent 'waivers' to get incorporated by reference—Part IV.A. Plaintiffs themselves executed a broad waiver, as well.""This is only with respect to existing [IRS] audits, not future," she said. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Mortgage rates continued to move higher Tuesday on uncertainty over the war with Iran. They are at the highest level since last July. View More

watch nowVIDEO1:2701:27Average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rises to 6.75%Halftime Report Growing concern over the trajectory of the Iran war has bond yields rising and mortgage rates following suit.The average rate on the 30-year fixed loan rose 7 basis points Tuesday to 6.75%, according to Mortgage News Daily. That is the highest level since July 31. Rates are now up 33 basis points in just the past 10 days and are 46 basis points higher than their recent April low of 6.29%. That April drop came after a sharp spike in rates at the start of the war, when the rate jumped from 5.99% at the start of March to 6.64% by the end of the month."Bonds are telling politicians to get serious about ending the war or face increasingly dire consequences," wrote Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily.The move from 5.99% to now 6.75% is a meaningful change in the housing affordability math. For a buyer putting 20% down on a $420,000 home — roughly the national median home price — their monthly principal and interest payment has gone from $2,012 to $2,179, a difference of $167.The nation's homebuilders are slightly less sensitive to rate moves, as the builders have been buying down mortgage rates to get buyers in the door. Rates are still lower than they were a year ago, when they spiked over 7%."Rates are a challenge," said John Lovallo, a UBS homebuilder analyst, in an interview Tuesday on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "But we're still at levels where the builders can operate at effectively. As quickly as rates went up, they could come down just as precipitously if this war comes to some kind of resolution and oil pulls back." Get Property Play directly to your inboxCNBC's Property Play with Diana Olick covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, delivered weekly to your inbox.Subscribe here to get access today. Lovallo said he sees this as a buying opportunity for the builder stocks and noted that the homebuilders are still seeing average order growth through the spring season. "Demand for housing is still robust," he said. Sales of pending homes rose in April both month over month and compared with a year ago, according to a report Tuesday from the National Association of Realtors. "Buyers are coming out with cautious optimism despite increasing economic uncertainty and a slight rise in mortgage rates," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR, in a release. "Demand will easily be even higher once mortgage rates retreat to the levels they were at earlier this year." Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Vice President JD Vance said at the White House on Tuesday that he and President Donald Trump both support banning congressional stock trading. View More

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on May 19, 2026 in Washington, DC. Heather Diehl | Getty Images Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump against a question about the heavy stock trading on display in the president's latest financial disclosures, which revealed transactions totaling hundreds of millions of dollars over just three months."The president doesn't sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his, like, Robinhood account, buying and selling stocks," Vance said in response to a reporter at a White House press briefing. "That's absurd. He has independent wealth advisors who manage his money. He is a wealthy person. He has had success in business," Vance said. "He's not making these stock trades himself," the vice president said, while accusing the reporter of suggesting otherwise.The filings, made public Thursday, showed more than 3,700 transactions in the first three months of 2026 alone. They include securities of companies Trump "has talked up at events" and in social media posts — some of which even included stock ticker symbols, the reporter noted to Vance.For instance, the disclosures show purchases of artificial intelligence software giant and government contractor Palantir in March. In April, as Palantir shares suffered their worst week in over a year, Trump praised the company on Truth Social, writing, "Palantir Technologies (PLTR) has proven to have great war fighting capabilities and equipment. Just ask our enemies!!! President DJT."White House spokesman Davis Ingle told CNBC in a statement Friday that Trump's assets "are in a trust managed by his children," adding, "there are no conflicts of interest."A spokesperson for the Trump Organization later said the president's investment holdings are "maintained exclusively through fully discretionary accounts independently managed by third-party financial institutions with sole and exclusive authority over all investment decisions.""Trades are executed and portfolios are balanced through automated investment processes and systems administered by those institutions. Neither President Trump, his family, nor The Trump Organization plays any role in selecting, directing, or approving specific investments," the spokesperson said. "They receive no advance notice of trading activity and provide no input regarding investment decisions or portfolio management of any kind."The reporter who broached the subject to Vance on Tuesday said in his question, "Americans, according to recent polling, are increasingly describing the president as corrupt.""This is a hell of a question," Vance quipped as the reporter continued.When the reporter compared Vance's prior support for banning public officials from trading individual stocks with Trump's apparent trading activity, Vance interrupted: "OK, what's the question?" Read more CNBC politics coverageGas tax holiday as Trump promises? Not so fast, trucking, construction industries sayTrump doesn't need Congress to restart Iran strikes: HegsethAnalysis: Iran war hangs over Trump's China trip — and his presidencyCongress members push Chinese auto parts ban before Trump China trip Vance affirmed he is a "big fan" of banning congressional stock trading, and "so is the president of the United States.""All of us believe that nobody should be taking proprietary information gained from public service and buying and selling stocks," he said."We want to ban that process. And I think the way to lead by example is banning that process, banning that approach, and making it illegal, which is exactly what the president has proposed doing," he said. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

With mortgage rates reaching a record high on Tuesday, traders also increase likelihood that rates will go above 6.8%. View More

A "for sale" sign is posted in front of a property on May 11, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Don't wait for mortgage rates to come down later this year before locking in your loan, according to indications coming out the prediction markets.After the 30-year fixed mortgage rate shot to the highest level since July 2025 on Tuesday, Kalshi traders became more confident rates will surpass 6.8% this year and perhaps even reach as high as 7%.The 6.75% rate, reported by Mortgage News Daily, comes after the 30-year Treasury yield jumped to the highest since 2007 and the 10-year Treasury yield also threatened to break out to a multi-year high. The 10-year note is a key benchmark for mortgages.Kalshi currently has multiple markets, which predict a numeric range for how high mortgage rates will be this year. On Tuesday, chances that rates will go above 6.8% went from 43% to 50% within a few hours. There was also a jump in odds that the mortgage rate will top 7% at some point this year. Traders gave it little chance of happening on Monday, but those odds jumped to 23% on Tuesday following the surge in market yields. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose by 33 basis points in the last 10 days and 46 basis points since April, when it was at 6.29%. Mortgage rates have been shaky since the Iran war, with rates going 6.64% in March but then tumbling down in April. A basis point equals 0.01%.Though oil prices were steady on Tuesday after President Donald Trump said he would postpone a planned military strike on Iran, it is far from the level before the start of the war since February.Amid the geopolitical unease, high oil prices impacted inflation reports last week, with consumer prices increasing by 3.8%, the highest since May 2023. Mortgage rates will likely remain high as inflation percolates. Kalshi would resolve its markets based off of mortgage rates data from FreddieMac, which calculate weekly and tend to show lower rates than Mortgage News Daily. To be sure, the higher rates haven't dented buying enthusiasm quite yet. A Tuesday report from the National Association of Realtors also found sales of pending homes rose in April both month over month and compared to a year ago. Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Indian cement companies are taking different paths on spending. Some, like Ultratech Cement, Dalmia Bharat, and Nuvoco Vistas, are increasing investments for expansion. Others, including Ambuja Cement and Shree Cement, are slowing down their capital expenditure. This divergence reflects varied growth strategies in the Indian market. The focus remains on India's long-term development drivers. View More

Mumbai: Large cement producers are taking a contrasting approach to spending in the backdrop of the West Asia crisis, with a section continuing to aggressively invest for growth, while others are taking a step back to calibrate costs in the world's second-largest market for the building material. The total spend on capital expenditure by the top five cement producers is expected to remain largely stable this fiscal year, even as it reflects the divergence in growth priorities of companies, at a time when outlook for the near-term remains cautious. Market leader UltraTech Cement , along with Dalmia Bharat and Nuvoco Vistas Corp-the fourth and fifth largest cement producers-are boosting total capex by around 14% compared to FY26. The three companies have earmarked about ₹15,000 crore towards capex in FY27, with UltraTech alone accounting for two-thirds. "West Asia situation is near-term cost moderator, not a structural demand reversal," Atul Daga, chief financial officer, UltraTech, said recently. "The structural drivers are firmly in place, India's urbanisation story, the government's infrastructure commitment... Mumbai City itself spending about $60 billion in improvement of infrastructure, the PMAY housing targets, rising rural demand, none of these have been diluted by the West Asia crisis." Dalmia Bharat's capex target of ₹3,400 crore includes unspent capital from the previous year. "Capacity expansion and becoming a pan-India player is a key strategic priority," said Puneet Dalmia, managing director. "All our announced projects in South and West are progressing well." Nuvoco Vistas, which has increased its planned capex by 26% to ₹900 crore, will be utilising most of the capital for the refurbishment of its Vadraj plant. Live Events On the other side of the camp is Adani Group-owned Ambuja Cement, which will be cutting capex by up to 20% this fiscal, to ₹6,000-6,500 crore. "...Our capex has not been up to the mark, and that's one of the reasons why we are pausing and correcting ourselves, and we want to first complete our projects that we have taken in our hand before we start any new projects," said Karan Adani, director. Shree Cement , the third-largest cement producer, acknowledged slowing down capex plans to ₹1,500 crore for FY27. "Even in the last concall of one of our competitors, they have also slowed their aggression. So, we will ride the wave as it is," said Ashok Bhandari, senior advisor. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)