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Most illegal activity happening on cryptocurrency ledgers now involves the tokens known as stablecoins, according to a report released on Thursday by an intergovernmental body that develops policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering and terrorist financing.

The findings in the new report from the Financial Action Task Force land just as US lawmakers and businesses are pushing for the wider distribution of stablecoins, crypto tokens that are pegged to the dollar or some other national currency.

The task force, which brings together officials from most of the biggest countries in the world, found that a wide array of illicit actors — including terrorists, drug traffickers and North Korean hackers — have stepped up their use of stablecoins since the group’s last report on digital assets in 2024.

Investors betting against Palantir Technologies Inc. are throwing in the towel as the software maker’s shares keep pushing higher, aided by fervent retail traders and heightened geopolitical tensions.

Short interest in Palantir as a percentage of shares available to trade is about 2%, down from a high of 5% in October, according to data from S3 Partners. The stock has rallied nearly 300% over that span, handing short sellers paper losses of roughly $7 billion. Shares extended that gain in early trading Thursday, rising as much as 3.7%, on track for a record close.

Micron Technology Inc., Wall Street’s favorite chipmaker this year, gave an upbeat forecast for the current quarter, helped by demand for artificial intelligence equipment.

Though the company posted third-quarter results and a fourth-quarter forecast that exceeded estimates, the stock pared gains in late trading after a conference call with executives.

A key focus was high-bandwidth memory, a component used in artificial intelligence computing. The technology is fueling a sales surge at Micron, but the company didn’t predict the kind of runaway growth that some investors were looking for.

Wall Street traders got mixed insights from the latest readings on the US economy, with stocks rising alongside bonds as the dollar fell after a report that President Donald Trump is considering naming Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s successor well before the end of his term.

Short-dated Treasuries outperformed amid bets that Powell’s replacement would be aligned with Trump’s view that interest rates should fall. Money markets boosted bets on policy easing this year, with two Fed reductions fully priced in – starting in September.

The chance of a quarter-point cut in July remained close to 20%. The S&P 500 topped 6,100, just a few points away from its Feb. 19 record. The greenback hit its lowest since 2022.

Amundi SA said institutional clients at Europe’s largest asset manager are increasingly looking to protect themselves after a series of events this year boosted volatility.

“We are having a lot of requests from our institutional clients to buy puts to protect portfolios,” Jean-Jacques Barberis, head of the institutional and corporate division and ESG at Amundi, said in an interview.

Concerns raised include the impact of a potential spike in oil prices after the US bombed Iran, he said, adding that overall, the events haven’t led to major changes in how institutional clients allocate money in the region.

Recurring applications for US unemployment benefits rose to the highest since November 2021, extending a sharp increase over the past 1 1/2 month and signaling more people are staying out of work for longer.

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, increased to 1.97 million in the week ended June 14, according to Labour Department data released Thursday. That was above all estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

The elevated level of continuing claims aligns with other surveys and data pointing to a slowdown in the labour market. This week, a measure of job availabilities from a Conference Board survey that’s closely watched by economists fell to the lowest since March 2021.

The latest reading on the world’s largest economy did little to move markets on Thursday, with stocks rising alongside bonds as the dollar fell after a report that President Donald Trump is considering naming Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s successor well before the end of his term.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, signalling the US equity benchmark will be even closer to its all-time highs. The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.27%. A gauge of the greenback dropped to the lowest since 2022.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged the toll his tax increases have had on UK businesses, signalling a potential shift as his Labour government faces pressure to resist additional hikes that could exert a drag on an already sputtering economy.

Starmer’s remarks on Thursday were his first clear appreciation of Britain’s business community for shouldering the burden of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ £40 billion ($54.9 billion) of tax increases, most of which came from payroll taxes.

“We’ve asked a lot of you,” Starmer said to an audience of hundreds of business leaders at the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual conference in London. “I understand that and want to acknowledge that,” he said. “It’s made a huge difference. The money has gone into the NHS and waiting lists are coming down. None of that would have been possible without your contribution.”

The overhauled US panel reviewing vaccine data is set to vote on a mercury-based compound and a common childhood vaccine one day after it announced plans to reconsider childhood vaccine schedules.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to determine on Thursday which influenza strains should be incorporated in the fall vaccine and vote on the use of thimerosal, a mercury-containing vaccine preservative that prevents the growth of bacteria in multidose vials and makes shots more accessible. After delaying the decision from Wednesday’s meeting, the panel will also decide on Merck & Co.’s Enflonsia, a one-time shot for infants that protects against a common respiratory virus.

And the panel will hear a presentation on the use of measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccines in children under age 4. Currently, the first MMRV dose is usually given to babies aged 12 to 15 months. Health experts say this discussion could provide clues on how the committee will tackle already recommended vaccines in the future.

A key one-day copper price spread surged to the highest level in four years on the London Metal Exchange, placing fresh strains on buyers contending with a rapid decline in inventories.

Contracts due in one day traded at a $98 a ton premium to those expiring a day later, hitting the highest level since an historic short squeeze that rocked the LME in 2021.

The burgeoning supply squeeze has been fueled by US President Donald Trump’s plans to impose import tariffs on the metal. The proposal — which was formally set in motion in February — has caused copper prices to rocket in New York, and traders have been shipping record volumes to the US to take advantage of the surge before any levies are imposed.

Salesforce Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff said his company has automated a significant chunk of work with AI, another example of a firm touting labour-replacing potential of the emerging technology.

“AI is doing 30% to 50% of the work at Salesforce now,” Benioff said in an interview on The Circuit with Emily Chang, pointing at job functions including software engineering and customer service.

Tech leaders have been increasingly vocal about the potential for AI to replace human workers. Executives at Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. have said that AI is producing about 30% of new computer software code on some projects. Salesforce has said that the use of AI internally has allowed it to hire fewer people.

South Korea has drawn over €10 billion in investor bids for its first euro bond sale in nearly four years, underscoring investor appetite for the country after the recent election of President Lee Jae Myung ended months of political turmoil.

The sovereign is expected to price a three-year fixed-rate note at 25 basis points over mid-swaps, inside earlier guidance of around 40 basis points. A seven-year tranche is expected to land at 52 basis points over the same benchmark, also tighter than the original guidance, according to a person familiar with the matter.

One of Asia’s highest-rated sovereigns, South Korea, is tapping markets as easing tensions in the Middle East drive a surge in bond issuance. With inflation in Europe cooling quicker than in the US, the European Central Bank recently cut interest rates for an eighth time in a year, resulting in a boon for borrowers.

Dubai’s financial regulator conducted a search last month at the offices of Magellan Capital Limited, following complaints from a former trader who claimed a senior executive at the hedge fund startup had concealed investment losses and prevented staff from flagging risks.

Officials at the Dubai Financial Services Authority went through laptops and company phones as part of the search, according to people familiar with the matter. Some employees were questioned in conference rooms, the people said, declining to be identified as the information is private.

That came weeks after a former trader, Britney Lam, lodged complaints against Magellan Senior Executive Officer Ahmed Omar with regulators in Dubai and London, claiming “regulatory breaches” stemming from his actions. Lam departed the firm late last year, just a few months after she joined.

Russia’s economy faces a worsening outlook that is graver than publicly acknowledged, with a credible risk of a systemic banking crisis in the next 12 months, according to Russian banking officials.

Russian banks are increasingly concerned about the level of bad debt on their balance sheets, according to the officials and documents seen by Bloomberg News. They have privately raised the alarm about the number of corporate and retail clients who are failing to make loan payments as they struggle with high interest rates, the people said.

Current and former banking officials have privately described the situation in Russia as dangerous and said there is a growing risk of a debt crisis spreading through the country’s financial sector in the next year if circumstances don’t improve. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss publicly the anxieties within the sector.

The former leader of Turkey’s main opposition party said he’s willing to return to the post if a court invalidates the vote that removed him, a move that could divide the opposition and derail its efforts to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“If I don’t accept the job, there is a risk of trustee appointment,” Sozcu newspaper cited Kemal Kilicdaroglu, 76, as saying on Thursday.

A lawsuit is challenging the legitimacy of the Republican People’s Party’s November 2023 convention, at which Kilicdaroglu was defeated by current chairman Ozgur Ozel, in the wake of Erdogan’s victory in the May elections. The next court hearing is scheduled for June 30.

An office overlooking the River Thames that was bought by a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led venture in 2018 has been put back on the market for roughly the amount of debt secured against it, a more than 30% discount to its previous asking price.

Brokers at Savills Plc and Knight Frank have been appointed to sell Vintners Place and the adjoining Thames Court, seeking bids of £140 million ($192 million), according to a statement. That’s down from £208 million when a venture between Goldman and developer Greycoat attempted to sell the properties in 2022, according to a report published by Savills at the time.

It’s also less than the £175 million that the venture paid to acquire the buildings in 2018. Goldman has since sold out of its stake in the venture.

The building, which was refinanced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2022, had about £138.6 million of debt secured against it as of the end of 2023, filings show. The loan is due to be repaid in November.

The dollar fell as traders ramped up bets for faster US interest-rate cuts, spurred by a report that President Donald Trump may fast-track his nomination for the next Federal Reserve chief. Stock futures advanced.

A Bloomberg gauge of the greenback dropped 0.4% to the lowest level since April 2022. Treasury yields declined across the curve, with the 10-year rate down two basis points to 4.27%.

Markets are pricing 64 basis points of easing from the Fed by the end of the year, compared to 51 basis points at the end of last week, with a 20% chance of a quarter-point cut next month.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer looks ready to water down another of the UK government’s key policies, offering concessions to stop Labour party colleagues derailing his reforms to Britain’s expensive welfare payments.

Starmer’s government planned to save £5 billion ($6.9 billion) a year by tightening criteria for disability payments, yet this week at least 126 of Labour’s own Members of Parliament put their names to an amendment that could effectively kill the new laws at a vote next Tuesday. Combined with opposition parties, the rebellion is big enough to defeat the government.

A Downing Street official said Thursday that talks were being held with Labour party colleagues and they hoped some reforms would start making their way through parliament next week. Meanwhile Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell, who manages the government’s parliamentary agenda, told the chamber that the second reading of the bill would go ahead on Tuesday, with further legislative stages the following week.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. reported quarterly profit that beat Wall Street’s expectations, a hopeful sign as the pharmacy giant prepares to transform into a private company after its market value plummeted due to retail competition and lower prescription drug payments from insurance companies.

Adjusted earnings per share for the fiscal quarter, which ended May 31, were 38 cents, it said in a statement, above the average analyst estimate of 31 cents. Revenue was $39 billion, above the average estimate of $36.8 billion.

Shares rose less than 1% before markets opened in New York. They had gained 21% since the start of the year through Wednesday’s close.

Walgreens, the second-largest US pharmacy chain, is set to be purchased by private equity firm Sycamore Partners for $10 billion by the end of this year.

The dollar fell and US Treasuries rallied after a report that President Donald Trump is considering naming Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s successor well before the incumbent’s term is scheduled to end next May.

The Wall Street Journal said Trump may reveal his pick to run the Fed by September or October. The report follows weeks of lobbying by the president for Powell to lower borrowing costs.

Investors and analysts reckon Powell’s replacement will most likely share the president’s dovish bias, prompting speculation that interest rates could eventually fall faster and deeper than markets are currently pricing. An early selection could also confuse markets by forcing them to monitor the monetary policy commentaries of Powell and his replacement.

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