US Markets Rally on Hope of Rate Cuts, US Sues Apple for Monopoly, and UK Home Sales Rise

US markets extend rally on hope of rate cuts

Wall Street stocks rise to fresh record highs as global equity rally powered by hopes of major central bank interest rate cuts continues. US benchmark S&P 500 was 0.5% higher shortly after the opening bell in New York. Tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9%. Federal Reserve policymakers maintained projections to cut interest rates by 0.75 percentage points by the end of the year.

US accuses Apple of building a smartphone market monopoly

The US Department of Justice, along with 16 state and district attorneys, sues Apple for allegedly using its power in the smartphone sector to quash competition from rivals and limit consumer choice. This move puts Apple's $85bn a year services revenue at risk.

US existing home sales jump to one-year high

Sales of previously built homes in the US jumped to the highest annual rate in a year, as easing mortgage rates and an increase in supply boosted buying. Existing home sales rose 9.5% in February from January to an annual rate of 4.38mn, according to the National Association of Realtors. The monthly uptick was largely driven by supply, with inventory jumping to 1.07mn units in February, up 5.9% from January and 10.9% from a year earlier. The median existing home price in February was $384,500, up 5.7% year on year.