S&P is already predicting China’s property slump will be worse than it expected this year

Key Points

S&P Global Ratings said China’s primary real estate sales will likely drop by between 10% to 14% this year, worse than the 5% to 8% decline for 2026 sales the firm predicted back in October.
“This is a downturn so entrenched that only the government has capacity to absorb the excess inventory,” the analysts said in a note.
S&P said it was particularly concerned that the price decline in China’s biggest cities worsened in the fourth quarter of last year.

Source

Finance

Orlando Bravo pushes back on private markets criticism: ‘Everybody’s extremely comfortable’

March 17, 2026

Key Points “We have been living in the details of the space for a very, very long time, not on a high level, not investing in stocks, [but] investing in companies, customer contracts, knowing the details. So, yes, as a sector specialist in private equity, our companies are very, very different,” Bravo said. His comments […]

Finance

The Fed issues its latest interest rate decision Wednesday. Here’s what to expect

March 17, 2026

Key Points Markets are pricing in a near-zero chance that the Federal Reserve will be cutting interest rates at this meeting — or any other in the near future. Updates to economic and rate projections also aren’t expected to show anything dramatic when the decision is released Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. On top of […]

Mastercard says it’s acquiring stablecoin startup BVNK in .8 billion bet on future of payments

Finance

Mastercard says it’s acquiring stablecoin startup BVNK in $1.8 billion bet on future of payments

March 17, 2026

Key Points Mastercard said it agreed to acquire stablecoin infrastructure startup BVNK for up to $1.8 billion — including $300 million in performance-contingent payments — in its biggest crypto deal ever. The deal gives the payments giant the ability to connect traditional rails with blockchain-based systems supporting stablecoins and tokenized deposits. BVNK, founded in 2021 […]