The United Nations has lowered its forecast for global economic growth and raised the prospects for inflation in response to Middle East crises and rising oil prices.

U.N. economists said Tuesday that global GDP growth is now forecast at 2.5% for 2026, down from 2.7% in January. They said it could fall to 2.1% “in a more adverse scenario.”

Bond market powerful enough to sway stocks

The bond market is making noise again. Usually a quiet corner of Wall Street, the bond market has seen yields climb to their highest levels in years and in some cases decades.

That’s rattling stock market worldwide, as well as cranking up the pressure on economies, households and businesses. The bond market has a history of being powerful enough to drag stock markets up and down, and warning signals from it in the past have even convinced President Donald Trump and other world leaders to back off some of their most extreme actions.

US stocks fall further from their records

The U.S. stock market gave back more of its record-setting rally. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% Tuesday for its third straight loss since setting its latest all-time high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.8%. The declines followed mixed moves for stock markets abroad, while oil prices eased in their latest yo-yo move.

Trump discloses thousands of stock trades

Recent presidents have stayed away from trading stocks in companies whose fortunes they could lift or scuttle with the stroke of a pen. But Donald Trump smashed that precedent in the first quarter of this year with more than 3,500 buy and sell orders, many of them involving companies whose profits have been directly impacted by his decisions as head of the government, according to a recent disclosure.

Among the companies Trump traded in were Nvidia, Apple and some big defense contractors. The Trump Organization said the portfolio is managed by third parties and the president has no say in what stocks to buy and sell.

OpenAI avoids a costly court loss to Elon Musk

Elon Musk lost his case against OpenAI and its top executives in a high-stakes trial that pitted billionaire against billionaires. But neither side emerged as too sympathetic.

Americans’ opinion about artificial intelligence is at a low point with worries over job losses and even humanity’s extinction. Online comments and signs outside the courtroom rooted for neither side. Critics say the real losers are people whose lives are being upended by an AI industry controlled by a few out-of-touch billionaires who can’t get along.

ACA enrollment projected to fall

Nationwide enrollment in the Affordable Care Act marketplace could drop by nearly 5 million people this year. That’s according to a new analysis from the healthcare research nonprofit KFF published Tuesday.

The report found that ACA program enrollment could shrink by more than 20% and that those who remain covered are paying more, with average deductibles growing by over $1,000. The drop-off is partly due to the expiration of COVID-era subsidies on Jan. 1, which forced Americans to make tough decisions about their coverage. Middle-income Americans are dropping coverage more than other groups. One of the report’s authors does suggest one silver lining: Insurers may have already planned for these changes, potentially stabilizing future costs.