The world’s largest meat-processing enterprise in sales volumes, São Paulo, Brazil-based JBS, is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on June 12.
The move, a dual listing in the US and Brazil, aims to tap into greater US dollar flows and increased liquidity. Long term, the company hopes to overtake US-based Tyson Foods in market cap, consolidating as the sole global leader in the sector.
Currently, JBS is valued at roughly $16 billion, with $77.2 billion in revenue as of full-year 2024, compared to a $19.8 billion market cap for Tyson Foods on $53.3 billion in revenue.
But despite the seemingly positive outcome for JBS’ shareholders, the Pilgrim’s Pride parent company’s dual listing remains a contentious topic both internally and externally.
Recently, US Senator Elizabeth Warren raised concerns that JBS’s $5 million donation to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee helped get the dual listing approved.
The concerns come on the back of a long history of questionable practices by Joesley and Wesley Batista, the founders and largest shareholders of the company. Back in 2017, the brothers—estimated to be worth roughly $5 billion each—faced six months of incarceration in their home country, Brazil, on bribery charges.
Mighty Earth CEO Glenn Hurowitz also adds that the JBS’ listing raises sustainabilty concerns. “Listing on the NYSE is meant to be a signal to investors that a company is serious about transparency, but JBS has shown its only playbook is hiding the true scale of its destruction, climate emissions, and human rights abuses.”
The dual listing also faced shareholder pushback, passing with just 52% of votes, with claims the plan introduces a dual-class structure that boosts the Batista brothers’ voting power to nearly 85%, up from about 48%. “Investors [ultimately] chose to focus on the stock’s upside potential rather than on governance concerns,” said Igor Guedes, an analyst at Genial Investimentos.
Tesla shares this week have recovered most of the ground lost in the wake of Elon Musk’s social media fight with President Donald Trump.
The back and forth culminated with Tesla losing $150 million in market cap in one day.
Shares of Tesla have been on a roller coaster this year, and they currently sit down 20% for 2025.
Tesla (TSLA) shares have risen this week as investors may be moving past the fiery public spat between CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump.
The electric vehicle maker’s shares are up 8% this week, recouping more than half of the ground lost last week in the wake of Trump and Musk’s social media shots at one another. The back and forth started as an argument over Trump’s “Big Beautiful” taxation-and-spending bill but spiraled into a now-deleted post in which Musk accused Trump of being in the “Epstein files,” referencing the late convicted sex trafficker. The public fight ended up costing Tesla a spot in the illustrious $1 trillion market capitalization club with a one-day drop of more than $150 billion.
This week has seen a cooling of tensions, at least on social media, with Musk admitting he regrets some of his posts. He also reposted Trump’s criticism of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Tesla’s stock has been on a roller coaster ride this year. Shares shed more than 35% of their value in the first quarter as sales slumped, tariffs hit the stock market, and controversy swirled around Musk. They staged a comeback in April and May after Musk said he would step back from Washington.
Shares are up 2% in recent trading Friday, and currently sit down 20% for 2025.
Shares of JBS advanced Friday morning in their New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) debut after years of complications for the Brazilian meatpacking giant to trade in U.S. public markets.
JBS shares, which have the ticker symbol “JBS,” opened at $13.65 on the New York Stock Exchange and recently were trading at $14.03, up 2%. The shares are dual listed with Brazil’s B3 exchange.
JBS, which is majority owner of U.S. poultry firm Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC), is the world’s largest meatpacker, with 2024 revenue of $77.18 billion and net income of $1.96 billion, according to a prospectus filed in April with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Both American meat producers and environmentalists had opposed JBS’ attempts to list in the country “because of concerns about corruption settlements, accusations of Amazon deforestation and its growing market share in the United States,” The New York Times reported last year.
However, CNBC reported that after President Donald Trump was re-elected last November, Pilgrim’s Pride donated $5 million to his inauguration committee, and the SEC subsequently approved its request to list on the NYSE.
U.S. equities dropped at midday on concerns about the potential of a wider Middle East war after Israel attacked Iran, and Iran retaliated.
Oil prices surged, driving down shares of airlines and cruise lines, but lifting those of energy companies.
Boeing shares fell again after yesterday’s 787 plane crash in India.
U.S. equities slumped at midday on concerns of a possible wider Middle East war after Israel bombed Iran nuclear facilities, and Tehran responded with attack drones. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all were lower.
The fighting sent the price of oil soaring, and fears of higher fuel costs and travel disruptions drove down airline and cruise line stocks. Shares of United Airlines Holdings (UAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Carnival Corporation (CCL), and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) all tumbled.
Adobe (ADBE) shares sank when the software maker didn’t raise its guidance despite strong profit and sales.
Shares of Boeing (BA) fell for a second straight session following the deadly crash of one of its 787 Dreamliners in India.
The jump in oil prices boosted shares of energy companies, including Diamondback Energy (FANG), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), and Halliburton (HAL).
Shares of defense contractors Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Northrop Grumman (NOC) also advanced on the Middle East news.
Gold futures took off as the precious metal is seen as a safe-haven investment, sending shares of Newmont (NEM) and other gold miners higher.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose. The U.S. dollar was up on the euro, pound, and yen. Most major cryptocurrencies were lower.
The states with the cheapest 30-year refinance rates Thursday were New York, California, Florida, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, and Washington. These low-rate states registered refi averages between 6.87% and 6.98%.
Meanwhile, the states with Thursday’s most expensive 30-year refinance rates were West Virginia, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Kentucky, Hawaii, Wyoming, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Montana, and Alaska. These high-rate states registered refi averages between 7.10% and 7.13%.
Mortgage refinance rates vary by the state where they originate. Different lenders operate in different regions, and rates can be influenced by state-level variations in credit score, average loan size, and regulations. Lenders also have varying risk management strategies that influence the rates they offer.
Since rates vary widely across lenders, it’s always smart to shop around for your best mortgage option and compare rates regularly, no matter the type of home loan you seek.
National Mortgage Refinance Rate Averages
Rates for 30-year refinance mortgages have fallen for four days straight, completely reversing last week’s surge. Sliding another 5 basis points, the Thursday average is 7.04%—an improvement vs. the 7.32% May peak that was a 10-month high.
Back in March, however, rates plunged to a 6.71% average—their cheapest 2025 mark. And last September, 30-year refinance rates sank to a two-year low of 6.01%.
The rates we publish won’t compare directly with teaser rates you see advertised online since those rates are cherry-picked as the most attractive vs. the averages you see here. Teaser rates may involve paying points in advance or may be based on a hypothetical borrower with an ultra-high credit score or for a smaller-than-typical loan. The rate you ultimately secure will be based on factors like your credit score, income, and more, so it can vary from the averages you see here.
Calculate monthly payments for different loan scenarios with our Mortgage Calculator.
What Causes Mortgage Rates to Rise or Fall?
Mortgage rates are determined by a complex interaction of macroeconomic and industry factors, such as:
The level and direction of the bond market, especially 10-year Treasury yields
The Federal Reserve’s current monetary policy, especially as it relates to bond buying and funding government-backed mortgages
Competition between mortgage lenders and across loan types
Because any number of these can cause fluctuations simultaneously, it’s generally difficult to attribute any change to any one factor.
Macroeconomic factors kept the mortgage market relatively low for much of 2021. In particular, the Federal Reserve had been buying billions of dollars of bonds in response to the pandemic’s economic pressures. This bond-buying policy is a major influencer of mortgage rates.
But starting in November 2021, the Fed began tapering its bond purchases downward, making sizable monthly reductions until reaching net zero in March 2022.
Between that time and July 2023, the Fed aggressively raised the federal funds rate to fight decades-high inflation. While the fed funds rate can influence mortgage rates, it doesn’t directly do so. In fact, the fed funds rate and mortgage rates can move in opposite directions.
But given the historic speed and magnitude of the Fed’s 2022 and 2023 rate increases—raising the benchmark rate 5.25 percentage points over 16 months—even the indirect influence of the fed funds rate has resulted in a dramatic upward impact on mortgage rates over the last two years.
The Fed maintained the federal funds rate at its peak level for almost 14 months, beginning in July 2023. But in September, the central bank announced a first rate cut of 0.50 percentage points, and then followed that with quarter-point reductions on November and December.
For its third meeting of the new year, however, the Fed opted to hold rates steady—and it’s possible the central bank may not make another rate cut for months. With a total of eight rate-setting meetings scheduled per year, that means we could see multiple rate-hold announcements in 2025.
Refinance rates for 30-year loans dropped another 5 basis points Thursday, falling to a 7.04% average. That’s now a four-day retreat of 16 basis points, which reverses last week’s surge and leaves refi rates notably improved vs. a May peak of 7.32%, which was a 10-month high. Today’s average is the lowest reading we’ve seen since early May.
Given that 30-year refi rates sank as low as 6.71% in March, however, today’s rates remain elevated. The current average is also more than a percentage point above last September’s 6.01%—a two-year low.
Many other refi rates saw declines Thursday. The 15-year and 20-year refinance averages shed 5 and 10 basis points, respectively. Meanwhile, jumbo 30-year refi rates subtracted 7 points.
National Averages of Lenders’ Best Rates – Refinance
Occasionally some rate averages show a much larger than usual change from one day to the next. This can be due to some loan types being less popular among mortgage shoppers, such as the 10-year fixed rate, resulting in the average being based on a small sample size of rate quotes.
Important
The rates we publish won’t compare directly with teaser rates you see advertised online since those rates are cherry-picked as the most attractive vs. the averages you see here. Teaser rates may involve paying points in advance or may be based on a hypothetical borrower with an ultra-high credit score or for a smaller-than-typical loan. The rate you ultimately secure will be based on factors like your credit score, income, and more, so it can vary from the averages you see here.
Since rates vary widely across lenders, it’s always wise to shop around for your best mortgage refinance option and compare rates regularly, no matter the type of home loan you seek.
Calculate monthly payments for different loan scenarios with our Mortgage Calculator.
What Causes Mortgage Rates to Rise or Fall?
Mortgage rates are determined by a complex interaction of macroeconomic and industry factors, such as:
The level and direction of the bond market, especially 10-year Treasury yields
The Federal Reserve’s current monetary policy, especially as it relates to bond buying and funding government-backed mortgages
Competition between mortgage lenders and across loan types
Because any number of these can cause fluctuations at the same time, it’s generally difficult to attribute any single change to any one factor.
Macroeconomic factors kept the mortgage market relatively low for much of 2021. In particular, the Federal Reserve had been buying billions of dollars of bonds in response to the pandemic’s economic pressures. This bond-buying policy is a major influencer of mortgage rates.
But starting in November 2021, the Fed began tapering its bond purchases downward, making sizable reductions each month until reaching net zero in March 2022.
Between that time and July 2023, the Fed aggressively raised the federal funds rate to fight decades-high inflation. While the fed funds rate can influence mortgage rates, it doesn’t directly do so. In fact, the fed funds rate and mortgage rates can move in opposite directions.
But given the historic speed and magnitude of the Fed’s 2022 and 2023 rate increases—raising the benchmark rate 5.25 percentage points over 16 months—even the indirect influence of the fed funds rate has resulted in a dramatic upward impact on mortgage rates over the last two years.
The Fed maintained the federal funds rate at its peak level for almost 14 months, beginning in July 2023. But in September, the central bank announced a first rate cut of 0.50 percentage points, and then followed that with quarter-point reductions in November and December.
For its third meeting of 2025, however, the Fed opted to hold rates steady—and it’s possible the central bank may not make another rate cut for months. At their March 19 meeting, the Fed released its quarterly rate forecast, which showed that, at that time, the central bankers’ median expectation for the rest of the year was just two quarter-point rate cuts. With a total of eight rate-setting meetings scheduled per year, that means we could see multiple rate-hold announcements in 2025.
RH reported a first-quarter profit, surprising analysts who were anticipating a loss. Revenue also exceeded forecasts.
The high-end home furnishings retailer also maintained its full-year guidance despite the expected negative impacts of tariffs.
RH said it was taking steps to offset the tariff effects.
Shares of RH (RH) soared 20% in premarket trading Friday, a day after the high-end home furnishings retailer posted a surprise profit and announced steps to offset the effects of new tariffs.
The company formerly known as Restoration Hardware reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.13, while analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for an adjusted loss of $0.07 per share. Revenue jumped 12% year-over-year to $814.0 million, slightly below estimates.
CEO Gary Friedman wrote in a letter to shareholders that RH was especially pleased with its performance in England and the rest of Europe.
Friedman also said that the company was maintaining its full-year guidance despite “the speculative and uncertain outcome related to tariffs and the macroeconomic environment,” including a weak housing market. Friedman explained that in response, RH was “delaying the launch of the new concept that was planned for the second half of 2025 to the Spring of 2026 when there is more certainty regarding tariffs.” In addition, the company will continue to shift sourcing out of China, and “resourced a significant portion of our upholstered furniture to our own North Carolina factory.”
Friedman noted that because the tariffs have disrupted global shipments and resourcing, it is reducing its revenue outlook by 6 percentage points in the current quarter. However, the company anticipates making that up in the second half of the year. RH sees 2025 revenue up 10% to 13%.
Shares of RH have lost more than half their value this year entering Friday trading.
Merck has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to expand use of its blockbuster drug, Keytruda, to treat head and neck cancers.
Studies found patients taking Keytruda can reduce the risk of head and neck cancer recurrence, progression, or death by 30% compared to current treatments.
Keytruda is Merck’s best-selling drug, generating more than $7 billion in revenue in the first quarter.
Merck (MRK) has received the go-ahead to expand use of its blockbuster cancer drug, Keytruda.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Keytruda’s use for adults with resectable locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose tumors express the protein PD-L1.
The study’s overall principal investigator, Dr. Ravindra Uppaluri, said the approval “represents a potentially significant shift in how we manage this disease.” Dr. Uppaluri added Keytruda “has been shown to reduce the risk of recurrence, progression, or death by 30%, compared with standard of care adjuvant chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy alone.”
Merck noted that it’s estimated that in 2025, there will be approximately 72,680 new cases of head and neck cancer diagnosed, and more than 16,680 deaths from the disease.
Keytruda is the company’s best-selling drug, with first-quarter revenue of $7.2 billion, making up nearly half of its total sales.
Entering Friday trading, shares of Merck were down about 18% year-to-date.
U.S. airline shares are dropping Friday in premarket trading after oil prices spiked and flights were disrupted as attacks on Iran’s nuclear program and military leadership sparked worries of a broader Middle East conflict.
Shares of American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), United Airlines (UAL), Southwest (LUV), Alaska Air Group (ALK), and JetBlue Airways (JBLU) were down between 3% and 5% in premarket trading Friday.
According to reports, several Middle East nations had shut their airspace following the attacks. Among them were Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, and Syria, according to Bloomberg.
According to PYOK, a blog that covers the airline industry, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines “abruptly diverted Tel Aviv-bound flights back to the US on Thursday night” after Israel’s attacks.
As banks deepen their use of AI, blockchain, and other technologies, expectations for innovation are rapidly evolving. Discover the 2025 Global Winners.
Manish Kohli, HSBC
HSBC
HSBC’s 2023 acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank’s UK operations led to the creation of its HSBC Innovation Banking unit, with innovation teams in the US, Israel, and Hong Kong joining a 600-strong UK team.
Since then, innovations have flowed thick and fast, including SemFi by HSBC, which aims to deliver seamless embedded finance solutions to business clients. The bank’s one-stop solution for managing domestic and international payments, Smart Transact, launched last November, makes managing payments more efficient, streamlined, and simpler for businesses of all sizes, particularly those looking to grow internationally. It offers a single point of access to various payment solutions and the flexibility to add services as needed.
Despite its closure after a year for strategic reasons, HSBC’s Zing payments app, which was intended to compete with Wise and Revolut, demonstrates the bank’s willingness to innovate and take risks. The experience likely provided valuable lessons for HSBC.
Sanjay Malhotra, RBI
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
RBI’s Unified Lending Interface (ULI) is a transformative initiative poised to democratize credit access, foster economic growth, and revolutionize India’s financial landscape. Bridging credit gaps and promoting collaboration, ULI aims to enhance financial inclusion, operational efficiency, and transparency, setting a global standard for digital public infrastructure.
Addressing challenges in India’s credit market—where traditional practices exclude marginalized groups due to factors like insufficient credit history and process complexity aggravate the problem—ULI offers a unified digital platform connecting borrowers and lenders. This reduces lending complexities and costs, making credit more readily available. ULI’s collaborative open framework admits a diversity of financial institutions, fostering competition, innovation, and better terms for borrowers. Its integration with other digital infrastructure aims to create an efficient financial ecosystem.
Margaret Harwood Jones, Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered
As a client-centric bank, “we are continuously investing in developing our payments channel and foreign exchange solutions to meet the rapidly changing business environment our clients are operating in,” says Mahesh Kini, global head of Cash Management at Standard Chartered.
New offerings include crypto- and digital-asset custody services available across the EU via Standard Chartered’s new Luxembourg entity. Innovations include Open Banking Marketplace and SC PrismFX, an ESG-linked cash account for corporate clients that ties fees and interest rates to ESG performance.
“APIs play a leading role in driving real-time connectivity between Standard Chartered and our clients across both traditional and digital assets,” says Margaret Harwood-Jones, global head of Financing and Securities Services. “We have recently extended our open banking API solutions to deliver a seamless digital-first experience to our custody FX solutions in multiple restricted currency markets, as well as being a key channel for our clients to access our bank-grade digital-asset custody service to capture the opportunities from this exciting asset class.”
Chandini Jain, Auquan
Auquan
In March, UK-based Auquan launched an industry-first AI agent purpose-built to perform risk monitoring and detection for financial services companies. Beyond merely assisting analysts, Auquan’s AI agents independently execute workflows end-to-end, from data gathering through structured reporting, freeing professionals to focus on high-value work.
Auquan’s Risk Agent autonomously monitors public and private company portfolios for early risk signals across a host of factors and supports potential additions. It aids investment and credit teams in risk management by standardizing tracking, quantifying qualitative data, aggregating sources, prioritizing risks, and adapting to new regulations.
“At Auquan, our mission is to liberate financial professionals from soul-sapping manual tasks and bring meaning back to their work,” states CEO Chandini Jain. “With our Risk Agent, we’re empowering teams to escape the endless cycle of data gathering and monitoring so they can focus on analyzing risks and taking decisive action before problems escalate.”
David Velez, Nubank
Nubank
Brazilian neobank Nubank last October launched NuCel, a mobile phone service providing flexible, commitment-free plans that integrate with Nubank’s existing digital ecosystem. Nubank aims for NuCel to address problems of poor customer service, unexpected price hikes, and difficulties in changing or canceling plans.
Facilitating the launch, Nubank has partnered with Claro Brasil to offer an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) providing 5G connectivity. NuCel customers can manage their plans directly through the Nubank app and access exclusive benefits within the Nu ecosystem, all within a seamless digital experience. NuCel is initially being offered to users who registered their interest at launch, with a gradual expansion to other Nubank customers.
Nubank deepened a push into travel this year as well with a platform that lets users book flights and hotels via crossborder accounts.
Laurent-Olivier Labeis, REGnosys
REGnosys
Sweeping changes to trade reporting rules across six major jurisdictions—the US, the EU, the UK, Japan, Singapore, and Australia—defined the regulatory landscape in 2024, illustrating the intensity of what Laurent-Olivier Labeis, founder and CEO of REGnosys, calls a “compliance marathon.” This year, the race shows no signs of slowing down.
“Over the past 15 years, regulatory reporting has grown increasingly challenging,” says Labeis. “The sheer volume of data requirements, combined with often complex and ambiguous rules and tight implementation timelines, has led to inefficient compliance approaches globally.”
Industry-wide collaboration through open-source technology is becoming pivotal to both keeping pace with regulatory changes and simplifying compliance. In 2024, REGnosys, developer of a cloudbased collaborative platform designed to simplify compliance, introduced Rune, its regulatory reporting language, to the Linux Foundation’s Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS).
“Rune allows firms to define functional reporting logic to derive regulatory attributes from standardized inputs, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and defensibility with regulators,” says Labeis. “REGnosys’ award-winning data-modelling platform, Rosetta, enables this logic to be directly integrated into firms’ IT systems to ensure accurate, automated compliance.”
By pioneering open, standardized reporting solutions, REGnosys is helping redefine how financial institutions tackle regulatory compliance.
James Noone, FinWise Bank
FinWise Bank MoneyRails
FinWise Bank’s 2024 launch of MoneyRails, a payment hub accessible via API, enables fintechs and other businesses to secure deposits and efficiently process high-volume payments. MoneyRails intelligently routes payments through either the TCH RTP or FedNow network, depending on the recipient’s bank, ensuring fast settlement and minimizing delays.
In cases where the receiving institution does not support TCH RTP or FedNow, the platform defaults to ACH processing, guaranteeing that all payments are completed without issue. This fallback system ensures universal payment processing, even with banks not enabled in real-time.
MoneyRails facilitates real-time transaction settlement, eliminating the need for overnight clearing or batch processing. By supporting both TCH RTP and FedNow, FinWise Bank empowers fintechs to offer wider coverage, accommodating institutions on either network.
Wells Fargo Estate Care Center
In 2018, Wells Fargo created its Estate Care Center to help families manage estate settlements. But the bank encountered technical difficulties as its various product divisions, including deposit accounts and investment funds, operated on separate computer systems. To address this, Wells Fargo partnered with Pegasystems, a business-process management firm based near Boston. Pegasystems’ Pega technology connected the Estate Care Center with the bank’s other computer systems.
Wells Fargo utilizes Pega for case management, enabling the bank to monitor customer interactions across different products, which relieves bereaved families from having to repeatedly provide information. Pega also allows the bank to be more proactive at contacting customers to promote estate planning and beneficiary updates.
Wells Fargo is now exploring the potential of AI to serve as a knowledge resource for agents, enhancing their ability to provide empathetic estate care services rather than replacing human interaction.
