- Asian Stocks Fall as Iran Attacks, Metals Rally: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Shares in Asia slipped to the lowest in six weeks, tracking Friday’s drop in US equities, as markets grappled with simmering tensions in the Middle East, disappointing bank earnings and the prospect of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates higher for longer. - Oil Shrugs Off Iranian Assault on Israel as Brent Turns Lower
(Bloomberg) — Oil shrugged off Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel, with prices easing on speculation that the conflict would remain contained. Global benchmark Brent crude initially rose just 0.7% to $91.05 a barrel, before dropping toward $90. More than 300 missiles and drones were fired by Iran at the weekend, the first time it has struck Israel from its soil, though most were intercepted. - Metals Spike on LME After Russian Supply Hit by US, UK Sanctions
(Bloomberg) — Aluminium and nickel surged on the London Metal Exchange as traders responded to new US and UK sanctions that banned deliveries of any Russian supplies produced after midnight on Friday. The new restrictions, aimed at curbing President Vladimir Putin’s ability to fund his military, inject major uncertainties into metals markets that have already been reshaped in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. - Goldman Says Gold in ‘Unshakeable Bull Market’ as Outlook Raised
(Bloomberg) — Gold is in an “unshakeable bull market,” according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which raised its year-end forecast for the precious metal to $2,700/oz. The majority of gains seen mid-2022 have been driven by emerging-market central-bank purchases, as well as Asian retail buying, analysts including Nicholas Snowdon said in a note. In addition, with interest rate cuts due from the Federal Reserve. - Big Take: Iran Attack Sparks Race to Avert a Full-Blown War
(Bloomberg) — The huge salvo of missiles and drones launched from the arid plains of Iran toward Israel was the kind of direct conflict between the Middle East powers that the world had long feared would mark the explosion of a full-blown regional war. But behind the unprecedented nature of the attack was a dance of diplomatic signaling that allowed both sides to claim success, raising the risk of a broader conflict without making it a certainty. - Trump’s NY Criminal Trial to Mark Milestone in American Politics
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump is poised to become the first former US president to face a criminal trial, a watershed moment for American democracy as the Republican nominee fights a divisive battle to retake the White House. The New York trial starting Monday over the alleged falsification of business records to conceal a sex scandal during Trump’s 2016 campaign is one of four criminal cases against the former president, but it’s the only one set to go to trial before his November rematch against President Joe Biden. - Rate Chokehold on World Economy Is Set to Loosen Only Slowly
(Bloomberg) — The high tide for global interest rates has passed, but respite for the world economy may be limited as policymakers stay wary at the threat of inflation. That’s the dominant theme this year prevailing across 23 major central banks tracked by Bloomberg. - Apollo’s Asia Expansion Has Lured in $35 Billion From Region
(Bloomberg) — Apollo Global Management Inc.’s revamp of its Asia business is starting to pay off: It’s raised $35 billion from the region since the start of 2022 to bolster expansion. Under head of Asia-Pacific Matthew Michelini — the person chief executive officer Marc Rowan picked to reshape Apollo’s presence in the region. - Investment Plans for Japan’s Insurers Will Likely Favor JGBs
(Bloomberg) — Japan’s life insurers are likely to buy more domestic sovereign bonds this year after the end of negative interest rates in the country. The companies will lay out their investment plans for the new fiscal year starting this month. Global investors pay close attention to the plans of life insurers, which have combined assets of $2.6 trillion. - Trump Endorses a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate Candidate He Once Condemned
SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. — Former President Donald Trump backed former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick on Saturday in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, after excoriating him two years earlier. “I am officially giving my endorsement to David McCormick tonight,” Trump told the crowd. “He wants to run a good ship. He’s a smart guy who was a very successful guy. - Buyout Giant CVC Seeking More Than €1 Billion in Amsterdam IPO
(Bloomberg) — CVC Capital Partners is set to revive plans for an initial public offering in Amsterdam and may seek to raise between about €1 billion ($1.1 billion) and €1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially paving the way for other private equity firms to go public. - Shares of Wells Fargo dipped 0.4% as the bank also missed estimates for net interest income in the first quarter, with the $12.2 billion in NII for quarter falling 8.3% from a year earlier.
The bank attributed the decline in NII to the impact of higher interest rates on funding costs, including customers moving their money to higher-yielding accounts, as well as lower loan balances. Overall revenue for the bank beat estimates on the back of an increase in investment advisory fees and brokerage commissions. - Shares of BlackRock fell 2.9%. The asset manager reported total net inflows that came in below expectations.
BlackRock’s long-term investment funds took in $76 billion of net inflows in the first quarter, helping to push the world’s largest money manager to a record $10.5 trillion of client assets. The inflows included $67 billion to ETFs and $42 billion to fixed-income funds. However, the net inflows missed the $85 billion average estimate of analysts. “We see significant growth potential in infrastructure, technology, retirement and whole portfolio solutions, with a strong pipeline that has some of the best breadth that we’ve ever seen,” Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said. - Coupang shares rose 11.5% on Friday, its biggest intraday gain since August 2023, after the Korean e-commerce firm said it will raise the monthly fee for its “Wow” membership for new clients, starting from Saturday.
Membership fee for new clients will be raised to 7,890 won per month from 4,990 won, company said. New fee will be applied to existing clients from August. Morgan Stanley analyst Seyon Park (overweight) says the price change could boost annualized Ebitda by $360m, assuming no change to Coupang’s membership base reported at end-2023. That could drive a 10% upside to the broker’s 2024 Ebitda estimate, the analyst says. - Zoetis fell 7.8% after a Wall Street Journal report on side effects from the company’s drugs for arthritis in animals.
Health regulators in the US and Europe are conducting reviews of the firm’s drugs Librela and Solensia after having received “thousands of reports of side effects,” the Journal reported. “Zoetis says the medicines are safe, with reports of side effects representing well less than 1% of the more than 18 million shots of both drugs combined administered to date in the US and abroad”. Bank of America analyst Michael Ryskin says the safety concerns around the drugs have been widely known in the investment community in the last few months. “We don’t see anything materially incremental in this report, and remain constructive on ZTS, particularly after the recent selloff in shares”. Maintains buy rating, PT $205. - While JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. topped Wall Street estimates for earnings per share, stocks of all three megabanks fell into the red.
After outperforming the sector and the broader equity market for at least a year, JPMorgan led losses among the big-bank stocks with a drop of 6.5%. Citigroup fell 1.7% and Wells Fargo dipped 0.4%. - US Regional Banks Dramatically Step-Up Loans to Oil and Gas
(Bloomberg) — A group of US regional banks is ratcheting up lending to oil, gas and coal clients, grabbing market share as bigger European rivals back away. The list of banks includes Citizens Financial Group Inc., BOK Financial Corp. and Truist Securities Inc., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. - Salesforce Said to Eye Informatica to Boost Data Capabilities
(Bloomberg) — Salesforce Inc.’s Marc Benioff is pursuing what would be one of the company’s biggest-ever deals after fending of activist’s investors critical of his reliance on acquisitions. This time Benioff is targeting Informatica Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would add to Salesforce’s data integration and management capabilities.
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