- Asian Stocks Nudge Lower Before BOJ Rate Decision: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Asian shares marginally fell before a Bank of Japan policy decision where authorities are likely to bring an end to the world’s last negative rates regime. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index of blue-chip stocks slipped while the broader Topix index swung between gains and losses. - Bank of Japan hikes rates for the first time in 17 years, abolishes yield curve control
Japan’s central bank raised interest rates on Tuesday for the first time since 2007 and abolished its yield control curve policy, ending the world’s last negative rates regime on early signs of robust wage gains this year. The BOJ raised its short-term interest rates to around 0 to 0.1% from -0.1%, according to its statement at the end of its two-day March policy meeting. Japan’s negative rates regime had been in place since 2016. - Apple Is in Talks to Let Google Gemini Power iPhone AI Features
Apple Inc. is in talks to build Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence engine into the iPhone, according to people familiar with the situation, setting the stage for a blockbuster agreement that would shake up the AI industry. The two companies are in active negotiations to let Apple license Gemini, Google’s set of generative AI models, to power some new features coming to the iPhone software this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Apple also recently held discussions with OpenAI and has considered using its model, according to the people. - DocuSign (NASDAQ: DOCU) quickly rose 2.7% amid some activist speculation after an 8-K filing Friday.
DocuSign on Friday disclosed that one executive, Stephen Shute, the company’s president of worldwide field operations, amended a severance/change in control agreement with the company, Deal reporter highlighted in its “morning flash” column on Monday. - Biden Warns Netanyahu Over Rafah Attack; Team to Visit DC
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a major ground operation in Rafah would be a mistake and the two agreed to hold talks in Washington about Israel’s war plans in the coming days. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden asked Netanyahu to send a team of military, intelligence and humanitarian officials to o Washington to discuss Israel’s planning for Rafah and to lay out an alternative approach that would target Hamas and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a full-scale invasion. Sullivan said the meeting could take place by week’s end. - US Two-Year Yield at 2024 High as Goldman Resets Fed Outlook
(Bloomberg) — Two- and five-year Treasury yields climbed to the highest levels this year as swaps traders and economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. forecast fewer Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts. The US two-year yield reached 4.749%, the highest level since Dec. 11, before paring the advance and ending the session little changed. - Trump Rules Out Ramaswamy as Running Mate as He Eyes New Team
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump has ruled out Vivek Ramaswamy as his running mate and is instead eyeing the entrepreneur for a Cabinet job, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Republican presidential nominee sizes up a possible administration. Trump personally told Ramaswamy he won’t be his vice-presidential pick. - ‘Magnificent Seven’ Power AI-Driven Stock Rebound: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Tech giants led gains in stocks at the start of a week that will bring a raft of central-bank decisions from the US to England and Japan. Equities rebounded from a recent pullback, with mega caps outpacing the broader market. Alphabet Inc. jumped as Bloomberg News reported Apple Inc. is in talks to build Google’s Gemini artificial-intelligence engine into the iPhone. - Hedge Funds Sue SEC Over Dealer Registration in Latest Salvo
(Bloomberg) — Hedge funds launched another legal salvo against the Securities and Exchange Commission, this time over new rules requiring some firms to register as dealers in the US Treasuries market. The Managed Funds Association, Alternative Investment Management Association and National Association of Private Fund Managers filed a lawsuit on Monday in federal court. - New York Community Bancorp cut to underperform from market perform at Raymond James, with the broker saying that credit issues are likely to impair earnings for “the next several years.”
Analyst Stephen Moss notes “recent disclosures have had an adverse mix on NYCB’s deposit base that will likely reduce the bank’s earnings power. “The lender’s tangible book value growth will also be “a challenge at best for the next several years”. - Micron Technology shares are up 3.1% on Monday as analysts raised their price targets ahead of the company’s results.
The memory-focused chipmaker is scheduled to report its second-quarter results March 20. Morgan Stanley (underweight, PT to $78 from $74.75): “We expect Micron to report upside around the quarter – but weakening trends in the core business put the onus on AI to carry the stock from here”; The market has a “clear desire to pay higher multiples for AI stories” but “with the backdrop of likely slowing price momentum in the second half, we continue to have conviction that the stock is ahead of itself”. - Boeing slides as much as 2.8%, extending losses after suffering its worst five-day stretch since January last week.
The plane maker is the worst performer on the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Monday as the gauge rises 0.4%. Boeing shares are trading around the lowest intraday level since Oct. 26 and have slumped more than 30% this year as the company faces regulatory and criminal investigations following the midair blowout of a 737 Max fuselage panel on an Alaska Airlines flight in January. - Nvidia Corp joins ongoing race in quantum-computing cloud services which will comprise a data center stacked with AI chips and systems when combined simulate a quantum computer.
Unlike other cloud services, Nvidia’s has no quantum computer attached to it currently, but it will provide access to third-party quantum computers in the future. - Alphabet shares are up 6.4% on Monday after Bloomberg News reported that Apple is in talks to build Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence engine into the iPhone. Apple is up 1.9%.
While the talks remain active, an announcement is unlikely until June, when the iPhone maker plans to hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh: If Apple uses Google Gemini for generative AI inferencing, it “further lowers the risk of any near-term market-share loss for the latter in search”; “Apple’s current deal with Google, which pays $20 billion in traffic-acquisition costs on iOS devices, gives the latter an incumbent advantage over gen-AI-based search competitors — including OpenAI — which rely on Bing for real-time links to web pages”.
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