Asian Stocks Follow US Gains, Yuan Fixing Steady: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks followed gains on Wall Street after better-than-expected US payrolls data on Friday. Oil fell as Israel said it would pull some troops out from Gaza. Benchmark equity indexes advanced in Japan and edged higher in Korea and Australia. Hong Kong equity gauges declined.
China PBOC Buys Gold for 17th Month as Prices Hit Record
(Bloomberg) — China’s central bank purchased gold for its reserves for a 17th straight month in March, extending a buying spree that has helped the precious metal surge to a record. Bullion held by the People’s Bank of China rose 0.2% to 72.74 million troy ounces last month, according to official data released Sunday.
Oil Rally Takes Breather With Israel to Remove Some Gaza Troops
(Bloomberg) — Oil slipped for the first time in five sessions after Israel said it would pull some troops from Gaza, with traders also waiting for a series of market reports this week that will provide a snapshot on supply and demand. Brent futures slid below $90 a barrel after closing at the highest level in more than five months on Friday.
Netanyahu Says Victory Near, Pulls Some Troops From Gaza
(Bloomberg) — Military officials said on Sunday that Israel is pulling some troops out of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, saying it had ended its mission there as the war against Hamas reached the six-month mark. “The 98th Commando Division has concluded its mission in Khan Yunis,” the army said in a statement.
Booming India Prepares to Take China’s Global Growth Crown
(Bloomberg) — China is slowing and Western governments increasingly see it as a rival rather than an economic partner. On its southwestern border, another rising economy is vying to take its place as the world’s next growth driver. India’s stock market is booming, foreign investment is flooding in and governments are lining up to sign new trade.
Japan’s Real Wages Decline Likely to Keep BOJ on Hold for Now
(Bloomberg) — Japanese workers’ real wages fell in February for a 23rd consecutive month after consumer price growth accelerated, exerting a drag on spending, in an outcome that will likely keep the central bank on hold for now. Real cash earnings for workers dropped 1.3% from a year earlier, the labour ministry reported Monday, a steeper decline than in the previous month.
Bond Traders See 4.5% Yields as Next Test as Focus Shifts to CPI
(Bloomberg) — There’s one hope left for bond traders burned by this year’s selloff: a sign that the Federal Reserve is gaining the upper hand in its fight against inflation. The surprisingly strong US economy has driven Treasury yields to the highest since late November as investors dial back bets on interest-rate cuts, wagering that policymakers will be wary of easing policy prematurely.
Credit Suisse Takes Rogue Banker Fight to Singapore’s Top Court
(Bloomberg) — A unit of defunct lender Credit Suisse will seek to overturn an order to pay $743 million to a billionaire client over the actions of a notorious rogue banker at Singapore’s top court on Monday. The sum was awarded after a lower court earlier ruled that the bank’s trust had failed to safeguard Bidzina Ivanishvili’s assets.
Bets Against Yen at Highest in 17 Years as Test of 152 Looms (Bloomberg) — Investors have piled on the most wagers for the yen to fall in 17 years, just as it teeters near a key level that would increase the risk of intervention from Japan. Net yen shorts held by leveraged funds and asset managers rose to 148,388 contracts during the week ending April 2, the highest since January 2007.
David Ellison Closes In on a Hollywood Prize: Paramount Global
(Bloomberg) — David Ellison, movie producer, tennis fanatic and heir to a technology fortune, is on the verge of adding another title: media mogul. Ellison is in negotiations to take charge of Paramount Global, the media giant that owns CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon.
The soaring price of gold will provide a major tailwind to Newmont Corporation’s ASX-listed shares and could more than offset the company’s recent poor trading, analysts at Citi have told their clients as they initiate coverage on the stock.
New York-listed Newmont merged with local gold mining giant Newcrest last year, with the company maintaining a secondary listing on the ASX since that time. It now controls 19 assets including the Cadia mine in NSW and the Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea. Citi analysts-initiated coverage on Newmont this week, forecasting a share price of $69, some 20 per cent higher than where the stock had been trading recently. The stock’s opening months on the exchange have proved difficult, however, with shares down more than 6 per cent since the start of the year. Shares in the company bottomed at around $45 in late February, ahead of the company’s ejection from the S&P/ASX 20 index, but have been trending upwards over the past month.
Finland’s trade unions called an end to four weeks of political strikes that have hampered trade and caused some gas stations to run out of fuel.
The protests will stop on Monday, the Central Organization of Trade Unions SAK said in an emailed statement. The intention is to give room for the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo to offer a solution, SAK said. The popularity of the strikes has waned recently, local media have reported. SAK plans to assess the situation and potentially take decisions on further industrial action April 18, it said.
Enphase shares fall 2% in postmarket trading after saying Chief Commercial Officer David Ranhoff plans to leave, effective June 30.
Ranhoff will transition to a part-time role as adviser, effective July 1; he’s stepping down for personal reasons, the company said. His current role will be fulfilled by two senior vice presidents.
Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Mask announced that the company intends to unveil its long-promised robotaxi later this year, amidst their struggles with weak sales and competition from cheap Chinese EVs.
Tesla shares increased 5.1% in post market trading, while its stock has fallen 34% this year through Friday’s close. The carmaker has revealed that its next-generation vehicle platform will include both a cheaper car and a dedicated robotaxi, with the CEO’s tweet indicating that the robotaxi is taking priority over the cheaper car, while both are designed on the same platform.
Apple Inc. has accepted European Union’s demands to stop preventing music-streaming apps from informing users of deals away from the company’s App Store.
This announcement came after Apple was hit with a €1.8 billion fine from Brussels regulators for its alleged abusive behaviour. The company intends to charge a commission of up to 27% on app sales made on a developers’ webpage, after a user has clicked on an external link from the app and made a purchase within seven days. However, Spotify Technology SA has said that Apple has yet to comply with the commission’s order to let streaming developers communicate freely with its users.
