Review of financial news and analytics from markets and exchanges

- Wheat prices in the US have fallen sharply due to a glut of cheap grain from the Black Sea and Europe in the global market, and large corn harvests around the world are affecting the entire commodity grain market.

- The Netherlands is closing a large gas field. The Dutch Senate has decided to permanently close the Groningen gas field. Previously, the government promised to do this due to the risk of earthquakes in the province of Groningen.

- Oil prices fell noticeably yesterday. US oil inventories have risen for the fourth week in a row. Analysts also fear a weakening of the global economy, including China. And the Middle East is still alarmingly calm.

- The Shell and ExxonMobil concerns, which manage the field operator in Groningen on a parity basis, appealed to the arbitration court demanding compensation. Gas production there was stopped in 2023, but 11 wells were kept open in case of a harsh winter.

- Apple is considering the possibility of producing gadgets in Indonesia. This was stated by Apple CEO Tim Cook after a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Higher interest rates in the United States make life more difficult for many countries.
The US fiscal policy of sometimes unreasonably strengthening the dollar to limit the effects of inflationary processes leads to a significant rise in the cost of living in other countries. This conclusion is made by IMF Tax Director Vitor Gaspar in a commentary to Bloomberg.

- PowerSchool Holdings (PWSC) shares are on track for their biggest one-day drop in eight months, down 10%.
Spruce Point Capital Management LLC said it is betting against the company because it sees significant potential for the stock to fall.

- ASML Holding shares fell 7% after the report. The company fell short of analysts' expectations as Taiwanese and South Korean chipmakers refrained from buying the Dutch firm's cutting-edge machines.

- Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) plans to lay off 5% of its staff. Shares fell 1.6% yesterday.

- SNAP shares rose 5% yesterday. TikTok could be banned by Congress, which would benefit SNAP, META, GOOG.

- The most used fiat currency in the crypto space in 1Q 2024... South Korean won. Displacing USD into second place. Cryptocurrency trading volumes in South Korea surpassed domestic stock trading volumes in March.

- Oracle (ORCL) plans to invest more than $8 billion in Japan. Over the next decade to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure.

- Micron (MU) will receive $6.1 billion from the US federal authorities to build chip factories in New York and Idaho.
MU shares are up 2% in premarket trading.

- Equifax (EFX) shares are down 10% in premarket trading. The company, one of the three largest companies that evaluates borrowers' creditworthiness for lenders, issued the weak forecast as the housing market stalled due to high home prices and interest rates.

- Alcoa (AA) shares are up 3% in premarket trading. Good report.

- CSX shares are up 3% in premarket trading. The good reaction to the report offset a 2% drop in the stock exchange session.

- Las Vegas Sands (LVS) shares are down 3% in premarket trading. Weak reaction to the casino and resort operator's report.

- Google is laying off more employees and moving some jobs abroad as part of ongoing cost cutting.
Last year, the company laid off 6% of its workforce (about 12 thousand people). For now, the 2024 cuts are expected to be smaller.

- Duolingo (DUOL) shares are up 6.6% in premarket trading. The company will be included in the S&P MidCap 400 index.

- Shares of Trump's company DJT rose 16% yesterday. And in the premarket they are growing by another 3%. An extremely speculative bet, essentially, on Trump's presidential chances.

- Largest stocks yesterday after
ASML reports -7%
ABT -3%
​​PLD -7%
USB -4%
TRV -7%

- Blackstone, DR Horton, Elevance Health, Genuine Parts, Intuitive Surgical, KeyCorp, Marsh & McLennan, Netflix, Snap-On and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will report today.