Today financial markets and stock exchanges are closed, company news and geopolitics
Latest stock market news
• Yesterday the US stock market traded at zero. NVDA was sold again. Insurance PGR was caught in the sell-off. UNH was the leader of the decline. But XLV held up thanks to LLY's 14% growth.
Among the sectors, we note the growth of XLP and XLE.
Today the financial markets are closed - Good Friday before Easter.
• Yesterday, OpenAI released their latest model, GPT-o3, which is now much better at writing code, sometimes outperforming even experienced developers
. xAI added a “memory” feature to Grok.
The chatbot will remember the details of conversations with the user.
• Google introduced Gemma for drug development. The neural network analyzes proteins, molecules, diseases and scientific data to predict the properties of drugs. This speeds up the creation of drugs several times.
In tests, Gemma showed 81.7% accuracy against 64.5% for its predecessors.
• Intel will also have to obtain a license to supply AI chips to China - FT.
• BTC and gold show surprising resilience amid high macroeconomic uncertainty.
The current correction in BTC remains within the typical corrections seen in past cycles - Glassnode review.
The volume of stablecoin transactions exceeded the volume of payments through the Visa system for the first time in 2024, according to Bitwise.
• The US may ban DeepSeek from buying American technology and restrict Americans' access to its services, - NYT.
• Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) shares are stable.
TSMC reports better-than-expected results, but provides a neutral guidance.
- Revenue: $25.77 billion (expected: $25.37 billion)
- EPS: $2.14 (expected: $2.07)
- While the world's largest chipmaker reported a strong quarter, the outlook is clouded by trade tariffs of under 10%, which could rise to 32% if no deal is reached in 90 days, hitting Taiwan and TSMC's key customers Nvidia and AMD. -
The company remains optimistic about future growth thanks to demand for artificial intelligence.
TSMC has denied talk of a merger with Intel (INTC), and says it has no intention of sharing technology.
• "Trump's tightening tariffs on China have exposed an inconvenient truth: Most American drones rely on Chinese components," - Forbes.
• JPMorgan said new U.S. restrictions on Nvidia's (NVDA) chip exports to China will hit the company's revenue by $15 billion to $16 billion this year.
Nvidia (NVDA) plans to modify chips to comply with U.S. export restrictions in an effort to maintain access to the Chinese market.
• After the market collapse due to Trump's tariffs, Santander overtook UBS to become continental Europe's largest bank by market capitalization.
• Bankruptcies in the US continue to rise. In the first quarter of 2025, 188 large companies declared bankruptcy - the highest number in the last 15 years.
• UnitedHealth Group (UNH) reported worse-than-expected results. Shares fell 22%!
- EPS: $7.20 (expected $7.27);
- Revenue: $109.58 billion (expected $111.56 billion).
- The company sharply cut its full-year adjusted EPS forecast to $26-$26.50 from the previous range of $29.50-$30, noting rising expenses and operational challenges.
• SpaceX Takes Lead in Competition (Expected) to Develop Trump Defense Project - Reuters Musk's company is leading a consortium with Anduril and Palantir to try to build a "Golden Dome" missile shield
The company's proposal calls for a satellite constellation of 400 to more than 1,000 satellites, as well as a possible subscription model for the US government.
• Williams (Fed) said tariffs this year would definitely push up inflation and reduce economic growth,
but he noted that it was hard to predict how that would affect future rate policy because the Fed needs to make sure that a one-time price increase does not have a lasting effect.
• Eli Lilly (LLY) shares rose 14%. Its oral GLP-1 receptor agonist orforglyprone met its primary target in a Phase 3 study for type 2 diabetes. The drug showed an average weight loss of 8% at the highest dose, sending shares of rivals Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) lower.
• Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang's visit to China comes amid new U.S. export restrictions on its H20 chips.
Huang discussed new chip designs with Chinese customers, underscoring the importance of the Chinese market for Nvidia.
• Pfizer (PFE) and GSK (GSK) are set to benefit from the CDC's expanded use of RSV vaccines for adults aged 50 to 59 at higher risk,
following a unanimous vote by an advisory committee.
Moderna (MRNA) is also seeking U.S. approval to expand the label of its RSV vaccine.
• American Express (AXP) reported first-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates, thanks to higher net interest income and card fee profits. Despite a decline in network volume, the company maintained its 2025 guidance.
• Blackstone (BX) reports Q1 profit that beats expectations, with record inflows amid market volatility
BX shares rose 0.8%.
• Micron MU is changing its business units to highlight demand for AI data centers.
The new segment, called the “cloud memory business unit,” will focus on products used by hyperscalers as well as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips that help quickly run data-intensive AI tasks. Investors are keeping a close eye on HBM chips because they’re used in conjunction with GPUs for AI, particularly from Nvidia.
• ABB to boost local U.S. manufacturing to reduce tariff impact. U.S. judge rules Google (GOOG) is an illegal online advertising monopoly. GOOGL shares fall 1.4%.
• Netflix (NFLX) shares rise 3% in premarket trading after the company beat expectations and reiterated its 2025 guidance.
Current Fundamental Reviews
• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has arrived in the US - Euractiv. Acting as a mediator between Europe and the US, Meloni is using her friendly relationship with Trump to ease trade tensions and clarify US goals.
• Trump, in an attempt to isolate China, first wants to conclude a trade agreement with Japan, India and South Korea, - The Telegraph.
• Trump's approval ratings are plummeting: the US president has begun to irritate his voters at a record pace, - The Economist.
Now, almost one in five of his 2024 voters disapprove of his approach to inflation and prices. Those who ensured his victory are now turning against him.
• The U.S. could be on the brink of defaulting on its $36.6 trillion debt as early as August unless Congress raises the debt ceiling - Congressional Budget Office.
• The US is keen to sign a trade deal with Britain in the next few weeks - The Daily Telegraph, citing a White House source.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection has collected more than $500 million in revenue from Trump's latest tariffs - CNBC.
In total, Trump's 15 trade orders have raised more than $21 billion since January 20, 2025 - CNBC
• Chinese refiners have cut their U.S. crude imports by 90% and are now buying record volumes of Canadian oil, Bloomberg reports
• India offers US companies looking to leave China the chance to move production to its territory - The Economic Times.
• Are we heading for a hot war with China? The short answer is: I hope not, but I am increasingly concerned about the trends - Admiral and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis in a column for Bloomberg.
• California Governor Gavin Newsom sues Donald Trump over tariffs he imposed - POLITICO.
• Europe wants to take Russia's place in space. The implementation of its strategy is led by the Polish startup Creotech. In April 2025, the Polish company Creotech signed a contract with the European Space Agency to implement the Camila project. Its goal is "to create a constellation of at least three observation satellites, a ground segment, launch satellites and manage the mission." The contract is worth almost €52 million.
• The US State Department has closed its counter-disinformation unit, including Russian disinformation. The GEC at the US State Department was created in 2011 to counter the propaganda of terrorist groups. In 2024, R/FIMI was opened on the basis of the center to counter foreign disinformation campaigns, including from Russia, Iran and China.
• Trump: "The Fed should have cut rates long ago.
Powell is always late and wrong. His firing can't happen soon enough."
• ECB interest rate decision.
- Actual: 2.40% (-0.25%). Forecast: 2.40%. Previous: 2.65%.
The main reason for the decline is growing trade conflicts, especially after Trump's new tariffs.
• US Labor Market and Economic Activity Indicators:
Unemployment Claims = 215K (exp. 225K/pop. 224K).
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (Apr) = -26.4 (exp. 2.2/pop. 12.5).
• Britain has successfully tested a new weapon that can effectively destroy swarms of drones - FT. The "RapidDestroyer", developed by a consortium led by French defence giant Thales, uses high-power radio frequency radiation to remotely disable or destroy drones' electronics.