During 2024, crude oil prices have surged 16.00%. The surge in the energy commodity price has recently been argued as a reason for the returning inflation in the United States. Moreover, due to the surge not relenting, more inflation is expected by market analysts.
Markets were expecting United Airlines to suffer major financial losses in the first quarter of 2024. However, the company has lost only a total of $200 million. The news have caused a surge of the company's stock price.
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell commented this week that progress in battling inflation has not continued and there could be no rate cuts during 2024. These news boosted a decline of stock indices.
On April 20, the next halving of Bitcoin is set to occur. The markets look forward to the event as the prior halvings in 2012, 2016 and 2020 were followed by massive rallies.
Chinese government has reported that the quarterly gross domestic product of the country has increased by 5.3%, compared to the first quarter of 2023.
This week, Goldman Sachs reported higher than expected quarterly earnings, as investment banking profits have resulted in the bank making most since 2021.
Due to a boost from new trends in sneakers, Adidas stock price has experienced major profits. The firm has revealed that it has beaten its quarterly financial expectations. These news have caused a 8.00% surge of the company's share price.
The US government has granted Lockheed Martin a $17 billion contract to create next generation interceptor aircraft that could defend the country against intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The US drug makers Regeneron has announced that it intends to fight against the US Department of Justice's claims that the company has misreported average sales prices of its drugs.
The European Union banks have lobbied EU law makers to have the EU banking sector designated as a strategic sector. Bankers have pitched that their competitiveness is set to impact the political block's future.
The Chinese city Zhengzhou has requested state owned companies to buy housing in the second-hand market to reduce oversupply of new real estate.
Analyst consensus forecast for the quarterly earnings of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is that the company will reveal a 5.00% surge in quarterly profits.
Reuters has reported that the US consumer goods producer Procter & Gamble could have experienced a decline in demand, as the firm has continued to rise prices and consumers have reduced their spending on the products.
The Biden administration is set to grant $6.4 billion to Samsung for the firm to expand its factories in Texas. United States have been recently subsidizing chip makers that produce in the country.
German airline Lufthansa has stated that it has made concessions to receive an approval from the EU authorities to acquire ITA Airways.
The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reported that is investigating reports of brake assist loss on more than 3,300 Cadillac Lyriq cars.
The publication Electrek has reported that Tesla is set to fire more than 10.00% of the company's workforce in an optimization reform. This would amount to a firing of more than 14,000 people.
The United States Internal Revenue Service has announced that it has surpassed its goals in assisting taxpayers and reducing phone waiting times. Previously, the agency has been scrutinized for being outdated in its processing of US tax collection.
Reuters has reported that Tesla has been scouting India for locations for its showroom locations, as the company intends to expand in India's market.
The People's Bank of China has kept its policy rate unchanged. However, despite unchanged rate the central bank appears to have tightened monetary supply by using bond instruments.
In the first quarter of 2024, the Chinese GDP growth is expected to have declined due to an ongoing real estate market downturn.
The recent and still ongoing surge of the US Dollar has been attributed to the markets changing their expectations for US monetary policy. As new data continues to confirm a return of inflation, US monetary policy is expected to return to tightening instead of easing.
Reuters has reported that Chinese and Russian firms have been marking new copper and other metals as scrap metal to avoid taxation and sanctions set on such exports.
At the start of the week, the financial markets were watching the Middle East, as a response from Israel to the weekend attack was expected to impact commodity prices.