Stocks looked set to rise on Friday as solid tech earnings helped reassure investors who were questioning whether the market could keep its recent rally going. The three major indexes all fell on Thursday as tensions flared up in the Strait of Hormuz and International Business Machines and ServiceNow both reported unspectacular earnings, sparking another selloff in software stocks. Oil prices were...
Stocks looked set to rise on Friday as solid tech earnings helped reassure investors who were questioning whether the market could keep its recent rally going. The three major indexes all fell on Thursday as tensions flared up in the Strait of Hormuz and International Business Machines and ServiceNow both reported unspectacular earnings, sparking another selloff in software stocks. Oil prices were barely moving on Friday as President Donald Trump said the cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon would extend another three weeks.
The European Central Bank moved to minimize adoption costs and encourage early coordination among those involved in its digital euro project, part of efforts to get the currency up and running this decade. Agreements with standard-setting organizations CPACE, nexo standards and Berlin Group will help support tap-to-pay payments, connect merchants’ systems with those of payment-service providers an...
The European Central Bank moved to minimize adoption costs and encourage early coordination among those involved in its digital euro project, part of efforts to get the currency up and running this decade. Agreements with standard-setting organizations CPACE, nexo standards and Berlin Group will help support tap-to-pay payments, connect merchants’ systems with those of payment-service providers and facilitate transactions using aliases like mobile phone numbers, the ECB said Friday. “This partnership shows our strong commitment to making sure the digital euro works with existing European standards that the private sector can also use,” ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said. “The open digital euro standards will provide a European free alternative to current proprietary standards, make it easier for new European providers to enter the market and give European payment service providers and merchants the certainty they need to invest, innovate and compete across the euro area,” he said. The ECB plans to roll out a digital version of the euro in 2029, following a pilot phase starting as early as next year. The project is aimed at securing monetary sovereignty amid concerns about Europe’s reliance on US payment firms like Visa and Mastercard, as well as the emergence of dollar-pegged stablecoins. ECB’s Cipollone Not Worried About Delay of Digital Euro Vote ECB Pushes Ahead With Wholesale Central-Bank Digital Currency ECB’s Cipollone Sees ‘Good Momentum’ for Digital Euro Project
Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) recently reported its first-quarter financial results. Despite being a primarily fee-based energy midstream company, it delivered substantial financial outperformance in the quarter, driven in part by the war with Iran. While many hope that the war will only cause a temporary disruption to the global energy market, it could still have a lasting impact by driving more coun...
Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) recently reported its first-quarter financial results. Despite being a primarily fee-based energy midstream company, it delivered substantial financial outperformance in the quarter, driven in part by the war with Iran. While many hope that the war will only cause a temporary disruption to the global energy market, it could still have a lasting impact by driving more countries to secure oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from the U.S. Here's a look at the pipeline company 's strong quarter and what it sees ahead. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
VV Shots/iStock Editorial via Getty Images My last analysis of Alphabet Inc. ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) (check it here ) was at Q4 earnings, and since then the stock dropped a bit but has already recovered and is up about 8%. And now with Q1 approaching (next week, on the 29th), it seems like the best time to revisit Alphabet’s thesis, assessing risks and mainly thinking about whether this valuation of mo...
VV Shots/iStock Editorial via Getty Images My last analysis of Alphabet Inc. ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) (check it here ) was at Q4 earnings, and since then the stock dropped a bit but has already recovered and is up about 8%. And now with Q1 approaching (next week, on the 29th), it seems like the best time to revisit Alphabet’s thesis, assessing risks and mainly thinking about whether this valuation of more than $4 trillion makes sense. To jump to my conclusion, I do think it makes sense, mainly in the long run. Alphabet has truly proven that it deserves this “new” valuation with a certain premium instead of being a stock that trades at a massive discount compared to other big techs, as was the case a few years ago. But at the same time, I am a bit more cautious about what the market may think in the Q1 earnings, since with this volatile environment and a higher valuation level, drawdowns also become somewhat more likely. Alphabet’s Valuation Still Makes Sense In my article “Betting Against Alphabet? You’ll Need A Better Bear Case.” I attached the following table (check the full article here ): Author (Kenio Fontes) Even with recent advancements, I do not think it is a completely impossible scenario, but certainly in the short term this scenario has already become obsolete and unlikely. Search has shown very healthy growth, subscriptions as well, and Cloud delivered an impressive growth. Q4 was excellent, and with all the investments Alphabet is making in infrastructure, this growth should continue for some time. So I improved my outlook for the coming years. As you can see in the table below, I brought Search assumption back to a more moderate scenario, growing 10% in 2026 and declining to mid-single digits. I kept similar expectations for Subscriptions, Network, and YouTube, and for Cloud I increased growth considerably given the scale of investments I mentioned. But as you can see, the multiples (price-to-operating income) are higher than before. This is because now the ...
Repsol SA , BP Plc and slate of other oil firms have been accused of abusing market dominance and anti-competitive practices in a complaint filed by a Spanish wholesaler of refined fuels. Hatta Energy SL alleges that “coordinated corporate behaviors and state actions” are restricting competition in Spain’s hydrocarbon wholesale distribution market, according to a complaint filed at European Commis...
Repsol SA , BP Plc and slate of other oil firms have been accused of abusing market dominance and anti-competitive practices in a complaint filed by a Spanish wholesaler of refined fuels. Hatta Energy SL alleges that “coordinated corporate behaviors and state actions” are restricting competition in Spain’s hydrocarbon wholesale distribution market, according to a complaint filed at European Commission’s competition watchdog seen by Bloomberg. Little known outside the energy industry, Hatta has emerged as a significant player over the past five years to become the fourth largest wholesaler of refined fuels. It has increased revenue to €3.5 billion in 2025 from about €150 million in 2021. The company, which doesn’t own physical assets, imports diesel and, to a lesser degree, gasoline and then sells it to 570 non-branded filling stations, making it the largest independent operator in Spain. Their imported product is kept in storages owned by the national fuel logistics infrastructures operator, Exolum. Hatta says in the claim that the current market framework aims to push it out to enable a “oligopoly” formed by its three largest rivals — Repsol, BP, and Moeve SA. The three companies are named as targets of the complaint, as is Exolum, which operates Spain’s fuel pipeline networks and storage centers, and the Spanish state. Refiner and filling station operator Moeve is owned by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund and by Carlyle Group Inc, while Exolum is owned by several private equities, including CVC Capital Partners Plc and KKR & Co. Inc. In its claim, Hatta says the companies, with government support, are breaching European Union competition rules by creating a “de facto cartel” through regulatory barriers, logistic barriers and denials to supply it with fuel. Representatives for Repsol, Moeve, and BP declined to comment. Representatives for the Spanish budget ministry, under which the tax agency sits, and Exolum did not respond to requests for comment. The claim als...
Global bond markets are heading for their worst week in a month as investors grow increasingly uneasy about a stalemate between the US and Iran. Yields climbed across major markets this week, with those on two-year US, German and UK bonds heading for the biggest weekly increases in a month. Treasury two-year yields have risen 12 basis points since Monday to 3.83%, while UK two-year yields have ris...
Global bond markets are heading for their worst week in a month as investors grow increasingly uneasy about a stalemate between the US and Iran. Yields climbed across major markets this week, with those on two-year US, German and UK bonds heading for the biggest weekly increases in a month. Treasury two-year yields have risen 12 basis points since Monday to 3.83%, while UK two-year yields have risen 30 basis points to 4.42%. Traders are reassessing the outlook for interest rates in the face of renewed tensions in the Middle East. The bond selloff reflects mounting concern that prolonged disruption to energy supplies will keep inflation elevated, hindering the ability for central banks to lower interest rates, and potentially even requiring some to hike. Brent crude prices are on track for their biggest weekly gain since the first week of the conflict. “I do worry that in the coming days the Iranians will really sink their heels in and call Trump’s bluff,” said Ariel Bezalel , investment manager for fixed income at Jupiter Asset Management. “We’re taking some profits and reducing a bit of our rates exposure, as well as our credit risk.” Bezalel says he’s holding more cash than he has done in recent weeks, nervous that wild bond-market swings seen in March will return. Investors have questioned in recent weeks whether central banks would deliver on the aggressive tightening priced by markets, but renewed uncertainty over the Iran war, as well as some stronger data in the UK and US, is making some reluctant to challenge that rates view. Traders added to bets on interest-rate hikes from the European Central Bank this week, pricing 67 basis points of increases this year, up from 50 basis points. For the Bank of England, swaps moved to price 63 basis points of increases, compared to 30 basis points on Monday. Meanwhile in the US, swaps now imply the Federal Reserve is likely to keep policy steady through year-end, having indicated a 50% chance of a quarter-point cut at th...
Intel shares jumped more than 22% in premarket trade on Friday as the chipmaker's robust revenue outlook signaled strong demand for the hardware needed to run advanced AI models. If gains hold through close, the shares are set to hit a record high for the first time since 2000, surpassing their dotcom-era peak. At around $81 per share, the chipmaker's valuation would rise about $75.3 billion.
Intel shares jumped more than 22% in premarket trade on Friday as the chipmaker's robust revenue outlook signaled strong demand for the hardware needed to run advanced AI models. If gains hold through close, the shares are set to hit a record high for the first time since 2000, surpassing their dotcom-era peak. At around $81 per share, the chipmaker's valuation would rise about $75.3 billion.
In this article HYMLF HYMLF VOW3-DE TCEHY TCEHY BABA XPEV NSANF NSANF 6-SZ BYDDF BYDDF Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT A journalist films Xiaomi SU7 Ultra cars during a Xiaomi track day driving experience in Tianjin, in northern China on April 23, 2026, ahead of the Beijing Auto Show which opens on April 24. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP via Getty Images) Greg Baker | Afp | Getty Imag...
In this article HYMLF HYMLF VOW3-DE TCEHY TCEHY BABA XPEV NSANF NSANF 6-SZ BYDDF BYDDF Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT A journalist films Xiaomi SU7 Ultra cars during a Xiaomi track day driving experience in Tianjin, in northern China on April 23, 2026, ahead of the Beijing Auto Show which opens on April 24. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP via Getty Images) Greg Baker | Afp | Getty Images BEIJING — Foreign automakers are finally catching up with their Chinese rivals on technology, as they battle a sales slump in the world's largest car market. U.S., Korean and German automakers rushed to announce a new lineup of models for China around the Beijing auto show that kicked off Friday. "We have plans to really build this brand and return [to] where we used to be in terms of volume and [market] share," Will Stacy, vice president, Cadillac China at General Motors , told CNBC's Eunice Yoon . Cadillac on Wednesday announced its first car with driver-assist technology for China : a three-row "luxury" electric SUV, priced at 468,000 yuan ($68,000) and 508,800 yuan. Called the VISTIQ, the vehicle uses advanced driver assist software that can handle highways and city roads, as well as automatic parking. The tech was co-developed with Chinese autonomous driving startup Momenta. "We've been mostly an ICE [internal combustion engine] brand here in China, and with this vehicle that enables us to enter the game here in China," Stacy said. He said sourcing locally in China allows Cadillac to compete effectively with its local rivals — cutting production time to 18 months — while the brand aims to attract customers with a promise of trust on safety. Hyundai officially launched its all-electric IONIQ brand in China on Friday as the Korean automaker kicks off its most ambitious local expansion to date. "China is where the future of mobility is being defined, and Hyundai intends to help define it, in China, for China, and ultimately, for the world," José Muñoz, president and CE...