Microsoft Stock Drops Below Key Levels as Risk Pressure Builds

Just a month ago, it looked like the stock market could look forward to two or even three interest rate cuts this year. Such cuts almost always boost share prices. Today, however, the futures market sees a 78% chance that the Federal Reserve will make zero cuts in 2026. Worse, the idea is beginning to creep up that the Fed's next policy move will be a rate hike, not a cut. Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack recently said she thinks a rate hike is possible this year. "I could see where we might need to raise rates if inflation stays persistently above our target," Hammack said in an interview with The Associated Press this month. She's not the only Fed official to see it that way. Last month, Austan Goolsbee, president of the Chicago Fed, said that "rate increases have to be on the table" if inflation ticks up in the coming months. And a recent release of minutes of the Fed's January meeting show that 19 Fed officials on the rate-setting committee wanted the Fed's statement to reflect the possibility of rate hikes. Continue reading

Jannik Sinner drops a set at an ATP Masters event for the first time in 186 days but he reaches the Monte Carlo quarter-finals.

In trading on Thursday, the John Hancock Disciplined Value Select ETF is outperforming other ETFs, up about 3.1% on the day. Components of that ETF showing particular strength include shares of Marvell Technology, up about 4.9% and shares of AMAZON.COM up about 4.8% on the day.

Oracle Corporation Introduces Fusion Agentic Applications for Finance and Supply Chain marketscreener.com

伊朗外交部发言人巴加埃当地时间9日在记者会上表示，在黎巴嫩实现停火是巴基斯坦提出的关于停火谈判的谅解方案的重要组成部分，美国承诺停止所有战线的战争，任何违背这一承诺的行动或立场都等同于美国未能履行其承诺。他同时强调，今天，伊朗和黎巴嫩人民之间的团结比历史上任何时期都更加深厚。巴加埃没有正面回应关于与美国开展谈判的地点和时间的问题，仅表示伊方将在谈判代表团的行程确定后公布代表团的成员名单。（央视新闻）

RHJ/iStock via Getty Images First Majestic Silver ( AG ) said Thursday its Q1 production totaled 3.5M oz of silver, 34,341 oz of gold, 15.4M lbs of zinc, 8.7M lbs of lead, and nearly 263K lbs of copper across its four underground mines in Mexico. Q1 silver production fell 4% Y/Y, which the company attributed to lower head grades milled, reflecting a reduced cutoff grade in response to stronger metal prices, and gold output slipped 6% to 34,341 oz, primarily due to lower gold grades milled. The company pointed to significant improvement at the La Encantada mine in Mexico, with silver production increasing 48% Y/Y, driven by higher grades mined from the Ojuelas zone and improved ore flow from management initiatives and a new mine development contractor. First Majestic ( AG ) also said it began a restart plan for its Jerritt Canyon mine in Nevada, targeting production in H2 2027; the restart follows expanded mineral resource estimates and successful drilling results over the past two years. "Q1 production is tracking well against our 2026 guidance, with all operations performing at or above plan, positioning First Majestic favorably in the current metal price environment," CEO Keith Neumeyer said. More on First Majestic Silver First Majestic Silver: Down From Highs, And I'm Finally Buying First Majestic Silver: Leverage On Silver Works Both Ways (Double Downgrade) First Majestic Silver Q4 2025 Earnings Call Presentation

Oracle Corporation Introduces Fusion Agentic Applications for HR marketscreener.com

The Board of Directors of McCormick declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share on its common stocks, payable April 27, 2026, to shareholders of record April 20, 2026. This is the 102nd year of consecutive dividend payments by the Company. AGNC Investment announced today

This might be one of the most underrated AI stocks in 2026.

Key PointsThere is a widening disconnect between growth in AI spending and lower share prices.

Stocks extended their rebound Thursday, adding to Wednesday's explosive gains, on continued optimism that a fragile two-week ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran will hold. Yet many on Wall Street are warning that this two-day relief rally may fade. Long-time market watcher Ed Yardeni, who started working on Wall Street in the 1970s, told clients in a report out Thursday that while the war-induced bottom is in for stocks, that doesn't mean any future recover will come in a straight line. "At the start of this year, we expected the stock market to be choppy in the first half, though we didn't anticipate the war," the president of Yardeni Research wrote. "It is likely to remain choppy until ships can sail freely through" the Strait of Hormuz, he said. That turbulence was evident Thursday, when stocks initially traded lower as West Texas Intermediate crude oil one point jumped above $100 a barrel, only to erase those losses and pushed higher at midday. All the major market averages soared Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing nearly 3% in its best day since April 2025, as the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire. .DJI mountain 2026-04-07 Dow Jones Industrial Average since the ceasefire "Just as we've aimed not to overreact during sharp market downdrafts, we intend to do the same on strong up days," Keith Lerner, chief investment officer at Truist Wealth, wrote in a note on Wednesday. "While we continue to see upside, the path higher is likely to remain choppy, given this is a ceasefire rather than a full agreement." Lerner still expects the market direction to be driven by headlines, adding to volatility. Piper Sandler's chief market technician Craig Johnson shares a similar view. The market hasn't gotten an all-clear signal to rally yet, despite Wednesday's gains. In fact, Johnson recommended on Thursday that investors fade the rally. "Intermediate-term breadth and trends remain defensive and need more time to recover," he wrote. "...

Chip stocks are headed for new highs as measured by the which is up 1.44% to 8,633.44 today. The index is on pace to close at its second record high in a row, and today marks its seventh straight trading day of gains. “My sense is machines and quants drove much of yesterday’s rally with a risk-on rotation vs real active managers rushing to buy” just one day after the Iran cease-fire was announced, he added.

In trading on Thursday, apparel stores shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 2.5%. Leading the group were shares of Caleres, up about 9.9% and shares of Tilly's up about 7.5% on the day. Also showing relative strength are railroads shares, up on the day by about

In trading on Thursday, application software shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 2.3%. Helping drag down the group were shares of CloudFlare, off about 11.8% and shares of Qualys down about 10.4% on the day. Also lagging the market Thursday are information

The post The Lithium Gold Rush Just Minted a $1B Unicorn by Benzinga Contributors appeared first on Benzinga . Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this. General Motors already invested. Now, you have the chance to join them as an early-stage shareholder. Demand for lithium is fueling a modern-day gold rush. The industries that define our modern world, like AI, robotics, EVs, and energy, all depend on lithium. In fact, Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella believes that the AI race will be won based on energy costs, not on who has the best models. That’s why lithium demand is projected to grow a staggering 5X by 2040. That growth is an opportunity for investors. As Elon Musk bluntly put it, “Do you like minting money? Well, the lithium business is for you.”* One company translated this demand into substantial valuation growth since 2018, officially reaching the $1B unicorn territory last year. Meet EnergyX . They have developed patented technology that can recover up to 3X more lithium than traditional methods. That breakthrough has already earned them over $150M in investments, including strategic investment and partnership from General Motors and POSCO, and a $5M U.S. Department of Energy grant. *Prices displayed have been adjusted to reflect the stock splits. Now, EnergyX is at a pivotal transition stage, moving beyond proving the technology and into commercial-scale deployment, just as global lithium demand accelerates. After commissioning the largest lithium facility of its kind in Texas this year, they’re preparing for a share price increase after April 16 . Here’s why investors are paying attention ahead of the deadline: $1.1B/yr revenue potential from 100k+ acres of Chilean land at projected market prices. Goldman Sachs is engaged as a financial advisor on the Chilean project. Nearly 50k gross acres of land secured for production in Arkansas and Texas An LOI for a $690M federal loan from EXIM Bank to help support large-scale builds is on the table. Project L...

Muse Spark was competitive with models from OpenAI, Google and Anthropic in language, but lagged in coding Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Meta on Wednesday unveiled Muse Spark, the first artificial intelligence model from a costly team it assembled last year to catch up with rivals in the AI race. US tech companies are under pressure to prove their huge AI outlays will pay off. The stakes are especially high for Meta after it hired Alex Wang, Scale AI CEO, last year in a $14.3bn deal and offered some engineers pay packages of hundreds of millions of dollars to staff a new “superintelligence” team, an attempt to propel itself back into the AI world’s top ranks after a disappointing showing with its Llama 4 models early last year. Superintelligence refers to AI machines that could outthink humans. Muse Spark is the first in a new series of models, known internally as Avocado, from that team. Continue reading...

The latest tally of analyst opinions from the major brokerage houses shows that among the components of the S&P 500 index, Trimble is now the #1 analyst pick, moving up by 1 spot. This rank is formed by averaging the analyst opinions for each component from each bro

Brighterdaysahead set for chasing ranks after success Irish trainer has quintet ready for Saturday’s big prize Gordon Elliott opened the Grand National meeting with a 15-1 Grade One double on Thursday ahead of his five-strong challenge for the Grand National on Saturday, when a fourth success in the world’s most famous steeplechase would give the trainer a share of the all-time record. The highlight of Elliott’s afternoon was a two-and-a-quarter length defeat of Dan Skelton’s The New Lion in the Aintree Hurdle, a result which confirmed the form of the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham last month, when the pair finished second and third. It was also a second course-and-distance success for Brighterdaysahead, who has yet to register a win at Cheltenham in three attempts. Continue reading...

Key PointsBitcoin's price closed the month of March above where it started.

美国软件股周四大幅下挫，此前人工智能公司安特罗皮克（Anthropic）发布最新动态后，市场对 AI 技术进步带来颠覆性冲击的担忧重新抬头。 今年以来，投资者纷纷抛售该板块股票，原因是担心能够自动化执行人类工作的 AI 工具，可能对软件行业构成生存性威胁。标普 500 软件与服务指数年内已累计下跌 25.5%，其中周四单日下跌 2.6%。 周三市场对美伊停火的乐观情绪提振了整体风险偏好，相关担忧暂时被搁置。但随着停火协议显现脆弱性，市场忧虑迅速卷土重来。 盈透证券首席市场分析师史蒂夫・索斯尼克表示：“此前源于人工智能和私募信贷、针对软件行业的特有担忧，正重新回到市场焦点。” 本周早些时候，安特罗皮克推出了一款性能强大的 AI 模型，但因担心其可能暴露潜在网络安全漏洞，并未广泛发布。 仅有包括 微软 、 谷歌 在内的约 40 家科技巨头，能够获准使用该公司名为 “克劳德・米索斯”（Claude Mythos）的模型。 琼斯交易首席市场策略师迈克尔・奥罗克表示：“如果米索斯模型真的如此强大，能够暴露存在多年的漏洞，这一方面说明当前市面软件的脆弱性，另一方面也表明，相比传统软件企业，人工智能仍在以惊人速度迭代进步。” 增长前景遭遇围攻 这一轮下跌凸显出，随着人工智能颠覆软件行业，华尔街曾经最受追捧的交易板块如今已沦为棘手难题。 锐信投资组合经理迈克尔・克拉菲尔德称：“人工智能是否会宣告软件行业的终结，仍是一个悬而未决的问题。鉴于 AI 拥有前所未有的活力与发展速度，我们并不妄称拥有答案。” 网络安全企业 Cloudflare、奥克塔（Okta）、克劳德 Strike（ CrowdStrike ）和 SentinelOne 跌幅在 4.9% 至 6.5% 之间。 Zscaler 是周四标普 500 指数中跌幅最大的个股之一，下跌 8.8%。此前券商 BTIG 将其评级从 “买入” 下调至 “持有”，理由是对需求及潜在竞争感到担忧。 伦敦证券交易所集团数据显示，该公司当前市盈率为未来 12 个月预期盈利的 31.4 倍，接近历史区间低位，而年初时这一估值倍数为 55.4 倍。 企业软件开发商 Atlassian、人力资源软件服务商 Workday 、Photoshop 制作商奥多比（ Adobe ）、企业云服务商 赛富时 （ Salesforce ）以及报税软件开发商 Int...

Intel announced an expanded partnership with Google Thursday, adding to a string of recent deals.

GOP Blocks Congressional Democrats Attempt At Iran War Powers Vote (Update 1245ET) : House Republicans thwarted Democrats’ attempt to unanimously restrict President Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran, declining to recognize the lawmaker who sought to offer it during a pro forma session Thursday. As Bloomberg reports, the forced-adoption attempt was destined to fail, but it previewed Democrats’ focus on rebuking the war in Iran when the chamber returns to session next week . Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) asked for unanimous consent to advance the Iran war powers resolution during a pro forma, or ceremonial, session held during the congressional recess. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who was presiding, didn’t acknowledge Ivey to speak. Democrats can try to force a full House vote on the resolution next week when lawmakers return to Washington. At least two of the four members of their party who opposed a similar resolution a month ago have said they plan to support it now. * * * As Nathan Worcester detailed earlier via The Epoch Times , Congressional Democrats will try to place guardrails on the Iran war when the floor is briefly open during a two-week break for Easter. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) speaks during a press conferece on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 9, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) detailed his intentions in an April 8 letter to colleagues. During an April 9 session that would normally be a formality, Democrats will seek to advance a War Powers Resolution on Iran through unanimous consent. It’s a maneuver that House Republicans can easily block. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also announced that the Senate would take a vote on a War Powers Resolution related to Iran. “ The War Powers Act will cease hostilities and require the administration to get an AUMF before going to war after the hostilities cease ,” Schumer said of the proposal. The Democrats’ calls to pursue votes for...