Trending Market News

Elliott Investment Management announced it has acquired a 'significant' stake in Mitsui OSK Lines, a Japanese shipping company. The activist investor confirmed the investment on Wednesday, verifying earlier reports about the position.

• Elliott described its investment in the Japanese shipping firm as 'significant' though specific stake size was not disclosed
• The announcement confirms earlier reports about Elliott's interest in Mitsui OSK Lines
• This represents Elliott's continued focus on investments in Japanese corporations and the shipping sector

AMD CEO Lisa Su is visiting Samsung Electronics' chip manufacturing facility in Pyeongtaek, South Korea on Wednesday to discuss expanding their partnership beyond memory chips into foundry manufacturing. The visit includes meetings with Samsung's chip division leadership and Chairman Jay Y. Lee. Samsung currently supplies HBM3E memory chips for AMD's AI accelerators, and the companies are exploring broader collaboration in chip production.

• Su will tour Samsung's production lines and meet with chip division chief Jun Young-hyun and Foundry Business head Han Jin-man to discuss foundry manufacturing cooperation
• Samsung has been supplying high-bandwidth memory 3E (HBM3E) chips for AMD's latest AI accelerators since last year, establishing a strong memory chip partnership
• The visit will conclude with a dinner meeting between Su and Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, signaling high-level strategic discussions

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier will temporarily port in Crete after a fire on board injured nearly 200 sailors during the 18th day of U.S. military operations against Iran. The fire broke out in the ship's laundry area, took hours to control, and affected approximately 100 sleeping berths, raising concerns about crew morale after a nine-month deployment.

• Nearly 200 sailors treated for smoke-related injuries and one service member evacuated; the fire impacted 100 sleeping berths but did not damage propulsion systems
• The Ford has been deployed for nine months, including prior operations against Venezuela, raising questions about sailor morale and warship readiness
• The U.S. has struck more than 7,000 targets since operations against Iran began on February 28, with the Ford carrying over 5,000 sailors and 75 military aircraft

Lululemon issued weaker-than-expected guidance for fiscal 2026, projecting sales of $11.35-$11.50 billion versus the $11.52 billion estimate, as the company faces pressure from rising tariffs, a proxy battle with founder Chip Wilson, and declining sales in the Americas. The athleisure retailer beat fourth-quarter expectations but announced plans to reduce promotional activity, which may weigh on near-term sales growth.

• Tariff costs are expected to rise to $220 million net impact in 2026 (up from $213 million in 2025), with gross tariff costs reaching $380 million; the company is not raising prices to offset these expenses
• Americas same-store sales have not grown in approximately two years, with the company projecting a 1-3% decline in 2026, while China sales are expected to grow around 20%
• The company is pulling back on discounting strategy to return to full-price business, while also facing higher expenses from marketing, labor, and costs related to the proxy contest with founder Chip Wilson, who holds an 8% stake

Unilever is considering separating its food assets as part of a business streamlining effort, according to Bloomberg News. The consumer goods maker is exploring options including spinning off most or all of its food businesses, potentially including historic British brands like Marmite, Colman's, and Bovril. Any move is not expected before 2027 and could value the food business at tens of billions of dollars.

• Unilever is consulting with advisers on options ranging from spinning off most or all food businesses to retaining flagship brands while separating others, with no decision expected before 2027
• Food companies face weakening demand as budget-conscious consumers shift to cheaper store brands and GLP-1 weight-loss drugs reduce overall consumption
• The potential deal would be among Unilever's most significant disposals since Fernando Fernandez became CEO in February 2025 with a mandate to accelerate the company's turnaround strategy

The Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady at 3.5%-3.75% at its Wednesday meeting, with markets pricing in near-zero chance of cuts until at least September. The Fed faces conflicting economic signals including Middle East conflict concerns, potential recession fears, and mixed labor market data, while navigating political pressure from President Trump who has been calling for rate cuts.

• Markets now expect only one rate cut in 2026, likely in September or October, a significant shift from earlier expectations of a June cut and multiple reductions this year
• Fed officials are expected to maintain their economic projections with minimal changes, emphasizing uncertainty from Middle East conflict while staying above their 2% inflation target for multiple years
• Political complications surround the Fed as Trump's nominee to replace Powell is being blocked by Sen. Tillis due to an ongoing Justice Department case against Powell over Fed headquarters renovation

Zara has announced a two-year partnership with renowned designer John Galliano, who will 're-author' the retailer's archives into seasonal collections starting September. The collaboration aims to elevate Zara's design credentials as parent company Inditex seeks to accelerate growth after Zara sales increased just 1% to 28.051 billion euros in fiscal 2025.

• Galliano, 65, will deconstruct and reconfigure garments from Zara's past seasons, with his first collection launching in September
• The partnership comes as Zara's growth has slowed, with sales rising only 1% year-over-year to 28.051 billion euros in fiscal 2025, though still outpacing rival H&M
• Galliano brings significant industry credibility, having served 14 years as Dior's creative director and a decade at Maison Margiela

Microsoft announced a reorganization of its Copilot AI assistant teams, merging its commercial and consumer product divisions under unified leadership. Jacob Andreou, corporate vice president of Product and Growth at Microsoft AI, will lead the combined Copilot efforts. The restructuring aims to improve the AI assistant product and accelerate adoption across both customer segments.

• Jacob Andreou will lead unified Copilot efforts across both consumer and commercial segments after serving as corporate VP of Product and Growth at Microsoft AI since last year
• The reorganization reflects Microsoft's urgency to enhance its AI assistant capabilities and drive better market adoption
• The merger consolidates previously separate commercial and consumer Copilot teams into a single organizational structure

A federal judge certified a class action lawsuit against Boeing by investors who claim the company concealed safety deficiencies in its 737 MAX planes prior to two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. The ruling allows investors to collectively pursue damages rather than file individual lawsuits, potentially increasing recoveries while reducing costs.

• The class action stems from crashes that killed 189 people in a Lion Air incident (October 2018) and 157 people in an Ethiopian Airlines crash (March 2019)
• Boeing previously paid over $2.5 billion in January 2021 to settle a U.S. Department of Justice criminal charge for conspiring to defraud the FAA about the 737 MAX's safety
• The class period ends when the market learned that Boeing's chief technical pilot expressed concern in 2016 that an automated system on the plane was 'running rampant'

Mastercard announced its acquisition of BVNK, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure startup, for up to $1.8 billion in its largest crypto deal to date. The deal, which includes $300 million in performance-contingent payments, is expected to close this year and positions Mastercard to connect traditional payment systems with blockchain-based networks supporting stablecoins and tokenized deposits.

• BVNK was founded in 2021 and recently valued at approximately $750 million, operating across 130+ countries on all major blockchain networks
• The acquisition enables Mastercard to integrate traditional payment rails with emerging blockchain systems as digital currency adoption grows
• The deal reflects increased crypto M&A activity following President Trump's reelection in late 2024, which brought more crypto-friendly regulation

London's Court of Appeal granted Visa and Mastercard permission to challenge a prior ruling that found their default multilateral interchange fees charged to retailers violated European competition law. The original judgment, issued by the Competition Appeal Tribunal in lawsuits brought by hundreds of merchants, marked the first time these specific fees were found to breach antitrust rules. Both payment networks argue the fees play an important role in the digital payments ecosystem.

• The Competition Appeal Tribunal previously ruled that Visa and Mastercard's commercial card and inter-regional multilateral interchange fees infringed competition law in cases brought by hundreds of merchants
• This was the first time these specific types of interchange fees had been found to violate competition law
• Both companies defend the fees as providing benefits to consumers, businesses, and banks, while merchant lawyers expressed confidence in resisting the appeal

Uber will invest $500 million in Argentina over the next three years, according to Economy Minister Luis Caputo. The announcement was made following a meeting between Caputo, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, and Argentina's country manager. This represents a significant foreign investment commitment to the South American nation.

• The $500 million investment will be deployed over a three-year period in Argentina
• Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced the commitment after what he described as an 'excellent' meeting with Uber's CEO and local leadership
• The investment signals Uber's continued expansion plans in Latin America's third-largest economy

Boeing's CFO announced that the company's commercial airplanes division expects flat or possibly positive margins in the current year, marking a potential turnaround after significant losses. The division lost $632 million in 2025 and $2.1 billion in 2024, making this forecast a sign of improving financial health.

• Boeing's commercial airplanes division recorded losses of $632 million in 2025 and $2.1 billion in 2024
• CFO Jay Malave projected flat or positive margins for the division in the current year at the Bank of America Global Industrials Conference
• The positive margin outlook would represent a significant operational improvement and potential return to profitability for Boeing's key commercial unit

OpenAI has signed a deal with Amazon's cloud unit to provide AI services to U.S. defense and government agencies for both classified and unclassified work, according to The Information. The partnership enables federal agencies to access OpenAI's AI models through Amazon's cloud infrastructure.

• The deal allows U.S. defense and government agencies to access OpenAI's AI technology via Amazon's cloud services
• Services will support both classified and unclassified government work
• The partnership represents OpenAI's expansion into the government and defense sector through Amazon's established cloud infrastructure

Pfizer announced that its experimental drug atirmociclib, combined with hormone therapy fulvestrant, reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 40% in breast cancer patients whose disease had spread after prior treatment. The mid-stage study focused on patients whose cancer returned soon after treatment with CDK4/6 drugs, a particularly difficult-to-treat group. The results support plans to expand testing to earlier disease stages and first-line treatment settings.

• More than 90% of patients began atirmociclib within three months of stopping their previous cancer treatment, demonstrating rapid treatment initiation
• The drug showed a manageable safety profile with only 6.4% of patients discontinuing treatment due to side effects
• A large late-stage study testing atirmociclib in newly diagnosed metastatic breast cancer patients is already underway, with overall survival data from the current study still too early for conclusions

Medical device maker Stryker successfully contained a cyberattack that caused widespread disruption to its business operations. The attack impacted Windows-based devices including cellphones and laptops that could connect to company platforms. The company, which operates in 61 countries with 56,000 employees, is now focused on restoring customer-facing systems for ordering and shipping.

• The cyberattack affected staff devices running Microsoft Windows operating system that connected to Stryker's computer platforms
• No patient-related services or connected medical products were impacted by the incident
• Stryker did not disclose financial impact details and is coordinating with authorities and external cybersecurity experts for investigation

Delta Air Lines is maintaining its first-quarter guidance despite a $400 million fuel cost hit related to the Iran war. CEO Ed Bastian cited exceptionally strong travel demand, particularly from premium and corporate customers, which is offsetting higher fuel costs and weather-related disruptions. The airline expects to meet its original earnings guidance of 50 to 90 cents per share.

• Delta absorbed a $400 million fuel cost increase in Q4 due to the Iran conflict but is maintaining Q1 2026 EPS guidance of 50-90 cents through higher revenue growth
• The airline recorded eight of its top 10 sales days in history during the quarter, with five occurring in the last two weeks, and bookings are up 25% year-over-year
• Revenue strength is driven by higher-spending leisure travelers and corporate customers who continue to travel despite geopolitical tensions

Amazon is launching one-hour and three-hour delivery services across parts of the U.S., with three-hour delivery available in about 2,000 cities and one-hour delivery in hundreds of locations. The expansion marks Amazon's latest effort to accelerate shipping speeds beyond same-day delivery as competition intensifies from retailers like Walmart and quick-commerce services. Over 90,000 products including household essentials, clothing, and toys are eligible for the ultrafast delivery options.

• Prime members pay $4.99 for three-hour delivery and $9.99 for one-hour delivery, while non-Prime members pay $14.99 and $19.99 respectively
• Amazon has previously experimented with various ultrafast delivery programs, shutting down its standalone fast delivery service in 2021 and discontinuing a mall-retailer delivery service in 2024
• Competitors including Walmart (three-hour delivery to 95% of U.S. households), Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats are increasingly competing on delivery speed

U.S. officials are drafting settlement agreements to pay French oil major TotalEnergies approximately $1 billion due to the cancellation of federal water leases for wind farm projects off New York State and North Carolina. The New York Times reported this development on March 17, though Reuters could not immediately verify the information.

• The $1 billion settlement would compensate TotalEnergies for cancelled offshore wind farm leases in federal waters
• The affected projects were located off the coasts of New York State and North Carolina
• The settlement represents a significant financial obligation for the U.S. government related to renewable energy project cancellations

Treasury yields rose on Tuesday as investors assessed escalating Middle East tensions, surging oil prices, and prepared for the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy decision. The 10-year yield climbed more than 2 basis points to 4.239%, while the 30-year bond yield added almost 3 basis points to 4.887%. Geopolitical uncertainty and oil market disruptions are driving market volatility ahead of Wednesday's Fed meeting conclusion.

• Oil prices surged over 3%, with Brent crude rising 3.43% to $103.65 per barrel and U.S. crude up 3.85% to $97.08 per barrel, driven by Iranian attacks on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz causing one of the largest global oil supply disruptions in history
• President Trump indicated uncertainty about his planned March trip to China with Xi Jinping, requesting a delay of 'a month or so' due to ongoing tensions with Iran
• The Federal Reserve's second policy meeting of 2026 is set to conclude Wednesday, with investors closely monitoring the decision amid heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty