It’s been a busy day trading as traders digest the latest news from across the globe. Here’s a summary of the major news from across the markets today:
Markets Tumble on China Covid Fears
Markets across the globe tumbled today as fears grew that China would introduce stricter lockdowns as covid cases in the country continue to climb. The FTSE fell by 141 points (-1.9%) to close at 7,381, although it had been lower at one point in the day.
US markets also experienced a tough morning, with the S&P 500 down by over 40 points at 4231 and the Dow Jones also down 228 points. In Europe the DAX was down 218 points and the CAC fell 132 points.
There are concerns that as covid cases spread in Beijing, China will stick to its zero-covid policy and impose harsh lockdowns, reducing oil demand and further disrupting supply chains.
Musk Nears Twitter Takeover
Reports suggest that Elon Musk is close to securing a takeover of Twitter (TWTR), with the board apparently entering into negotiations yesterday. The Telsa CEO has submitted a $43bn offer for the social media company, which was initially resisted by the board but reports suggest they are now entering into negotiations with the billionaire entrepreneur.
Twitter’s stock was up on the news, at 51.62 (+5.5%). Other major tech stocks were having a mixed day, with Apple (AAPL) down 0.53%, Netflix down 3.29% whilst Google (GOOGL) was up 2%.
Crypto Slides
There were small losses seen on the crypto markets as Bitcoin (BTC) fell -0.30% to $39,547 whilst Ethereum dipped very slightly -0.02% to $2,940. That means the world’s two largest cryptocurrencies are both down by more than 2% over the last seven days.
Meme token Dogecoin rose 15% meanwhile to $0.1528, perhaps spurred on by the news regarding Elon Musk, who is a big fan of the cryptocurrency.
Gold Falls towards $1900
Gold saw a hefty fall towards $1900, down 1.61% to $1901, dropping in line with other commodities which saw a drop on the day.
Oil Tumbles
Oil was one of the most significantly affected of those commodities, being hammered by the China demand concerns. US Crude was down -5% to $96.96 in early trading, whilst Brent Crude was down 5.5% to $100.70.
The Week Ahead
It’s a huge week of earnings reports in the tech sector with Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Paypal all due to report earnings this week. Stay tuned for the latest news on all developments in the markets.
* Please note all figures are correct at the time of writing. Data collected from third-party sources. Nothing in this market update is intended as advice or recommendations and is for information purposes only.
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