Elon Musk’s two-year-old xAI startup has bought the Musk-owned X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, for $45 billion in stock.
Category: 1 April 2025
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SPOTLIGHT: TRUMP’S TRADE WAR
The European Union (EU) is preparing a list of concessions to offer Donald Trump in exchange for easing or lifting tariffs on vehicles and other items that are already in effect and scheduled to rise on 2 April.
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TOP TREND 2024, A GOLDEN YEAR FOR GOLD: INDIA’S INVESTORS FLOCK TO GOLD AS STOCK MARKET TANKS
India’s investors are shifting their portfolios toward exchange-traded funds (ETFs) focused on gold as the country’s equity market has crashed. (See “Trillion-Dollar Sell-Off Hits India’s Stock Markets,” 18 Mar 2025.)
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FOREIGN INVESTORS ARE RETURNING TO CHINESE STOCKS
China’s sudden emergence as a global player in artificial intelligence, combined with Beijing’s easier hand of regulation, is drawing foreign investors back to Chinese equities.
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IRAN CALLS TRUMP’S BOMBING THREAT A ‘SHOCKING AFFRONT’ TO PEACE, VOWS TO RESPOND TO ANY STRIKES
The top Iranian diplomat responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb the country if it does not agree to end its nuclear program, and said his comments were a “shocking affront” to global security and any strikes against Tehran would draw a significant response.
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ISRAEL’S KNESSET VOTES ON BILL THAT STRIPS POWER FROM THE COURTS
Israel’s Knesset last week delivered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu another victory after it passed a bill that strips independence from the country’s court system and grants more power to politicians, in what has been called a “judicial coup” for the embattled leader.
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GAZA DEATH TOLL
Israeli forces continue to carry out new attacks across Gaza and enforce a complete humanitarian blockade.
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INFLATION RISES TO 2.8 PERCENT IN FEBRUARY
The core Personal Consumption Expenditures Index, the inflation measure the U.S. Federal Reserve watches most closely, rose to 2.8 percent in February compared to 2.4 percent in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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CANADA’S GROWTH OUTLOOK DARKENS
Canada’s economy will grow at an annualized rate of just 0.7 percent in this year’s second quarter, according to Bloomberg’s poll of 34 economists. In February, the same poll foresaw growth at 1.7 percent.
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ECB SHOULD THINK ABOUT PAUSING RATE CUTS, BELGIAN CENTRAL BANKER SAYS
The European Central Bank (ECB) should consider not reducing its key interest rate again at its meeting this month, Pierre Wunsch, the governor of Belgium’s central bank and a member of the ECB’s rate-setting committee, said last week.
