Weekly News Summary for April 5-11, 2019

Friday, April 5: Samsung Expects Q1 Operating Profit to Drop 60%

Samsung Electronics is expecting this year’s first quarter to be its weakest as declining memory chip demand and a more intense competition in smartphones hit its margins.

The tech company stated on Friday that it sees first-quarter operating profit falling 60% from the prior year to $5.5 billion, ending below forecasts and setting it on course for its lowest quarterly profit since late 2016.

Monday, April 8: Oil Marks another New High on Libya Crisis

Oil prices reached another fresh high on Monday as growing hostility in OPEC member Libya reinforced fears that the country might be on track to experience new export disruptions.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose to a five-month high of $65.53 per barrel earlier in the session, and stayed at that level after Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said global oil supplies are still above their 5-year average, suggesting a possible extension of the current OPEC output cut deal.

Tuesday, April 9: Alcon Surpasses $28b Market Cap in Stock Agreement                            

Swiss eye-care giant Alcon returned to the public market on Tuesday with a market capitalization worth over $25 billion following a shareholder spin-off from healthcare firm Novartis, the country’s largest stock agreement in 10 years.

Shares of Alcon traded at 57.80 Swiss francs after making a debut of 55 Swiss francs a share, to achieve a market cap of about 28 billion Swiss francs, with investors receiving one Alcon share for every five Novartis shares they own.

Wednesday, April 10: Boeing Faces New Lawsuit over 737 MAX crashes

The fallout from Boeing’s recent troubles over two fatal accidents intensified with shareholders filing a new lawsuit, accusing the aircraft maker of defrauding investors by keeping safety issues in its 737 MAX planes under wraps before the fatal crashes left a great number of their planes grounded worldwide.

The proposed class action filed demands damages for a suspected fraud violations, after Boeing’s market cap dropped by $34 billion within a couple of weeks of the March 10 accident of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX.

Thursday, April 11: China Inflation Improves in March

China saw inflation improved for the first time in nine months in March, as official data showed Thursday that the country’s producer price index climbed 0.4% from the previous year, buoyed by rapid growth in oil and gas prices, and increasing from a 0.1% gain in February.

Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics also showed consumer inflation picking up 2.3% from a year earlier, rising to its highest since October 2018 as pork prices increase due to the worsening epidemic of swine fever.