Weekly news summary for April 15 to April 21
Friday, Apr. 15: Thoma Bravo May Be Working On a Bid for Twitter
Thoma Bravo LP was reportedly working on a potential bid to acquire Twitter Inc., an offer that may surpass Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk’s $43-billion proposal.
A spokesperson for the US private equity firm declined to comment, while sources familiar with the matter said it was still unclear how much Thoma Bravo’s acquisition bid would be, and it was uncertain that there would be an offer that could counter Musk’s.
Monday, Apr. 18: China GDP Improves in Q1 but Lockdowns Dim Outlook
China’s economy grew faster than anticipated in the first quarter, although the recent COVID-19 outbreak risks curbing the country’s growth in the coming months, with consumer activity starting to weaken on widespread lockdowns.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that China’s gross domestic product (GDP) was up 4.8% in the January-March period and 1.3% on a quarterly basis, beating expectations for a 4.4% surge, while retail sales slipped 3.5% last month as lockdowns weighed on consumer purchases.
Tuesday, Apr. 19: Dollar Hits New High on Fed, BOJ Policy Divergence
The US dollar rose on Tuesday, hitting a 20-year high against the Japanese yen as the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, which is focused on curbing surging inflation, moved further away from the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) ultra-low interest rates.
The greenback climbed to 128.97 yen, its highest since May 2002, and has posted a 5.9% gain so far this month, putting it on course for the biggest monthly percentage increase since 2016.
Wednesday, Apr. 20: Netflix Drops After Subscriber Loss in Q1
Shares of Netflix Inc. were down nearly 40% on Wednesday to shed about $50 billion in its market value and were on track for their worst session in over a decade after the US streaming giant saw a drop in subscriber growth in the first quarter of 2022.
Netflix said its number of subscribers in the first three months fell by 200,000 from the fourth quarter, as it became tough to increase membership in many markets, adding that it expected global subscribers to decline to two million in the current quarter.
Thursday, Apr. 21: Oil Steady on Russia, Libya Supply Decline
Oil prices were steady on Thursday as investors focused on supply disruptions driven by the European Union’s (EU) possible prohibition of Russian oil purchases and Libya’s over 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) output loss due to shutdowns at major fields and export terminals.
Brent crude futures rose 1.29% to $108.18 per barrel and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures soared 1.22% to $103.42 per barrel, while China’s oil demand outlook added pressure as it gradually eases strict COVID-19 limits that weakened manufacturing activity and global supply chains.
