Weekly News Summary For April 19-25, 2019

Friday, April 19: Nintendo Stock Rises after Switch’s China Approval

Shares of Nintendo were up 14% on Friday after Tencent Holdings received a green light to start selling the video game maker’s portable Switch console in China.

Authorities in the Chinese province of Guangdong granted Tencent preliminary approval to distribute the gaming console as well as Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers franchise, although analysts cautioned that there are still regulatory matters to deal with and that Switch would not be available right away.

Monday, April 22: Oil Up as US Reportedly Plans to End Iran Waivers

Oil prices registered more than 2% gains on Monday, driven by reports about the US possibly preparing to end waivers that permit some countries to buy Iranian oil despite sanctions.

US West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 2.3% to $65.55 per barrel, while Brent oil futures climbed 2.5% to $73.78 per barrel.

Tuesday, April 23: European Banks Sharply Drop on Coeure Comments

Some of the major European banks sharply fell more than 1% after hopes for further assistance in the financial sector eased on comments from European Central Bank board member Benoit Coeure.

The ECB board member stated that he saw no monetary policy argument for establishing a tiered deposit rate, which would excuse banks from paying a 0.40% annual charge on a portion of their excess money.

Wednesday, April 24: Boeing 737 Max Issues Results in 21% Profit Drop

Boeing on Wednesday reported a 21% drop in earnings for the first three months of the year, weighed by the issues that left its 737 Max aircraft grounded in several airlines.

The plane giant said both revenue and profit declined compared to a year earlier, adding that it plans to put share buybacks on hold and withdraw its current guidance to issue a new guidance at a future date as it deals with the uncertainty surrounding the return to service of its 737 Max fleet.

Thursday, April 25: Asian Stocks Drop on Weaker German, Korean Data

Asian stocks dropped to 3-week lows on Thursday as the unexpected weakness in German and South Korean economic reports rekindled concerns over decelerating global growth.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were down 0.7%, while Japan’s Nikkei closed the session with a gain of 0.4%, whereas European shares are expected to have a slightly better start, with futures up by 0.15%-0.25%.