On the political front, Trump and Biden take center stage in the Super Tuesday races as they approach their rematch. In turn, the US Supreme Court schedules the hearing on Trump's criminal immunity for April 25.
From an economic point of view, The ECB keeps rates unchanged, but reduces inflation forecast.
In the corporate sector, Exxon enters arbitration regarding Chevron's deal with Hess, while NYCB will receive an investment of more than $1 billion.
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Policy
- In Tuesday's state nominating contests, both US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump scored major victories. November's general election is in full swing, promising to be the longest, most expensive and possibly the most divisive presidential race in recent history. It will be the first presidential rematch in almost 70 years for the country, and will involve a clash of markedly different visions about power, politics and democratic governance in the United States.
- The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for April 25 to review Donald Trump's claim that he is immune from criminal prosecution on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election because he was president at the time. The former president has attempted to postpone the D.C. trial and others he faces until after the general election. If Trump is re-elected, he could try to order the Justice Department to drop federal charges against him. Furthermore, it is the policy of the Department of Justice not to prosecute a sitting president. However, the legal calendar suggests that if the justices issue a ruling by the end of the Supreme Court's term in June and find that Mr. Trump is not immune from prosecution, the trial could still begin in late September or October.
Economy
- The European Central Bank (ECB) kept its key interest rate at a record high level of 4% at its meeting on Thursday, signaling that policymakers need more time to assess whether a historic streak of increases has brought inflation under control. enough to start reducing rates again. However, it reduced its inflation forecast for this year from 2.7% to 2.3%, opening the door to possible rate cuts in the coming months. The ECB's decision to keep rates unchanged follows a similar move by Canada's central bank on Wednesday and is expected to be mirrored by the US Federal Reserve. Investors have recently shifted their bets on when central banks will begin reducing borrowing costs, moving from spring to summer.
Business
- Exxon Mobil has filed for arbitration to protect what it says is its right to block Chevron's bid for a stake in a productive oil project off Guyana, which is one of the biggest oil finds in years. This could jeopardize Chevron's $53 billion deal to acquire Hess. Exxon now owns a 45% stake in the consortium and operates all of its production. If he bought out Hess, he would have 75% of the block. The Chinese company CNOOC owns the remaining 25%. Chevron and Hess have said they believe the duties do not apply as the transaction would involve a merger with the parent company that would keep Hess' Guyana subsidiary intact.
- New York Community Bank (NYCB) will raise more than $1 billion in a deal led by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's investment firm Liberty Strategic Capital in an effort to stabilize a bank that has been hit in recent weeks by possible losses on real estate loans, weaknesses in its internal controls and a sharp decline in its stock price. Concerns about the bank's difficulties have raised fears of another banking crisis after three regional lenders collapsed about a year ago. However, the recent decline in NYCB's share price was not reflected in the regional banking sector as a whole. The KBW Regional Banks Index, which includes NYCB, closed down just 0.4% on Wednesday.
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