Commodities
Nasdaq: the red Snap signal is lit before the rally

Major U.S. stock indices closed on the third consecutive day of growth, but today this rally has a chance to break.
Although the capitalization of Snap (owner of the social network Snapchat) reached only $27 billion yesterday afternoon, after falling more than 5 times, the company has already twice brought down the stocks of corporations valued at hundreds of billions and even trillions of dollars. In May, the collapse was triggered by the announcement that Snap would not meet its revenue and earnings targets. Now the reason was the Q2 report, published after the end of the main trading session.
It was worse than even the downwardly revised forecasts. The loss per share was 2 cents, not one. Revenue fell to $1.11 billion versus an expected $1.14 billion.
Shares of Snap, along with other battered tech stocks, were among the leaders yesterday, adding 5.42% at the close. But within minutes of the report, they collapsed 27.83% on the post-market.
Snap attributed the results to weakening demand on its online advertising platform. It cited a tougher economy, an iOS update in 2021, and increased competition. The company said that even quite healthy businesses have been cutting back on its operations because of cost pressures from inflation. At the same time, it said it wasn’t giving third-quarter forecasts because it’s incredibly difficult to forecast right now.
The market habitually extrapolated this situation to other companies, as it did in May. In particular, this led to a drop in shares of Alphabet, which has a capitalization of more than $1.5 trillion, by almost 3%. Shares of other technological giants also plummeted.
Meanwhile, Thursday was the third straight day of gains for major U.S. indices. The S&P 500 rose 0.99%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.51% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.36%. Some analysts were already expressing hope that the “bottom” of the market had passed. But the latest events make it doubtful.
In many respects, growth was connected with cases when the statements exceeded downward revised forecasts. But gradually their weight is diminishing. According to Refinitiv, on Tuesday, of the 48 S&P 500 companies that reported earnings, 89.2% exceeded forecasts. On Wednesday, after 60 reports, they were 78.3%. And yesterday morning, when 91 companies already reported, that share dropped to 78%.
Some disappointments turn out to be very noticeable, although they are not always related specifically to the Q2 results. For example, AT&T stock fell 7.6% yesterday after its annual cash flow forecast fell – the 3-month results beat expectations. Shares of American Airlines fell 7.4% due to an anticipated slowdown in growth. Carnival lost more than 11% after it announced it had placed an additional share issue. United Airlines, on the other hand, fell just below expectations, with its stock plummeting by more than 10%.
Nevertheless, the market was generally up yesterday. Today, it’s going to be more difficult. Snap isn’t the only one with bad surprises after the close of the main trading session.
Shares of toy maker Mattel fell 2.8% as it said its earnings were hurt by a sharp rise in the dollar. Capital One Financial lost 4.9% after disappointing results. Intuitive Surgical shares plummeted 12.6% for a similar reason. And Boston Beer also lost 8.4% due to a decline in its annual outlook.
At the same time, the impact of Snap on the quotes of other companies on Thursday evening expanded like circles on water. Social networks were falling. For example, Pinterest stock was losing more than 7 percent. Advertising and related technology companies were selling off. In particular, Trade Desk stock was down about 7%.
A lot of other companies, from Apple and Microsoft to Walmart and Target, also rode this wave, albeit not as badly (down within a percent). Futures on major U.S. indices went into the red zone. So Friday does not promise to be an easy day. But Twitter is just reporting today, and whether the fall will accelerate or slow down may be determined by this very company.
Commodities
Analysts at U.S. bank Goldman Sachs revised its forecast on oil prices

Analysts at U.S. bank Goldman Sachs, one of the most optimistic forecasts about the cost of oil, changed its earlier forecast about the growth of oil prices to $100 in the next 12 months, Bloomberg said.
Now analysts predict that Brent crude oil will reach $94 per barrel in the next 12 months and $97 per barrel in the second half of 2024, the publication said.
The bank said oil prices have fallen despite rising demand in China, given pressure on the banking sector, recession fears and investor withdrawal.
“Historically, after such traumatic events, price adjustments and recoveries are only gradual,” the bank notes.
This week, the situation surrounding Swiss bank Credit Suisse triggered panic in the markets as oil plummeted to a 15-month low and Brent crude fell 12% to below $73 a barrel.
After the price decline, the bank expects OPEC producers to increase production only in the third quarter of 2024, contrary to Goldman’s forecast that it will happen in the second half of 2023. Analysts at the bank believe a barrel of Brent blend will reach $94 in the next 12 months and trade at $97 in the second half of 2024.
Bloomberg reported that the largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, announced higher April oil prices for markets in Asia and Europe.
Earlier, we reported that Iraq and OPEC advocated for guarantees of no fluctuations in oil prices.
Commodities
Iraq and OPEC stood up for guarantees of no fluctuations in oil prices

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani and OPEC Secretary General Haysam al-Ghajs said coordination between oil-exporting countries is necessary to ensure that oil prices do not fluctuate in the market. the Iraqi government said in a statement on its website following the OPEC Secretary General’s visit to Baghdad.
“Oil-exporting countries need to coordinate their actions to avoid fluctuations in oil prices and their impact on both exporting and consuming countries,” the statement said.
Iraq is a founding member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Also, Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said Sunday that the country intends to maintain the rate of oil production cuts of 220,000 barrels a day in line with its quota under the latest OPEC+ alliance agreement.
“We have committed some oil companies operating in the south to cut production to meet the agreed upon OPEC+ rates,” he said.
We previously reported that the price of Brent dropped below $75 per barrel for the first time in more than a year.
Commodities
The price of Brent dropped below $75 per barrel for the first time in more than a year

The price of Brent dropped. Contracts for Brent crude oil to be delivered in May 2023 dipped below $75 per barrel in trading on March 15, Intercontinental Exchange data shows. Below that mark, the price fell for the first time in more than a year – since December 2021. At its lowest price, Brent was $74.04 per barrel, $3.41 (4.4%) less than at the close of trading on March 14 ($77.45 per barrel).
Brent is falling fast for the third day in a row. The price of fuel has fallen by $8.74 per barrel (10.56%) for three trading days: On March 10 trading ended at $82.78 per barrel, and on the weekend of March 11-12, the exchange was closed.
The turmoil affects the price of oil in the banking sector. Collapse of shares of Swiss bank Credit Suisse on the background of its problems and the refusal of the largest investor to inject new money worried world markets and overshadowed hopes for a recovery in oil demand in China, wrote Reuters. Also, three banks in the U.S. have gone bankrupt or closed since early March, including Silicon Valley Bank, which was the nation’s 16th-largest. It became the largest collapsed bank in the U.S. since the 2008 financial crisis. Investors fear a new crisis: The risk of a U.S. recession has intensified amid bank problems, Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, told Bloomberg.
A statement from the Saudi National Bank, which owns 9.9 percent of Credit Suisse, that it could not make new investments put an end to signs that Credit Suisse had just begun to stabilize, Reuters noted. “Fears of contagion [of the entire banking system] are gaining ground. As a result, the dollar is strengthening and securities are weakening – bad signs for oil,” said Tamas Varga, an analyst at oil brokerage PVM. “Credit Suisse and broader concerns about banks are negatively affecting sentiment. The outlook has suddenly become highly uncertain, and that’s hitting oil prices in the near-term,” said Craig Erlam, market analyst at brokerage OANDA.
The price of U.S. WTI crude fell below $69 a barrel: that hasn’t happened since late 2021 either, Bloomberg noted. The International Energy Agency also took a pessimistic stance in its monthly report and predicted that global oil supply will “comfortably” exceed demand in the first half of 2023, the agency wrote. There are growing concerns that more than 10 years of “easy money” with a sharp increase in key rates at the end “will not end well,” Bjarne Schildrup, senior natural resources analyst at SEB AB, told Bloomberg.
Earlier we reported that oil prices accelerated their fall, continuing the trend from the beginning of the week.
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