01 Stock Market
As of Mar 31, U.S. stock index futures performed as follows: Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts all pointed higher, each adding a little over 1%, suggesting investors are tentatively rotating back into risk assets after a bruising week. The synchronized rise across the three benchmarks indicates broad-based bargain hunting, helped by easing Treasury yields and a slightly softer U.S. dollar, both of which support equity valuations heading into the final session of the quarter.
Notable Stock Movers: Merger news dominated the tape. APLS up 138.8% at $40.82 after Biogen’s (BIIB) $5.6 billion takeover announcement, while BIIB down 1.0% at $276.79 as investors weigh deal financing. Cloud heavyweight MSFT up 1.6% at $364.82 on plans for a $1 billion Thai AI investment. Chip bellwether NVDA up 1.5% at $167.65, pacing a rebound in semiconductors, and leveraged fund SOXL up 4.8% at $42.57 amplified the move. EV leader TSLA up 1.0% at $359.02 after a modest pre-quarter-end bounce. Conversely, oil-services driller TE down 17.3% at $8.44 after a deep quarterly loss. The wave of deal headlines and tech-led gains underscores renewed appetite for growth stories despite lingering geopolitical and rate concerns.
02 Other Markets
• 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell 0.81%, to 4.31%.
• U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.25% to 100.25.
• WTI crude oil futures rose 0.05% to 102.93 USD/barrel; COMEX gold futures rose 1.24% to 4,613 USD/ounce.
03 Key News
1. Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis Pharmaceuticals for $5.6 billion, vaulting Apellis shares over 130%. The cash deal grants Biogen two marketed drugs—Syfovre for geographic atrophy and Empaveli for rare blood and kidney diseases—accelerating its diversification as multiple-sclerosis revenue wanes. Investors view the move as a bold bid to reignite growth ahead of intensifying Alzheimer’s competition.
2. Eli Lilly will purchase Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a transaction valued at about $6.3 billion. The acquisition adds experimental treatments for sleep-wake disorders to Lilly’s pipeline, complementing its portfolio of metabolic and obesity therapies. Centessa’s U.S.–listed shares jumped around 50% in pre-market trade as the all-cash offer reflected a substantial premium.
3. Microsoft pledged more than $1 billion to expand cloud and AI infrastructure in Thailand, lifting its stock. The initiative follows meetings between senior Microsoft executives and Thai government officials and includes the construction of new data-center capacity and digital-skills training programs, aiming to capture Southeast Asia’s accelerating demand for generative-AI services.
4. Unilever confirmed advanced talks to merge its food division with spice maker McCormick in a potential $15.7 billion cash-and-stock deal. The proposed structure would hand majority control of the combined group to Unilever shareholders while broadening McCormick’s global reach. McCormick shares climbed nearly 4% pre-bell, whereas Unilever’s U.S. ADRs edged higher.
5. American Exchange Group struck an agreement to acquire all assets and liabilities of footwear brand Allbirds for $39 million. The bargain purchase follows a sharp sales slump at the sustainable-sneaker pioneer. Allbirds’ stock surged more than 20% in pre-market trading as investors welcomed a lifeline that could preserve the label under new ownership.
6. T1 Energy posted a surprise quarterly loss of $0.70 per share, sparking a 17% slide in its stock before the open. Revenue of $359 million missed consensus by roughly 11%, reversing progress shown in prior quarters. Management cited cost overruns and project delays, and said it is reviewing capital spending plans to restore margins.
7. U.S. President Donald Trump signaled willingness to conclude military operations against Iran even without reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The stance, revealed by administration officials, could ease immediate geopolitical risk yet leaves global oil logistics uncertain. Energy-sector traders weighed the prospect of partial de-escalation against longer-term supply disruptions.
8. Ark Invest bought 41,830 shares of cloud-compute specialist CoreWeave, expanding its exposure to Nvidia-aligned AI infrastructure. The roughly $2.9 million purchase underscores Cathie Wood’s conviction in cloud providers optimized for accelerated computing. CoreWeave shares have climbed over 22% year-to-date, outpacing broader tech benchmarks.
9. Reserve Bank of New Zealand signaled a steady policy stance ahead of next week’s meeting, calming regional rate-hike bets. ANZ Research projects no change to the 2.25% cash rate as officials monitor Middle East spillovers. Money markets price only a slim chance of tightening, helping anchor global bond yields in early trade.
10. Google’s Quantum AI unit warned that fewer than 500,000 physical qubits could breach Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptography. A newly released whitepaper suggests quantum attacks might succeed within minutes once a public key is exposed, raising cybersecurity stakes for roughly 6.9 million Bitcoin stored in vulnerable wallets. The findings intensified calls for faster migration to quantum-resistant protocols.
Sources: Reuters, Dow Jones, Tiger Newspress, public market data
Disclaimer: For informational purposes only; not investment advice.
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