- Roller-coaster first quarter ends with shares, dollar under pressure (Reuters)
- Oil prices slide as U.S. crude stocks hit record (Reuters)
- GE Files to End Fed Oversight After Shrinking GE Capital (WSJ)
- FDA Eases Rules for Abortion Pill, Making Access Simpler (BBG)
- Kremlin denies report of Russia-U.S. deal on Assad’s future (Reuters)
- Thirst for Gasoline Fuels Oil Rally (WSJ)
- Landlords in last-minute rush to beat stamp duty rises (BBG)
- CEO of SunEdison’s Spinoffs Leaves (WSJ)
- Zuma Counts on ANC Protection After Court Says He Violated Law (BBG)
- Hong Kong Retail Sales Plunge the Most in 17 Years (BBG)
- U.K. Economy Shows More Momentum; Current-Account Gap Widens (BBG)
- Hong Kong Appeal Tribunal Fines Moody’s $1.4 Million for Report (BBG)
- Bank of Japan runs groupthink risk as board dissenters depart (Reuters)
- Distorted Markets: Why Banks Are Better Off Than You Think, And Real Estate Isn’t (WSJ)
- Twitter Insiders Pitched Standalone Messaging App Idea (ReCode)
- Why a Chatbot Creeped Out Microsoft’s AI-Focused CEO (BBG)
- Students clash with police at protests against French labour reform (AFP)
- U.S. May Let Govts, Banks Use USD for Business With Iran (AFP)
- German Unemployment Unchanged as Refugees Bolster Labor Force (BBG)
- China set to deploy world’s longest-range nuclear missile (FT)
- BlackRock Is Said to Plan About 400 Job Cuts as Growth Slows (BBG)
- The Investor Who’s Betting on Brazil’s Corruption Scandal (BBG)
- Wage Surge in Hot U.S. Labor Markets Sending Hopeful Sign to Fed (BBG)
- Deutsche Bank Says CIB Head Urwin May Be Worth More Than Cryan (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– Argentina’s Senate early Thursday approved a plan to end a long-running legal dispute with U.S. hedge funds, handing President Mauricio Macri his first big victory in a Congress dominated by the opposition.(http://goo.gl/1iXUTa)
– Google has been repeatedly ordered to help federal agents open cellphones, according to court records in seven states that show Apple Inc isn’t the only company facing government demands at the center of a fierce debate over privacy and security. (http://goo.gl/DWQDCN)
– Cara Operations Ltd is in the final stages of negotiations to acquire Quebec-based restaurant chain Groupe St-Hubert for about 500 million Canadian dollars ($384.59 million), according to a person familiar with the deal. (http://goo.gl/TXtRil)
– A jury found a General Motors Co ignition switch installed in a car “unreasonably dangerous” but stopped short of awarding damages in a case arising from litigation consolidated in a New York federal court. (http://goo.gl/07Dsu6)
– Telecom Italia SpA said Wednesday it has appointed Flavio Cattaneo, currently chief executive of train operator NTV SpA-Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, as the new CEO of Italy’s largest telecommunications operator. (http://goo.gl/TKW9tj)
FT
* Britain’s biggest lenders are set to replace passwords, pin numbers and lengthy branch visits by new technology in the manner of video meetings and voice-recognition to meet demand for faster banking services. (http://bit.ly/1Rz04PB)
* David Cameron has flown home from the Canary Islands after his Easter holiday to find himself in the midst of the critical steel industrial crisis that threatens up to 40,000 British workers’ livelihoods. (http://bit.ly/1Rz0BB9)
*Tata Steel Ltd’s board signalled that after nine years, several billion pounds of investment and consistent heavy losses, it was putting up its British steel operations for sale.(http://bit.ly/1Rz0Tru)
*In the past decade, burial costs have risen sharply while state subsidies have failed to keep up – making Britain risk a fall back into a system of “miserable pauper’s funerals”. (http://bit.ly/1RyZGka)
NYT
– Opponents of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul won an important battle on Wednesday as a federal judge here stripped the “too big to fail” label from the insurance company MetLife Ltd. (http://nyti.ms/1onsjrY)
– General Motors Co won a second consecutive case in litigation over its defective ignition switches, when a New York jury found that a faulty switch was not responsible for a 2014 accident that injured two people. (http://nyti.ms/22QBJ2g)
– Foxconn Technology Co Ltd said it had struck a deal to acquire control of the Japanese screen maker Sharp Corp for $3.5 billion, after weeks of negotiations. (http://nyti.ms/1MCTdaQ)
– Prime Minister David Cameron faced a new economic and political challenge on Wednesday after Tata Steel Ltd said it could no longer swallow the large losses being generated by its plants and would try to sell them. (http://nyti.ms/1ont1Wo)
– Offering a billion-dollar tax cut and assurances that New York City would not be stuck with a $250 million Medicaid bill, Governor Andrew Cuomo inched closer on Wednesday to presenting an on-time budget with one major issue seemingly standing in his way – an increase in the minimum wage. (http://nyti.ms/1MCTP0i)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The aftershocks of the commodities price collapse, already plucking C$1,800 a year out of Canadians’ pockets, could persist for more than two years and permanently impair the economy, according to the Bank of Canada. (http://bit.ly/1PHh6J2)
** As Dollarama Inc prepares to raise its top prices to C$4 from C$3 amid steeper purchasing costs, the retailer has found new meaning in the lowly toothpick. (http://bit.ly/1SAGYL8)
NATIONAL POST
** Five oil-producing economies are on the verge of collapse if oil prices do not stabilize soon, according to RBC Capital Markets. (http://bit.ly/1RLZd0h)
** Kinross Gold Corp finally has a workable development plan for its long-troubled Tasiast mine. The Toronto-based miner greenlighted the first phase of a two-step expansion plan at Tasiast on Wednesday. (http://bit.ly/1ZMMv4c)
** Jeff Melanson, CEO of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, has resigned – mired in a messy courtroom battle with his estranged wife, Eleanor McCain, that involves sordid allegations of deception and sexual improprieties. (http://bit.ly/1UV8573)
Britain
The Times
– The failure of HSBC Holdings Plc to clean up its act after an anti-money-laundering deal with America’s Justice Department has raised the possibility that U.S. authorities may continue to monitor Britain’s biggest bank. (http://thetim.es/1MUcpvw)
– The Dutch headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell Plc have been raided as part of a corruption investigation into the company’s acquisition of a vast oilfield in Nigeria. (http://thetim.es/1MUcCis)
The Guardian
– Prime Minister David Cameron has flown back to Britain for emergency talks with ministers over the financial crisis engulfing Tata Steel Ltd’s British operation amid warnings that the firm has just weeks to secure a rescue deal on which up to 40,000 jobs could depend. (http://bit.ly/1MUcO12)
– The number of London city financiers who took home more than 1 million euros ($1.13 million) per year jumped to nearly 3,000 in 2014, with one earning up to 25 million euros. The European Banking Authority said the UK, with London home to Europe’s biggest financial centre, had more than three times as many high-earning bankers as the rest of the EU combined. (http://bit.ly/1MUcQ9p)
The Telegraph
– The backers of an independent proposal to lengthen one of Heathrow’s existing runways have become the latest group to warn that the government risks a legal challenge if it backs rival plans to build a third landing strip. (http://bit.ly/1MUd8wR)
– An alliance of taxi drivers in London have abandoned a bid to have Uber’s licence in London declared illegal, in a blow for the black cab industry’s attempts to stamp out the ride-hailing app. (http://bit.ly/1MUdl3c)
Sky News
– Stephen Jones, who stepped down as Santander UK’s chief financial officer several months ago, has been tapped by the Co-operative Bank Plc’s board as a potential successor to Niall Booker. (http://bit.ly/1MUeiIK)
– Ofcom says there were 32 complaints about Vodafone Group Plc made per 100,000 customers in the last three months of 2015 – an increase from the 20 in the previous three months. (http://bit.ly/1MUenfD)
The Independent
– U.S. spice company McCormick & Company Inc raised its takeover proposal for Premier Foods Plc on Wednesday for the second time, calling on the British company’s board to engage in talks that could lead to a deal. (http://ind.pn/1MUeFTx)
– Aldi biscuits, including cheese thins, ginger nuts and Oddbites, are being recalled by the manufacturer after they were found to have been made in dirty factories. (http://ind.pn/1MUeRSX)
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1TkFHu0 Tyler Durden