globaleconomicnews

Larry Fink, the CEO of one of the largest investment firms in the world, BlackRock, expressed optimism about investing in Venezuela following the political changes after the ousting of President Nicolas Maduro, reports Bloomberg.

Details
"I'm really quite bullish on the investment opportunities in Venezuela," said Fink at a panel discussion in New York on May 11. According to him, the oil-rich country can be "brought back to its former glory."

ThyssenKrupp reported a significant beat on profit forecasts for Q2: the adjusted EBIT came in at €198 million, well above the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of €132 million, thanks to cost-cutting in the steel business and strong growth in materials distribution.

Goldman Sachs has cut the odds of a recession in the US over the next 12 months by 5 percentage points — down to 25%, while still forecasting growth below trend and an uptick in unemployment rates.
The investment bank now anticipates that the Federal Reserve will execute two rate cuts of 25 basis points — in December 2026 and March 2027, which is three months later than the previous forecast. This adjustment reflects a decreased recession risk and a higher short-term core PCE inflation.

Southeast Asian countries consume about 5 million barrels of oil daily, while producing only around 2 million.
While the Southeast Asian authorities are trying to navigate a deep energy crisis sparked by the conflict in the Middle East, the European Union is ramping up pressure to keep them from buying Russian oil. Despite years of unprecedented Western sanctions, Moscow remains one of the top suppliers of energy resources on the global market. Russia is the second-largest oil exporter in the world after Saudi Arabia and the second-largest gas exporter after the USA.

The Czech National Bank on Monday unveiled alternative economic scenarios linking possible changes in interest rates to various levels of energy prices compared to the baseline forecast.
The bank has prepped scenarios showing how higher or lower energy prices will impact monetary policy. If energy prices spike, the three-month Prague interbank offered rate (PRIBOR) could hit around 4.5% by the end of 2026, while a drop in prices would see the rate slightly decrease over the same period.

The premiums for North Sea oil, which are used to price Dated Brent — the global benchmark for prompt oil deliveries — have dropped by 90% over the month, returning to pre-war levels, as noted by Bloomberg. This is happening despite the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed and the global market losing more than 10% of supply. Buyers are holding off on trades, betting on a potential deal between the U.S. and Iran that could bring volumes back to the market and crash prices. For now, refineries are running on reserves, but traders are warning: if the blockade drags on, the raw material shortage could sharply spike the costs of physical barrels again.

Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) from South Korea has officially surpassed a market cap of $1 trillion for the first time on Wednesday, boosted by a rally in memory chip stocks and optimism around potential partnerships with major tech companies.
The stocks have been hitting record highs for several trading sessions in a row, and since the beginning of the year, their value has more than doubled.

As part of its business reorganization program, PayPal is gearing up to cut 20% of its workforce, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. This news coincided with the company's quarterly earnings release. PayPal's profits for the past quarter exceeded analyst expectations, but a weak forecast for Q2 2026—where the company anticipates a 9% drop in profits over the next three months—crashed the shares of the payment giant. PayPal's stock nosedived by more than 10%, but then slowed down the pace of its decline.

The Italian banking giant UniCredit is looking to acquire the German Commerzbank - the second largest commercial bank in Germany. On Tuesday, May 5, the Milan bank made an offer to Commerzbank shareholders to exchange each of their shares for 0.485 shares of UniCredit.
The offer is valid for six weeks, until June 16, and may be extended until July 3, it is noted further. The day before, these terms were approved by the shareholders of UniCredit at an extraordinary meeting in Milan. The overwhelming majority supported the capital increase of the bank by up to €6.7 billion through the issuance of new shares, which are planned to be offered to shareholders of Commerzbank.

Goldman Sachs has upped its profit growth forecast for the STOXX Europe 600 index in 2026 to 10% from 5%, largely driven by a bullish outlook on the commodities sector.
The bank has set a 12-month target price for the STOXX Europe index at 625, suggesting around 5% total return from current levels, assessing market dynamics since the start of the Middle East conflict in late February.

Global airlines have canceled over 12,000 flights for May and cut 2 million seats from their schedules in the coming month due to rising concerns about jet fuel shortages, according to data from analytics firm Cirium reported by the Financial Times (FT).
In light of potential fuel supply disruptions, some carriers are switching to more compact and fuel-efficient aircraft, say researchers at Cirium.

Saudi Arabia's state oil company Saudi Aramco has kept its official prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stable in May, while Algeria's Sonatrach has cut prices by 2–18% due to rising global supply and weakening demand, Reuters reported on Monday.

Gold prices stabilized during Asian trading on Monday, with the yellow metal receiving almost no support from the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Middle East conflict and interest rate trajectories.
The yellow metal has experienced its second consecutive month of losses, as demand for safe-haven assets surged after the start of the U.S. war with Iran, largely overshadowed by concerns over its inflationary effects.

Anthropic is close to finalizing a joint venture worth $1.5 billion with Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, and several other Wall Street firms to sell AI tools to private equity-backed companies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

Kuwait's oil production is expected to hit 2,628 million barrels per day in June, as reported by the state news agency citing the country's oil minister.
Earlier that same day, seven OPEC+ countries agreed to boost their oil production targets by 188,000 barrels per day in June, marking the third consecutive monthly increase.

The United States is ramping up its campaign to dismantle Iran's main financial artery, targeting private Chinese 'teapot' refineries.
According to the Wall Street Journal, independent oil refineries have become a critical tool for Beijing to circumvent international sanctions, funnelling tens of billions of dollars annually into Tehran.

The US antitrust authorities wrapped up their review of Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) investment in chip startup SambaNova, according to a regulatory notice published on Friday.
Intel's shares surged nearly 5% on Friday.
Intel pumped $35 million into SambaNova in February, boosting its stake in the startup from 6.8% to 8.2%. The chair of SambaNova's board is Intel's CEO, Pat Gelsinger.

The UAE exited OPEC and OPEC+ on May 1. Will this decision trigger other countries to leave these organizations, and who will fight to keep them intact? Analyst Alexey Golubovich from Arbat Capital Advisory Services Limited (UK) analyzed the implications of this move for the oil-exporting countries' coalition and the oil market.

Gas prices in Europe spiked on Friday as the conflict with Iran shows no signs of easing, and supplies through the Strait of Hormuz remain seriously disrupted.
By 12:50 Moscow time, the Dutch front-month futures contract at the TTF hub rose to €46.580 per megawatt-hour, according to ICE data.

The prices of crude oil have decreased, while U.S. stock markets rose on Thursday afternoon following reports that China is negotiating with Iran for the safe passage of vessels carrying crude oil and liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz. The talks are taking place against the backdrop of the conflict between the U.S. and Israel with Tehran, which has entered its sixth day. The market's reaction to this news underscored investors' attention to shipping issues in the region.