Real-time News

Bank of America Global Research: Raises its price target for Alphabet (GOOG.O) from $370 to $430.

Bank of America Global Research: Raises its price target for Amazon (AMZN.O) from $298 to $310.

April 30th - According to US financial media Semafor, two White House officials revealed that US President Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday aimed at expanding access for employees whose employers do not offer retirement savings plans. The US government will combine this measure with the so-called "Saver's Match" program. This program stems from legislation in 2022, which stipulates that starting next year, the federal government will provide up to $1,000 in matching funds for retirement savings plan contributions from employees earning less than $35,000 annually. One official stated that Thursday's executive order aims to address this issue, instructing the Treasury Department to launch a new website, TrumpIRA.gov, before the "Saver's Match" program takes effect in January. Under the executive order, employees can use the website to filter private sector retirement savings plans based on factors such as cost, minimum contribution amount, and minimum balance to register for an eligible account and receive matching funds when eligible.

On April 30th, Diego Iscaro, Head of European Economics at S&P Global Markets Intelligence, stated that the European Central Bank's (ECB) interest rate hike is increasingly becoming a "when" rather than a "whether" question. Eurozone overall inflation rose to 3.0% in April from 2.6% in March, exceeding market expectations. He pointed out that the latest data poses a real challenge to the ECB. Even in an optimistic scenario, inflation will continue to rise in the coming months. Iscaro stated that rising prices are rapidly pushing up inflation expectations. "The market consensus is that the ECB will keep interest rates unchanged at its meeting later today, but the discussion is increasingly shifting from 'whether the policy rate will rise' to 'when it will rise'."

On April 30th, *ST Haiqin announced that it had recently received an Administrative Penalty Decision from the Fujian Regulatory Bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), which penalized the company for failing to disclose related-party transactions as required and for significant omissions and false records in its annual report. The company's stock has been subject to additional risk warnings by the Shanghai Stock Exchange since March 2, 2026.

JPMorgan Chase: Lowered its price target for Meta Platforms (META.O) to $725 from $825, and downgraded its rating from Overweight to Neutral.

Scotiabank: Raises its price target for Alphabet (GOOG.O) to $450 from $400.

Fitch: Higher oil prices are somewhat beneficial in the short term for the ratings of the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Fitch: The UAE’s withdrawal from OPEC has no direct impact on the current situation, as the UAE is unable to export oil.

JPMorgan Chase raised its price target for Phillips 66 (PSX.N) from $188 to $202.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister: Ukraine welcomes the fact that a ship carrying grain from occupied Ukrainian territories did not unload its cargo in Israel.

Eurostat data released Thursday showed that eurozone inflation surged further in April, driven by soaring energy costs, adding to the justification for a European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate hike, although modest underlying price growth data reduced the urgency of any action. The eurozone's preliminary April CPI jumped to 3.0% year-on-year from 2.6% in the previous month, further exceeding the ECB's 2% target, with energy costs accounting for the vast majority of the increase. Meanwhile, core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices, slowed. Services inflation—a persistently high component of the price basket in recent years—slowed to 3.0% from 3.2%, while non-energy industrial inflation, a major drag on prices, rose to 0.8%. These figures are mixed for the ECB, which will likely keep interest rates unchanged at its meeting tonight, although it will signal an increasing likelihood of policy tightening. While high overall inflation data provides a reason for a rate hike, underlying data suggests that the initial energy shock has not yet produced a significant second-round effect.

Telsey Advisors raised its price target for Amazon (AMZN.O) to $315 from $300.

On April 30, Geely Automobile (00175.HK) announced that it entered into a service agreement with Cao Cao Mobility, under which the Group conditionally agreed to purchase business travel and event services from Cao Cao Mobility Group. The proposed annual caps of the service agreement for the three years ended December 31, 2028 are approximately RMB 934 million, RMB 994 million and RMB 1.058 billion, respectively.

On April 30th, Eurostat released preliminary figures showing that the Eurozone's first-quarter GDP grew by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter, below economists' expectations of 0.2% and also lower than the previous quarter's 0.2% growth. This is the first snapshot of economic activity since the outbreak of the conflict in Iran, indicating weak economic growth in the first quarter. As an energy-importing region, the Eurozone is considered one of the most vulnerable developed economies to disruptions in oil, gas, and other cargo transport from the Strait of Hormuz (since the end of February). A series of surveys released this week suggest that economic activity will slow further: business confidence is weakening, the service sector is deteriorating, profits are declining, exports remain impacted by tariffs, and banking signals indicate tightening credit conditions. This sluggish economic backdrop complicates the European Central Bank's response to emerging, energy-driven inflation.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi: It is expected that the supply of naphtha-derived chemical products will be secured from this year onwards.

Italy's preliminary April CPI annual rate was 2.8%, below the expected 2.6% and the previous value of 1.70%.