Public Markets 3d Briefing – Mar 11, 2026

729 articles summarized · Last updated: March 11, 2026 at 8:31 AM ET v397

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Energy & Commodities

Oil prices remained volatile wsj.com as traders weighed mixed signals from the Middle East, with crude holding below $90 a barrel despite ongoing supply disruptions. Qatar LNG suppliers bloomberg.com declared force majeure on Asian contracts following the shutdown of the world's largest export plant, while Thailand's cargo ship bloomberg.com was struck near the Strait of Hormuz, forcing the rescue of 20 crew members. The International Energy Agency proposed releasing emergency oil reserves bloomberg.com to contain price spikes, as G-7 economies supported strategic reserve use bloomberg.com in principle. Meanwhile, India's Prime Minister Modi bloomberg.com called for reduced dependence on imported energy, and Japan's Prime Minister Takaichi bloomberg.com announced unilateral oil reserve releases to address Middle East fallout.

The war in Iran reshaped global energy dependencies nytimes.com, with UAE oil partners bloomberg.com instructed to collect barrels from ports behind the Strait of Hormuz as the waterway remained effectively closed. European Commission President von der Leyen ft.com explored capping natural gas prices to ease Iran war shocks, while Greece imposed profit margin caps bloomberg.com on fuel and groceries to prevent price surges. France deployed a large naval force nytimes.com to protect allies and escort ships through Hormuz, as South Korea accelerated nuclear restarts bloomberg.com to secure energy amid Middle East crisis. The conflict also triggered food supply disruptions ft.com in the Gulf region, which imports 90% of its food, as Hormuz shipping threats forced rerouting of cargo.

Private equity underperformed public markets bloomberg.com over the past five years, even excluding Magnificent Seven gains, while CVC lowered fee expectations ft.com on private equity holdings, sending shares down 40% over twelve months. Legal & General bloomberg.com announced a £1.2 billion share buyback as profits climbed, though its capital buffer shrunk ft.com after asset value cuts. Blackstone arranged a $1.2 billion loan bloomberg.com for Air Trunk's Japanese data center expansion, part of broader private equity push into AI infrastructure across Asia-Pacific. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly invested $3 billion bloomberg.com in China over the next decade to expand local production, focusing on weight loss drugs to cement dominance in the booming obesity market.

Microsoft integrated Anthropic AI models ft.com into its Copilot workplace tools, diversifying away from OpenAI's Chat GPT as the tech giant sided with Anthropic nytimes.com in its Pentagon fight. Amazon launched a record eight-part euro bond sale bloomberg.com targeting €10 billion ($11.6 to fund AI investments, marking its debut in the European bond market. Nasdaq partnered with Kraken wsj.com to enable 24/7 tokenized stock trading, seeking approval for investors to trade tokenized versions of listed stocks and ETFs. The UK police called for new laws ft.com unless tech groups like Apple do more to combat phone theft, demanding concrete commitments by June.

Gold steadied after Trump signals bloomberg.com that the Iran war might be ending soon, retreating from earlier gains as the dollar weakened on the comments. Precious metals rose wsj.com as crude oil pulled back, with gold settling 2.7% higher over three sessions and silver up 6% for three consecutive sessions. The yuan advanced bloomberg.com after the PBOC strengthened the daily fixing by the most since January, while emerging market currencies rebounded bloomberg.com as Trump's Iran war comments sank the dollar and oil prices. Australia's dollar emerged as an unlikely haven bloomberg.com, buoyed by elevated oil and gas prices and growing bets on potential RBA rate hikes.

Rheinmetall expected sales to jump 45% wsj.com as Europe continued rearming and the German arms maker broadened its air-defense portfolio, following a bumper dividend announcement ft.com from booming arms sales. Gabler Group shares rose 13.6% bloomberg.com on their German trading debut, buoyed by strong investor demand for European defense firms. Oasis Management built a stake bloomberg.com in Nidec Corp amid turmoil following an accounting scandal that forced the Japanese electric-motor maker to delay financial results. The conflict also sparked a bull market in renewables wsj.com across Europe as the new energy crisis drove investment in alternative energy sources.

Big warehouses returned to demand wsj.com as logistics providers, manufacturers, and data-center suppliers signed up for sprawling facilities after years of weak demand. Madison Air filed for IPO bloomberg.com showing sales growth, while Kenya considered a $1.7 billion rail extension bloomberg.com to former Tullow Oil fields to ferry crude to an Indian Ocean port by 2030. Singapore's Sembcorp sought a $2.1 billion loan bloomberg.com to back its purchase of Australian power generator Alinta Energy, fueling Australia's funding boom. Meanwhile, Germany's Bundesbank abandoned its historic headquarters bloomberg.com, ending a decade of uncertainty over the brutalist building in Frankfurt.

China stockpiled more oil nytimes.com before the Iran war broke out, with imports rising nearly 16% in the first two months of 2026 to add to its growing energy reserves. Malaysia's cabinet referred the anti-graft chief probe bloomberg.com to the chief secretary to government for follow-up. Mexico consultations favored USMCA tweaks bloomberg.com rather than major renegotiation, according to key economic sector feedback. Indonesia's nickel plants halted output bloomberg.com after a deadly landslide at a waste area used by Chinese-run facilities, forcing companies to respond to safety concerns. The conflict also cast a long shadow across the US economy ft.com, with industries from farming to airlines facing higher long-term costs and raising customer prices in response.

Wall Street traders hunted for a bottom bloomberg.com as war turmoil continued, with technical analysts noting early signs of bearish momentum in the S&P 500. Software stocks appeared to find a bottom bloomberg.com after months of heavy selling on AI disruption fears, at least temporarily. Credit markets showed resilience bloomberg.com amid geopolitical tensions and market volatility, with high-quality debt offering attractive opportunities according to David Rosenberg of Oaktree. The Czech central bank could wait out oil shocks bloomberg.com without raising rates as inflation would stay under control even with higher fuel costs, according to board member Jan Kubicek.