Public Markets 3h Briefing
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Oil futures fell 2.3% bloomberg.com in early trading as refiners balked at eye-watering premiums on available barrels, threatening to slow the flow of the world's most traded commodity after Middle East supply disruptions. The Pimco Commodity Fund slumped 17% bloomberg.com in March as the Iran war rattled oil prices and global markets, according to a person familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, Mercuria led a rush bloomberg.com to withdraw aluminum from the London Metal Exchange as traders braced for major supply disruptions, with the Swiss trader behind a surge in orders to take physical delivery.
Equity Markets
Nasdaq's proposed index change ft.com would benefit Elon Musk ahead of a potential SpaceX IPO by easing requirements for inclusion, according to people familiar with the matter. The move comes as South Korea's stock market faces turbulence ft.com, with sharp swings serving as a reminder that Seoul's reform agenda remains incomplete. In corporate news, Papa John's drew fresh takeover interest wsj.com from a Qatari-backed investment fund that submitted a bid to take the pizza chain private, while Target's shopper boycott winds down wsj.com after activists said the retailer has made progress reinforcing its diversity efforts.
Fixed Income & Credit
The leveraged loan selloff intensified bloomberg.com as the most liquid debt instruments got hit hardest, creating a liquidity paradox in the $1.4 trillion market. Investors are scrambling to reassess bloomberg.com interest-rate bets as oil price volatility upends one of the best trades in emerging markets, with rate hikes now in prospect. Meanwhile, SPACs took few companies public bloomberg.com despite raising $11.7 billion in IPO proceeds this year, as blank-check firms join a growing queue waiting for merger opportunities.
Corporate & Legal
CVS Health's Aetna unit agreed to pay $117.7 million wsj.com to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it submitted false patient diagnosis data for Medicare Advantage Plan enrollees to secure higher monthly payments from federal programs. In a separate legal matter, an Intel shareholder filed suit ft.com claiming the board gave the U.S. government an equity stake to avoid Trump's social media attacks, also criticizing law firm Skadden for advising both parties.
Geopolitics & Energy
The U.S. spent an estimated $4 billion bloomberg.com on initial strikes against Iran, using up to 400 cruise missiles and 800 air defense interceptors in the first 72 hours of attacks, according to estimates from defense analysts. In South America, Colombia seeks to revive bloomberg.com a pipeline to import natural gas from Venezuela as energy security concerns grow, while operations were suspended at Oman's Port of Salalah bloomberg.com after drone strikes hit fuel tanks, according to state media reports.