Morning Brief: Top Stories Dominating Financial Media on Wednesday, March 16

CNBC

WHO Foundation Warns Global Economy To Lose "Trillions Of Dollars" On COVID-19 Vaccine Inequality

• The WHO Foundation CEO, Anil Soni, has told CNBC that the global economy will lose "trillions of dollars" if more COVID-19 vaccines aren't delivered worldwide.
• The World Health Organization has set a target for 70% of the global population to be vaccinated by mid-2022.

Reuters

International Court Of Justice To Rule On Emergency Measures In Russia-Ukraine Crisis

• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is set to rule Wednesday on emergency measures in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Reuters reported.
• The world court will read out the decision in The Hague's Peace Palace at 4 p.m. local time (1500 GMT).

Stocks Can Endure Rate Hike Cycles, Past Data Shows

• Fears over the Federal Reserve's hawkish shift have combined with geopolitical uncertainty to push the S&P 500 into a correction this year. Yet, historical data suggests tighter monetary policy has often been accompanied by solid gains in stocks, reported Reuters.
• Offering a faint hope of good news to investors anticipating the central bank to announce the first interest rate increase in more than three years on Wednesday and are pricing some 180 basis points of tightening by the end of the year.

Alibaba Looks To Slash Workforce By 30% After Its MMC Division Decides To Lay off 20% Employees

• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA and Tencent Holdings Ltd TCEHY employees saw a job cut of 30%, the Print reports as per speculation on Weibo Corp WB.
• Internal speculation among employees was that Alibaba looked to lay off 30% of its employees while Tencent between 10% - 30% of its employees.
• Tencent started layoffs within small business departments in September 2021.

WSJ

US Attorney General Bats For Transparency In Information Disclosures

• The United States attorney general Merrick Garland has ordered federal agencies to deploy more transparency while dealing with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• Garland said that information release should not be held back unless there is a "foreseeable harm or legal bar to disclosure."

Bloomberg

Nickel Electronic Trading Halted As LME Hit By Glitch

• Nickel electronic trading halted minutes after it restarted at The London Metal Exchange ('LME'), citing a technical issue with its new daily limit, as prices plunged when the market opened after a week-long suspension, reported Bloomberg.
• Trading restarted at 8 a.m. GMT and nickel futures immediately fell through the 5% daily window before the market was suspended again.

Strategists Cut Targets For European Equity Markets Amid Increasing Risks

• Strategists are slashing their targets for European equity markets, with the region's benchmark now seen ending 2022 flat amid the Russia-Ukraine war, soaring commodity prices, and central bank tightening.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index will be modestly changed by the end of December 2022, at 488 index points, according to the average of 16 forecasts in Bloomberg's monthly survey, implying about 12% upside from Monday's close, after a selloff that wiped as much as €2.4 trillion in value from the region's benchmark this year.

Global Efforts To Reduce Semiconductor Dependence Will Further Exacerbate Crisis

• Growing efforts from the U.S. and Europe to consolidate their semiconductor supply chains to compete with China could backfire due to the political strings attached to the aid, Bloomberg reports.
• The downside includes insufficient and ill-timed government aid and different parts of the world striving to secure supplies while championing domestic plants that fail to fill the gap.

Here's Why Alibaba And Other Chinese Stocks Are Trading Higher Premarket

• China's top financial policy body swore to ensure stability in capital markets, support overseas stock listings, resolve risks around property developers and complete the crackdown on Big Tech "as soon as possible," Bloomberg reports.
• Yi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China, added that the central bank would help implement the policies, as did the banking watchdog.
• The statements reflect China's urgency to bring stability as it battled the economic slowdown, Covid-19, Russia-Ukraine crisis with just a couple of months due for its election.

Financial Times

Russia Admits West Sanctions Will Not Jeopardize Its Trade Relations With Iran

• Iran and global powers had moved closer to an agreement to resurrect the 2015 nuclear agreement leading to Tehran drastically reversing its nuclear program just as the Russia - Ukraine crisis stalled the progress, the Financial Times reports
• Both Iran and Russia put the onus back on U.S. officials, saying Washington had to address Tehran's remaining outstanding demands.

Benzinga

Crypto World Abuzz With Inflation Talk: Here's What It Means For Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Prices

• The U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day meeting will come to a close on Wednesday. The central bank is expected to announce a rate hike at the conclusion.
• The Federal Reserve's commentary is likely to drive global markets in the short and long-term in the backdrop of a festering Russia-Ukraine war.
• "Considering the unusual circumstances of crypto being so closely tied to equities right now, this inflation fear could end up being a classic case of FUD when final Fed decisions are all said and done," said Santiment.

Ethereum Whales Are Trading This Coin The Most Today

• Celsius CEL/USD has emerged as the most traded cryptocurrency by the 1,000 biggest Ethereum ETH wallets in the past 24 hours, as at press time late Tuesday.
• Celsius was also ranked eighth among the most used smart contracts by the Ethereum whales, according to data from cryptocurrency data platform WhaleStats.

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