Kuwait to review feasibility of Bahrain's Ahli United Bank takeover -KUNA

DUBAI, April 22 (Reuters) – Kuwait’s finance minister has asked its sovereign wealth fund to review the feasibility of the takeover of Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank by its subsidiary Kuwait Finance House, state news agency KUNA reported on Wednesday.

The decision came due to the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak and a global recession predicated by experts, KUNA said.

Kuwait Finance House said earlier this month that it was postponing its acquisition of Ahli United Bank until December due to the outbreak. (Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Stock Alert: SilverBow Resources Up 42%

Shares of SilverBow Resources, Inc. (SBOW) are rising significantly in morning trade on Wednesday as the U.S. Indices are trading higher. Currently, the shares are at $5.42, up 42.76 percent from its previous close of $3.80.

The shares of drilling oil and gas wells company gained 42.86 percent on Tuesday, despite the market volatility. The company had decided to cut 55 percent of Capex plan and to halt drilling as well as completion activities, in the wake of weak commodity pricing.

The shares have traded in a range of $1.50-$20.41 for the last 52-week period.

Stock Alert: Interactive Brokers Drops 9%

Shares of Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR), the largest electronic trading platform in the U.S., are down more than 9% Wednesday morning at $39.11.

Tuesday the company announced that it has suffered an aggregate provisionary loss of approximately $88 million as the price of New York Mercantile Exchange West Texas Intermediate May crude oil contract price dropped to negative $37.63.

Yesterday the company had reported first- quarter earnings with revenues of $532 million, down from $558 million last year.

Adjusted EPS of $0.69, however beat the average estimate of 5 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters at $0.64.

Interactive Brokers shares have been trading in the range of $33.70- $59.32 in the past one year.

Stock Alert: Interactive Brokers Drops 9%

Shares of Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR), the largest electronic trading platform in the U.S., are down more than 9% Wednesday morning at $39.11.

Tuesday the company announced that it has suffered an aggregate provisionary loss of approximately $88 million as the price of New York Mercantile Exchange West Texas Intermediate May crude oil contract price dropped to negative $37.63.

Yesterday the company had reported first- quarter earnings with revenues of $532 million, down from $558 million last year.

Adjusted EPS of $0.69, however beat the average estimate of 5 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters at $0.64.

Interactive Brokers shares have been trading in the range of $33.70- $59.32 in the past one year.

Apple Launches Second-Gen IPhone SE

Tech giant Apple Inc. (AAPL) Wednesday launched second-generation iPhone SE, a $399 phone with 4.7-inch Retina HD display.

The new iPhone SE is powered by the Apple’s latest A13 Bionic chip, the same chip that powers Apple’s flagship iPhone 11 and 11 Pro models. The phone sports a 12 megapixel single-camera system, which features improved Smart HDR photography.

iPhone SE comes in three beautiful colors, black, white and red, and will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, April 17, starting at just $399 for 64GB version. The phone will ship on April 24. The 128GB model is priced at $449, while the 256GB model will cost $549.

The phone has the same look of iPhone 8, which includes a 4.7-inch screen, large bezels on the top and bottom, and a home button with Touch ID.

“The first iPhone SE was a hit with many customers who loved its unique combination of small size, high-end performance and affordable price; the new second-generation iPhone SE builds on that great idea and improves on it in every way — including our best-ever single-camera system for great photos and videos — while still being very affordable,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

The phone supports Wi-Fi 6, Gigabit LTE, and dual-SIMs. It also supports Haptic Touch, which is Apple’s replacement for 3D Touch.

Trading halted for Victoria’s Secret owner L Brands as stocks drop 20 percent

Trading was halted in Victoria’s Secret parent company Wednesday after the stock dropped more than 20 percent on news that a deal to sell 55 percent of the lingerie peddler could collapse.

The New York Stock Exchange at 11:13 a.m. said it was halting trading in L Brands, which also owns Bed Bath & Beyond, after the stock fell 20.6 percent to $9.57 a share.

On Wednesday, private equity firm Sycamore Partners filed a lawsuit in Delaware seeking to back out of its offer to buy a 55 percent stake in L Brands’ lingerie business, according to the Wall Street Journal. Sycamore had agreed to fork over $525 million for the controlling stake weeks before the coronavirus shuttered large segments of the economy, including retail.

The deal had been slated to close this quarter.

Sycamore’s lawsuit accused L Brands of being in violation of their purchase agreement, citing the company’s store closures, its failure to pay rent and the furloughing of a majority of its workforce, the Journal reported.

The firm is seeking the court’s blessing to wiggle out of the deal.

European Economics Preview: UK Inflation Data Due

Consumer and producer price figures from the UK are due on Wednesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, the Office for National Statistics releases UK consumer and producer prices for March. Inflation is forecast to ease to 1.5 percent from 1.7 percent in February. Output price inflation is seen at 0.1 percent versus 0.4 percent in the previous month.

UK house price data is also due from the UK. Economists forecast house prices to climb 1.6 percent annually in February after rising 1.3 percent in January.

At 4.00 am ET, Italy’s Istat releases industrial orders and turnover data for February.

In the meantime, retail sales data from Poland is due. Economists forecast sales to fall 4 percent on year in contrast to a 9.6 percent rise in February.

At 7.00 am ET, Turkey’s central bank is set to announce its rate decision. The bank is expected to cut its key rate to 9.25 percent from 9.75 percent.

At 10.00 am ET, EU releases flash euro area consumer confidence survey data. Economist forecast the consumer sentiment index to fall to -19.6 in April from -11.6 in March.