MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stocks slipped as an oil spike continued amid attacks on energy infrastructure throughout the Middle East.
TREASURYS: Short-term Treasury yields rose amid fears the Iran war would boost inflation and lower the chances of interest-rate cuts any time soon.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar gave back some of its gains against rivals after a hawkish statement from the European Central Bank.
COMMODITIES: Brent oil futures pared gains on a volatile session after Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent said the U.S. could lift sanctions on some oil to offset the impact of energy-infrastructure destruction in the Middle East. Brent closed at multiyear high of $108.65 a barrel while U.S.-traded futures ticked down, closing above $96 a barrel.
HEADLINES
FedEx Posts Higher Sales, Boosts Outlook
FedEx raised its outlook for the full year as revenue and package yields increased in the fiscal third quarter.
The shipping company on Thursday posted a profit of $1.06 billion, or $4.41 a share, in the quarter ended Feb. 28, compared with $909 million, or $3.76 a share, a year earlier.
Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted per-share earnings were $5.25, ahead of the $4.15 anticipated by analysts, according to FactSet.
Ecolab Nears Deal for KKR's Data-Center Cooling Company
Ecolab is nearing a deal to acquire data-center cooling company CoolIT Systems from KKR for between $4.5 billion and $5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
A deal could be announced as soon as next week, the people said, cautioning that nothing is completed.
Uber to Invest Up to $1.25 Billion in Rivian Robotaxis
Rivian Automotive is jumping into the autonomous taxi race-with up to $1.25 billion in help from Uber.
The ride-hailing giant and the electric-vehicle startup announced a partnership Thursday to deploy 10,000 fully autonomous versions of the new Rivian R2 SUV by 2028, starting in San Francisco and Miami. Thousands more of the vehicles could come to as many as 25 cities in the U.S., Canada and Europe by the end of 2031.
Uber will invest up to $1.25 billion in the project if Rivian wins regulatory approval and meets milestones along the way, the companies said. The R2 robotaxis will be exclusively available through Uber's app, the companies said.
Jeff Bezos in Talks to Raise $100 Billion for AI Manufacturing Fund
Jeff Bezos is in early talks to raise $100 billion for a new fund that would buy up manufacturing companies and seek to use AI technology to accelerate their path to automation.
The Amazon.com founder is meeting with some of the world's largest asset managers to raise funding for the project. A few months ago, he traveled to the Middle East to discuss the new fund with sovereign wealth representatives in the region. More recently, he went to Singapore to raise funding for the effort as well, according to people familiar with the matter.
The fund, described in investor documents as a "manufacturing transformation vehicle," is aiming to buy companies in major industrial sectors such as chipmaking, defense and aerospace. It would dwarf the size of some of the world's largest buyout funds and rival SoftBank's $100 billion, tech-focused Vision Fund.
U.S. Leading Indicators Forecast Further Slowdown
The U.S. economy is expected to slow further amid continued headwinds, while conflict in the Middle East further clouds the growth outlook, according to a basket of monthly economic indicators.
The Leading Economic Index, or LEI, published Thursday by research group The Conference Board, inched down by 0.1% to 97.5, after a 0.2% decline in December.
"The U.S. LEI fell further in January, as consumer expectations retreated again and building permits softened," said Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, senior manager at The Conference Board.
Tesla Faces Expanded U.S. Probe Over Self-Driving Performance in Poor Weather
Federal safety regulators are sharpening their focus on Tesla's automated driving-assistance system, after raising concerns about the technology's ability to handle poor roadway conditions.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday that it was escalating a probe of the system, known as Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which controls driving and steering functions but requires drivers to continuously monitor the road.
NHTSA identified several crashes, including one fatal, where Full Self-Driving failed to alert drivers appropriately about reduced-visibility conditions, such as sun glare, fog or airborne dust. The probe originally began in 2024 to examine whether the system can appropriately respond in those scenarios.
Novo Nordisk's Higher Dose Wegovy Weight-Loss Drug Gains U.S. Approval
Novo Nordisk said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a higher dosage of its Wegovy weight-loss medication, a boost for the Danish drugmaker as it faces growing competition in the obesity market.
The group said Thursday that the FDA had expedited approval of the Wegovy injection with a higher dose based on results from a trial that showed 20.7% mean weight loss for participants with obesity.
The company said its higher dosage Wegovy medication contains 7.2 milligrams of semaglutide, injected once weekly, and it complements Wegovy's medication containing 2.4 mg semaglutide. The group expects to offer Wegovy HD in a single-dose pen in the U.S. next month.
Lilly's Retatrutide Shows Significant Improvement In Weight Loss and Blood Sugar
Eli Lilly's experimental weight-loss drug retatrutide met the primary and key secondary endpoints in a trial, showing significant improvements in weight loss and management of blood sugar levels.
Participants of the trial who were taking 12 milligrams of retatrutide lost an average of 36.6 pounds over 40 weeks, the pharmaceutical company said Thursday.
The drug also lowered patients' A1C, a metric for blood-sugar levels, which was the trial's primary endpoint. A1C levels decreased by an average of 1.7% to 2% across doses.
Eight States Sue to Block $6.2 Billion Nexstar-Tegna Merger
A coalition of eight states is attempting to block Nexstar Media's planned $6.2 billion acquisition of rival broadcaster Tegna, a deal that if allowed to proceed would see the consolidation of hundreds of local TV stations.
The states, which include California, Colorado and New York, filed a lawsuit late Wednesday on antitrust grounds, arguing the deal would result in too much concentration in some local TV markets.
"When broadcast media is owned by a handful of companies, we get fewer voices, less competition, and communities lose the critical check on power that local journalism delivers," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said.
TALKING POINT Big Banks Score Win Under New Plan to Loosen Capital Rules
America's biggest banks would be allowed to hold billions of dollars less in capital on their books under proposals unveiled Thursday, easing rules put in place after the 2008 financial crisis that were meant to help shield against meltdowns.
The proposals introduced by the Federal Reserve and other regulators would hand a major victory to big banks, which had resisted sharply higher requirements proposed under the Biden administration. Wall Street's embrace of a second Trump administration had largely centered on the prospect that plans for those stricter requirements would be scrapped.
"An important benefit of these proposals is that they would reduce incentives for traditional lending activities-like mortgage origination, mortgage servicing, and lending to businesses-to migrate outside of the regulated banking sector," said Michelle Bowman, whom President Trump appointed as Federal Reserve vice chair for supervision.
Big banks received massive bailouts in the 2008-09 financial crisis, prompting policymakers to impose higher capital requirements and other tightened controls designed to protect against a future crash. The measures limited their ability to lend and helped open the door to private-credit firms and other nonbank lenders.
One proposed response-part of an international agreement known as the Basel accords-languished for years until a series of bank failures in 2023. The bank collapses prompted the Fed during the Biden administration to take up Basel and propose even higher capital buffers as a safety net for turbulent times.
JPMorgan Chase and other big banks waged an intense lobbying campaign to fight the tightened rules, including with TV ads during National Football League games.
Wall Street has been navigating a host of significant changes since Trump's return to the White House, including crypto-friendly regulators and accusations by the administration that banks shut out certain customers and industries for political reasons. Banks have largely steered clear of direct confrontation with the administration on many of those issues, to avoid derailing deregulatory changes they have long desired.
--Dylan Tokar
Expected Major Events for Friday
07:00/GER: Feb PPI
07:00/UK: Feb Public sector finances
09:00/ITA: Jan Foreign Trade EU
09:30/UK: 4Q Bank of England statistics on UK banks' external claims
10:00/ITA: Jan Balance of Payments
11:00/UK: Feb Aluminium Production report
11:00/UK: Mar CBI Industrial Trends Survey
12:30/CAN: Feb Industrial product and raw materials price indexes
12:30/CAN: Feb New Housing Price Index
12:30/CAN: Jan Retail trade
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Friday
Abundia Global Impact Group Inc $(AGIG)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Airsculpt Technologies Inc (AIRS) is expected to report $-0.04 for 4Q.
Almaden Minerals Ltd (AAU,AMM.T) is expected to report for 4Q.
Arrive AI Inc (ARAI) is expected to report for 4Q.
Atlantic International Corp $(ATLN)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Aura Biosciences Inc (AURA) is expected to report $-0.41 for 4Q.
Bit Digital Inc (BTBT) is expected to report for 4Q.
Chaince Digital Holdings Inc $(CD)$ is expected to report for 3Q.
DouYu International Holdings Ltd - ADR $(DOYU)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Ermenegildo Zegna NV (ZGN) is expected to report for 4Q.
Inhibrx Inc (X-INBX) is expected to report for 4Q.
Neurogene Inc $(NGNE)$ is expected to report $-1.27 for 4Q.
Noble Romans Inc (NROM) is expected to report for 4Q.
Oncolytics Biotech Inc (ONC-T,ONCY) is expected to report $-0.06 for 4Q.
Palisade Bio Inc (PALI) is expected to report for 4Q.
ParkerVision Inc (PRKR) is expected to report for 4Q.
Quince Therapeutics Inc $(QNCX)$ is expected to report $-0.12 for 4Q.
SANUWAVE Health Inc (SNWV) is expected to report for 4Q.
Serina Therapeutics Inc $(SER)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Trinity Place Holdings Inc (TPHS) is expected to report for 4Q.
VirnetX Holding Corp (VHC) is expected to report for 4Q.
Westwater Resources Inc (WWR) is expected to report for 4Q.
Xpeng Inc - ADR $(XPEV)$ is expected to report $0.01 for 4Q.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 19, 2026 16:36 ET (20:36 GMT)
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