This is the first of my biweekly financial updates that will summarise key events that occurred over the past two weeks. The format and sections are not set in stone yet, so expect the next update to be slightly different.

We saw a mixed few weeks in the markets, with European markets leading the climb, spearheaded by rising GDP, interest rates being held at current levels, and reducing inflation. All the signs indicate the global economy is almost over the worst of the cost of living crisis that affects lots of people around the world. But, only time will tell as to when interest rates will finally begin to work their way down.

Index Performances

FTSE 100: 3.55%

FTSE 250: 1.00%

CAC 40: 2.10%

DAX: 2.91%

SSE: 0.18%

Hang Seng: 0.49%

Nikkei: 5.39%

ASX 200: 0.85%

Dow Jones: 2.13%

NASDAQ: 2.12%

S&P 500: 2.43%

Events

Mcdonald’s has blamed its large-scale outage that stopped stores from taking orders in the UK, Australia, and Japan, among others, on a third-party provider.

Apple reached an agreement to resolve a class-action lawsuit claiming that Tim Cook defrauded shareholders by concealing falling demands for iPhones in China. The settlement is $490 million to resolve this issue.

The Competition and Markets Authority has warned against the proposed £18 billion merger of Vodafone’s UK division with market rival Three, saying it could lead to higher prices.

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming it has a monopoly over the mobile phone sector by preventing competitors from using certain hardware and software functionalities on their iPhones.

UK inflation data shows a 2.5-year low at 3.4% thanks to decreases in food and drink costs.

Nationwide has agreed to purchase Virgin Money for 220p per share, which would value the company at £2.9 billion.

The Bank of England has decided to hold its interest rates at 5.25% potential, indicating a decrease in rates over the next few months.

The Fed decided to hold interest rates at 5.5%.

The UK economy grew by 0.2% in January, possibly ending one of the shortest recessions in the country’s history.

Donald Trump is planning a merger of his social media company, TruthSocial, with Digital World Acquisition Corp., which would give Trump a 58% stake in the merged company, possibly netting him billions.

The House voted 352 in favour and 65 opposed to passing legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S.

Upcoming Events

On Thursday, March 28th, both the United Kingdom and the United States will announce their annualised gross domestic product.

Friday, March 29^th, US and German markets are closed for Good Friday.

Dividend Payments for Major Companies

25^th March: Shell ($0.34), Astra Zeneca ($0.98)

26^th March: Meta ($0.50)

27^th March: Nvidia ($0.04)

28^th March: Goldman Sachs Group ($2.74), BHP ($0.26)

29^th Match: Bank of America ($0.24), Lockheed Martin ($3.15), and The Kraft Heinz Company ($0.4)

1^st April: Coca-Cola ($0.48), Pepsi ($1.26), Walmart ($0.21), Nike ($0.37)

2^nd April: Novo-Nordisk ($0.93)

3^rd April: Barclays (£0.05), Hewlett Packard ($0.28) 

P.S.: Do not take this as financial advice; make your own decisions and do further research before investing in the markets, as your capital is at risk.