Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Bad day for big banks

JPMorgan and Wells Fargo both reported net interest income—the earnings they generate from lending—that missed analysts’ estimates Friday. At JPMorgan, that income slipped from the prior quarter for the first time in almost three years. Shares of the largest US bank fell the most since 2020. With stubborn US inflation making it more likely the Fed will have to delay interest-rate cuts, shareholders were eager to hear how much more that might boost revenue from lending. Instead, banking executives took turns talking about how depositors are chasing higher returns on their savings. At Wells Fargo, deposits that don’t pay interest slumped 18% from a year earlier, while those that do jumped. —David E. Rovella  

On Monday, Donald Trump is to become the first former American president to face a criminal trial in the nation’s 248-year history. Jury selection in New York state court will be followed by prosecutors presenting evidence that Trump falsified his company’s documents in a bid to hide payments to bury damaging stories in the runup to the 2016 presidential election. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, faces almost three dozen counts and potentially several years in prison if convicted. The twice-impeached Republican faces three other prosecutions, for mishandling top secret documents and seeking to subvert the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty in those cases as well.

Donald Trump in a Manhattan courtroom during a pre-trial hearing on March 25. Photographer: Bloomberg

The stock market has punished Apple this year for failing to offer a vision of where its future growth will come from. The shares caught a good breeze though after the tech giant took a step toward providing an answer. Apple’s decision to overhaul its Mac computer line to focus on artificial intelligence struck a chord with investors, sending the stock up 4.3% and adding $112 billion in value in its best performance in nearly a year. “Any announcement that pushes AI into consumer hardware could be very beneficial for Apple,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial. 

The rest of the market wasn’t quite so fortunate on Friday. The financial world was roiled by a flare-up in geopolitical risk that sent stocks sliding while spurring a flight to the safest corners of the market such as bonds and the dollar. Oil rose. Here’s your markets wrap.

US President Joe Biden will forgive $7.4 billion in federal student debt in his latest push to provide relief to borrowers and deliver on a campaign promise to ease the cost of higher education as he seeks reelection. Approximately 277,000 Americans will have their loans canceled through regulatory changes the Department of Education is making to multiple existing federal programs. Under Biden, the Education Department has incrementally forgiven $153 billion in loans for 4 million Americans.

Almost a decade ago, the light-rail system in Ethiopia’s bustling capital of Addis Ababa was hailed as a revolutionary solution to the city’s transportation woes. Envisioned as a project that would redefine urban transport, the system promised to sweep up to 60,000 passengers per hour along its tracks. Today it sits as a daily reminder of the broken promises of China-funded infrastructure investments that swept Africa in recent years. Frequent breakdowns, inadequate maintenance funding and operational constraints mean barely one-third of its 41 trains are operational, ferrying 55,000 passengers a day, a fraction of initial projections.

Addis Ababa and its light rail system Photographer: Michele Spatari/AFP via Getty Images

China said its top diplomat discussed tensions in the Middle East on a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, underscoring fears that the six-month-old Gaza conflict may escalate. Wang Yi “stressed that China strongly condemns the attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. Iran has threatened to hit Israel in retaliation for the deadly attack in Damascus last week.  

Beijing was also less than happy with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his remarks during a visit to the US this week. In a speech to a joint session of Congress, Kishida said China’s actions present an unprecedented challenge “to the peace and stability of the international community at large.” Kishida and Biden this week unveiled a list of initiatives aimed at boosting defense and intelligence cooperation, terming Chinese maritime activities in disputed areas as “dangerous.” Kishida’s comments were described as “a severe provocation” by the Chinese embassy in Japan.

Fumio Kishida, Japan’s prime minister, center right, during a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol on Thursday. Photographer: Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg

• Tension rises over expected Iran retaliation for Syria embassy strike.
• Hong Kong may approve Bitcoin, Ether ETFs by nest week.
• Cheap mortgages deter workers from relocating for $250,000 jobs.
• Texas warns of possible power emergency for its delicate grid.
• Adobe’s “ethical” Firefly AI was trained on Midjourney images.
• San Francisco is pretty angry at what Oakland just named its airport.
• This is what’s keeping Amtrak alive.

Flying with dogs can be fraught, and the options are slim. If they’re small enough, you can keep them in a carrier under a conventional airplane seat. If not, you can crate them and check them into the cargo hold—a scary prospect for pet owners. Although unwelcome incidents are statistically uncommon, it’s unsettling how often dogs are flown to the wrong destinations or mishandled by airport staff. Enter Bark.

Bark Air flights for pets, from New York to Los Angeles and London, will kick off in May 2024. Photographer: Joe Gall

Get the Bloomberg Evening Briefing: If you were forwarded this newsletter, sign up here to receive Bloomberg’s flagship briefing in your mailbox daily—along with our Weekend Reading edition on Saturdays.

Sustainable Business Summit London: Join us in London on April 25 where we will bring together global business leaders and investors to drive innovation and scale best practices in sustainable business and finance. Key themes this year will include the financial case for sustainability, accountability and inclusivity. Learn more