Saudi Aramco is working with China to build a $12.2 billion oil refinery. The refinery will be in northeast China, and it is expected to be fully operational in 2026. About 300,000 barrels of oil a day will be housed at the refinery.

Gold rose above $2,000 for the first time in one year. This is because of the ongoing fears about the crash of the banking system. Gold is up 10% so far in 2023.

WTI crude fell by more than 5% to $67.5. This is the lowest level since December 2021, marking the end of the commodity rally for now.

WTI crude fell by more than 5% to below $73, close to a level not seen since early December. The decline is likely caused by financial contagion fears following the Sillicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapses.

Silver tumbled from $21 to $20 in the midst of a global selloff. The commodity fell by almost 5% in a single day. Platinum also dropped by 4.7%, and gold declined by 1.8%.

US natural gas tumbled 10% when the market opened. This is after the commodity bottomed out and rose almost 50% in less than two weeks.

UBS CEO, Ralph Hamers. is stepping down on April 5th after the company acquired financially troubled Credit Suisse. Sergio Ermotti is about to succeed Hamers, who was UBS’ CEO from 2011 to 2020. 

The result of the annual inflation rate in Spain surprised, dropping from 6% in February to 3.3% in March. This is very close to the central bank’s goal. Germany’s inflation also fell, from 8.7% to 7.4%, a little above the estimated 7.3%. Belgium’s inflation held steady at 6.6%.

Thursday saw an almost 1% increase in European stock indices on hopes that central banks will soon halt their tightening cycle. Global risk sentiment improved as worries about the recent banking turmoil subsided. The STOXX 600 jumped to 455 while DAX 40 surged to 15,500.

Ripple (XRP) jumped an additional 12% to $0.58, as investors hope the lawsuit between the SEC and Ripple is coming to an end. The cryptocurrency is already up 65% in the last 2 weeks.

Saudi Aramco is working with China to build a $12.2 billion oil refinery. The refinery will be in northeast China, and it is expected to be fully operational in 2026. About 300,000 barrels of oil a day will be housed at the refinery.

The announcement of Alibaba’s plan to divide itself into six distinct businesses boosted the stock by 13%. This reorganization may result in many IPOs down the road. The segments would be cloud, e-commerce, global e-commerce, digital mapping, logistics, and a media arm.