U.S stocks open lower
The three major averages traded lower in the U.S. Friday morning.
Just after the opening bell, the S&P 500 dropped 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also declined 321 points, or about 0.8%.
— Sean Conlon
People shop and walk in the shopping streets in the city center of Munich, Bavaria, Upper Bavaria, Germany, on February 20, 2025.
Michael Nguyen| Nurphoto | Getty Images
In a note to clients after German lawmakers passed public borrowing reforms that will pave the way for higher national defense spending, economists at Deutsche Bank declared it “time to bake this fiscal regime shift into macro forecasts.”
The analysts now expect Germany’s GDP growth to accelerate to 1.5% in 2026 and 2.0% in 2027.
“That said, it will take time for the fiscal impulse to kick in, and we slightly lower our growth forecast for 2025 to 0.3% in light of stronger global cross-currents than we had previously expected,” they said.
The German lender had previously forecast German economic growth of 0.5% for 2025 and 1% for 2026.
— Chloe Taylor
The Bank of Russia held its key rate unchanged at 21% on Friday, citing high inflationary pressures.
“The Bank of Russia estimates that the achieved tightness of monetary conditions creates the necessary prerequisites for returning inflation to the target in 2026,” it said in a statement on Friday. “Achieving the inflation target will require a long period of maintaining tight monetary conditions in the economy.”
The central bank’s board of directors noted that maintaining a long period of “tight monetary conditions in the economy,” will allow inflation to return to target in 2026.
“If disinflation dynamics do not ensure achieving the inflation target, the Bank of Russia will consider raising the key rate,” it said.
The central bank said Russia’s annual inflation was 10.2% as of March 17 and could slim down to 7-8% in 2025, before returning to 4% in 2026 and staying at this target further onward.
“According to the baseline scenario, the Bank of Russia expects that inflationary pressures will continue to decline in the coming months. This will be supported by a cooldown in lending and high saving activity,” it added.
Russia’s economy has been battling high inflation and economic constrictions as a result of Western sanctions, which have particularly curtailed Moscow’s key energy exports.
— Sawdah Bhaimiya
British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca on Friday said that it will invest $2.5 billion in a research and development center in Chinese capital Beijing.
The new hub is expected to take AstraZeneca’s Beijing workforce to around 1,700 employees.
The investment in Beijing comes as part of a partnership with the city’s Municipal Government and the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area Administrative Office, AstraZeneca said.
Under the deal, AstraZeneca will enter research and development collaborations with biotech firms Harbour BioMed and Syneron Bio and will launch a joint venture with BioKangtai to develop, produce, and market vaccines for respiratory and other infectious diseases.
— Chloe Taylor
Anita Mendiratta, founder of consultancy Anita Mendiratta and Associates, discusses the consequences of the fire at London Heathrow Airport.
Citi issued a note on Friday over the potential impact of the Heathrow airport closure on IAG, the owner of British Airways:
“1) the 2017 IT outage cost ~£80m, including £30m in lost revenue; however, we believe much of the cost was compensation – today’s fire would appear to be outside of the airline’s control, so compensation may not be payable (although they will need to provide food and water and possibly hotel accommodation),” Citi said in the note.
“2) it would appear to be one-off in nature, so we’d argue deserves a one times multiple (£80m is about 0.5% of market cap post tax; 3) if the airport does not open overnight, the costs would increase proportionally.”
— Sawdah Bhaimiya
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IAG
A fire at a nearby electrical substation caused the closure of Heathrow Airport on Friday, affecting hundreds of flights in and out of the London transport hub. Here are some of the biggest movers as of 8:45 a.m. London time:
— Katrina Bishop
London’s Heathrow Airport closed on Friday after a fire at a nearby electrical substation caused a power outage, airport officials said.
“Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage across the airport due to a large fire at a nearby electrical substation. Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored,” a Heathrow spokesperson said.
“We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” the spokesperson said.
The airport will remain closed until at least 11:59 p.m. local time on Friday.
“We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation,” a Heathrow spokesperson said.
— Leslie Josephs, Monica Pitrelli
London’s FTSE 100 is expected to see little change at the open, according to IG, while Germany’s DAX index and the French CAC 40 are slated to shed 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively.
— Chloe Taylor
