Planet Finance to Trump’s rescue? New Nasdaq company Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (gotta have “group” and “corp” at the end when your asset is a social media platform nobody uses) could be The Donald’s ticket out of a tight spot. The company now owns Trump’s social media network — called Truth Social — after shareholders of spac Digital World Acquisition Corp voted to merge.

Think of Trump Media as a proxy for how Trump’s base views his candidacy: The Nasdaq-listed company’s shares were up more than 30% yesterday after an appeals court gave Trump 10 days to cough up the USD 175 mn bond in the civil case (above).

Sound smart: Trump’s stake in Trump Media? It’s worth north of USD 3 bn now — but he faces a six-month lockup. Shares start trading todayunder the ticker DJT.

Also happening today on Planet Finance:

Adam Neumann is looking to buy WeWork back for about USD 600 mn, looking to regain the company from which he stepped down in 2019. The company had been valued as high as USD 47 bn before it filed for bankruptcy last November. The Wall Street Journal broke the news, which has since been picked up by everyone in the global business press.

Add this to your streaming queue: AppleTV+ made a limited release series on the implosion of the coworking giant — WeCrashed.

AND- Chocolate is about to get even more expensive. Cocoa futures have soared 60% this month to more than USD 9k per ton — making it more expensive than copper “as a supply crunch grips the market and chocolate makers grapple for beans,” Bloomberg reports.

THE MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian shares are largely in the green and stock futures are largely flat this morning, pointing to a muted open on Wall Street and in Europe later today. CNBC says traders are “taking a breather” on this holiday-shortened week. US benchmarks look set to close March with their fifth straight month of gains, while Korea’s Kospi just hit a two-year high.

TASI

12,657

-1.1% (YTD: +5.8%)

MSCI Tadawul 30

1,592

-1.3% (YTD: +2.7%)

NomuC

27,237

+1.5% (YTD: +11%)

USD : SAR (SAMA)

3.75 Sell

3.75 Buy

Interest rates

6% repo

5.5% reverse repo

EGX30

29,344

+1% (YTD: +17.9%)

ADX

9,319

-0.02% (YTD: -3%)

DFM

4,282

+0.03% (YTD: +6%)

S&P 500

5,218

-0.3% (YTD: +9.4%)

FTSE 100

7,918

-0.2% (YTD: +2.4%)

Euro Stoxx 50

5,044

+0.3% (YTD: +11.6%)

Brent crude

USD 86.75

+1.6%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 1.62

-2.7%

Gold

USD 2,198.2

+1%

BTC

USD 70,238.72

+5.1% (YTD: +158.7%)

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASIfell -1% yesterday on turnover of SAR 8.2 bn. The index is up 5.8% YTD.

In the green: Saudi Cable (+10%), Atheeb Telecom (+10%) and Alsagr Ins. (+9.9%).

In the red: East Pipes (-6.8%), AlBaha (-6.7%) and Middle East Specialized Cables (-5.4%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC rose 2% yesterday on turnover of SAR 55 mn. The index is up 11% YTD.

In the green: AlRashid Ind. (+22.7%), Saudi Networkers Services (+19%) and Group Five (+155%).

In the red: Sure Global Tech (-7.6%), AME (-3.4%) and Foods Gate Trading (-3.2%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Shareholders of Riyad Bank have signed off a dividend payout of SAR 2.25 bn at SAR 0.75 apiece for 2H 2023 as per the BoD’s earlier recommendation, the lender said in a regulatory filing (pdf) to Tadawul. The bank will distribute dividends next Tuesday, 2 April.

Shareholders of Al Rajhi Bank have approved its BoD’s recommendation to distribute dividends of SAR 4.6 bn at SAR 1.15 per share for 2H 2023, it said in a regulatory filing (pdf) to Tadawul. This brings total dividends for the year to SAR 9.2 bn. The distribution period begins on Wednesday, 2 April.

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