Overnight headlines on March 27th

1. US President Donald Trump has extended the deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz in Iran to April 6 and stated that negotiations between the US and Iran are progressing very smoothly. 2. Bank of England rate-setters expressed doubts on Thursday about fears that a war with Iran could trigger a spiral of price increases, despite market expectations for the bank to raise rates three times this year. 3. With the Strait of Hormuz blocked and oil revenue cut off, the heavily oil-dependent economy of Iraq is facing collapse, becoming one of the hardest-hit countries in the Middle East crisis. 4. Apple has awarded rare bonuses to iPhone hardware designers this week to prevent them from moving to artificial intelligence startups such as OpenAI that are developing their own devices. 5. Meta announced on Thursday that it is increasing its investment commitment to an AI data center under construction in West Texas by more than sixfold, to $10 billion, with the goal of achieving a capacity of 1 gigawatt by the facility's operational target in 2028. 6. Gordon Haskett analysts have informed clients that the market is speculating that GameStop may be considering acquiring Best Buy. 7. Victory Capital Holdings has abandoned its nearly $9 billion acquisition offer for Janus Henderson Group, bringing an end to this short and intense takeover battle. 8. Micron Technology's stock price is expected to drop for the sixth consecutive trading day, falling 22% since Wednesday, March 18. The stock closed at an all-time high that day, with second-quarter earnings far exceeding analysts' expectations. 9. United Airlines has reached a temporary labor agreement with its flight attendant union, marking the first pay raise for flight attendants in nearly six years.