After two weeks of gains, Wall Street remains stable.

BY THE NUMBERS

The US stock market saw little movement on Monday, while Wall Street aimed to end March with a monthly gain after a two-week winning streak. On Friday, the government will release its final monthly employment report before the Federal Reserve's policy meeting in May. Meanwhile, growing expectations for more aggressive interest rate hikes have been driving bond yields higher, with the 10-year and 30-year Treasury yields inverting for the first time since 2006 on Monday, raising concerns about a possible recession. The benchmark 10-year yield reached almost 2.56%, hitting a new two-year high. (Source: CNBC)

IN THE NEWS TODAY

On Monday, oil prices dropped approximately 5% as traders expressed concerns about weaker fuel demand in China following the launch of a two-stage Covid lockdown in Shanghai. The initial phase of the lockdown, which runs from Monday to Friday morning, affects the eastern part of the city, including its financial center. The Shanghai Stock Exchange, however, will not be affected. The second phase of the lockdown, which applies to the western part of the city, will run from Friday morning to April 5. In response to the lockdown, Tesla has suspended production at its Shanghai factory during the first phase. The company has not yet commented on the status of operations at its Shanghai plant for the week. Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that he has tested positive for Covid again but is experiencing "almost no symptoms."

Tesla intends to split its shares in order to pay a stock dividend to its shareholders, as stated in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. Tesla shares increased by 5.5% in the premarket. Since its last 5-for-1 split in August 2020, the stock has more than doubled. Despite gaining nearly 50% in 2021 and about 740% in 2020, Tesla shares have been struggling in 2022. In a tweet on Saturday, Musk expressed his intention to build a new social media platform. The Tesla and SpaceX billionaire made the comment one day after claiming that Twitter does not allow for free speech. Twitter, which is committed to freedom of expression, did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

The talks between Ukraine and Russia are set to continue this week, with officials from both countries traveling to Turkey in hopes of resolving the conflict. Meanwhile, Moscow expressed concern over President Joe Biden's Saturday remarks that Russian leader Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power." The White House later clarified that Biden's comments were not meant to be taken literally. Meanwhile, a recent NBC News poll shows that Biden's job approval rating has reached its lowest point since he took office.

Biden plans to introduce a new minimum tax that primarily affects billionaires in his 2023 budget, according to a CNBC source. The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax would impose a 20% minimum tax rate on U.S. households worth over $100 million, with over half of the revenue generated from those worth over $1 billion.

"CODA," the first film produced by a streaming service to win Best Picture at the Oscars, was produced by Apple TV+. It won three overall. Following his win for Best Actor for "King Richard," Will Smith apologized to the academy after making a joke about his wife. (CNBC)

Next quarter, Apple is planning to reduce iPhone SE production by 20%. (Nikkei)

After years of debate among Walmart's leadership, the retail company has decided to stop selling cigarettes in some U.S. stores. The Wall Street Journal reports that cigarettes are being removed from various markets, including some stores in California, Florida, Arkansas, and New Mexico.

STOCKS TO WATCH

The acquisition of Poly by HPQ for $40 per share, which is a 48% increase from Poly's Friday close of $26.20 per share, is expected to close before the end of this year.

Uber has been granted a new 30-month license to operate in London after being engaged in a dispute with regulators over safety issues for the past five years and losing its license twice.

Piper Sandler downgraded BYND to "underweight" from "neutral," citing growing competition for plant-based meat substitutes and lower expectations for the impact of a nationwide MCD launch.

According to a local newspaper, it is reported that (COIN) is close to finalizing a deal to acquire 2TM, the parent company of Brazilian cryptocurrency broker Mercado Bitcoin. The paper suggests that the deal could be completed by the end of April. As a result, shares of the cryptocurrency exchange operator experienced a 4% increase in the premarket.

Despite an inexpensive valuation, investors may be underappreciating the potential impact of inflation, which led to a 1.7% decline in premarket trading after Cowen downgraded it to "market perform" from "outperform."

The British bank, BCS, lost 3.1% in premarket action after disclosing a loss of nearly $592 million due to mishandled bond trades. Additionally, the bank announced that it would delay a planned share buyback as a result.

According to sources, Hasbro has rejected a settlement offer from Alta Fox Capital regarding board nominees. Alta Fox owns a 2.5% stake in the toymaker, and the two sides have been in talks to prevent a proxy battle.

Adam Aron, CEO of AMC, announced that the company plans to make more "transformational" deals, as evidenced by its recent $27.9 million investment in HYMC. AMC's stock price increased by 2.2% in the premarket.

WATERCOOLER

The men's Final Four has been whittled down to Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, and Villanova. Kansas will face Villanova, followed by Duke taking on Carolina in the first NCAA Tournament matchup between these two teams in New Orleans.