Forkast Editor in Chief and Founder Angie Lau on how the China lockdowns have impacted cryptocurrency markets and the supply chain.

Twitter Inc. is in discussions to sell itself to Elon Musk and could finalize a deal as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said.

Twitter Inc. is in discussions to sell itself to Elon Musk and could finalize a deal as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said, a dramatic turn of events just 10 days after the billionaire unveiled his $43 billion bid for the social-media company.

The two sides met Sunday to discuss Musk’s proposal and were making progress, though still had issues to hash out, the people said. There are no guarantees they will reach a deal.

Twitter had been expected to rebuff the offer, which Musk made April 14 without saying how he would pay for it, and put in place a so-called poison pill to block him from increasing his stake.

But after the Tesla Inc. TSLA -0.37% chief disclosed that he has $46.5 billion in financing and the stock market swooned, Twitter changed its posture and opened the door to negotiations, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Sunday.

Wall Street futures

U.S. stock futures are in the red on Monday after a disappointing end to last week's trading session and as corporate earnings results continue to roll in.

Cryptocurrencies fell to new monthly lows overnight with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin all lower.

Cryptocurrencies fell to new monthly lows overnight with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin all lower.

Bitcoin was trading at approximately $38,530, down 3.20%, early Monday, while Ethereum and Dogecoin were trading at $2,815 (-4.69%) and 12.4 cents (-7.60), respectively, according to Coindesk.

Bitcoin and other major cryptos were roughly flat from the beginning of the weekend as it has been struggling to sustain positive momentum over the past few days, the report said.

Gas prices rose overnight by 0.003 cents. (Courtesy gasprices.aaa.com)

U.S. gas prices rose slightly early Monday morning.

The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. on Monday was $4.123, up 0.003 cents.

On Saturday and Sunday, that price was $4.12, according to the latest numbers from AAA.

The record high was $4.33, set on Friday March 11, 2022.

U.S. stocks were trending down early Monday morning as the busiest week for first-quarter earnings season is approaching.

U.S. stocks were trending down early Monday morning as the busiest week for first-quarter earnings season is approaching.

Reporting this week will be 167 companies in the S&P 500 – or one-third of the benchmark index. 

Included in that list are 13 Dow members, or just over 40% of the blue chip index.Among the highlights are reports from several mega-cap consumer/tech titans: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Twitter, which kicked off deal negotiations today with Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.

Investors are also watching profit reports from companies, including Japanese big names that are coming in weeks ahead. Several reports from U.S. companies, which have already been released, have been disappointing, contributing to the fall that ended last week on Wall Street.

Job-switchers are often reaping double-digit pay increases, a new survey shows.

Job-switchers are often reaping double-digit pay increases, a new survey shows, a phenomenon that is demonstrating bargaining power for workers while threatening to keep inflation high.

About 64% of job-switchers said their current job provides more pay than their previous job. Among these workers, nearly half received a raise of 11% or more, according to a ZipRecruiter survey provided exclusively to The Wall Street Journal. Nearly 9% are now making at least 50% more.Elevated rates of job switching could continue: Among prime-age workers aged 25 to 54, around 20% anticipate leaving within a year, while another 26% said they see staying one to two years, the survey said. Historically, the average job lasts four years, said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

Job switching is a key driver behind broader wage growth that developed as the economy rebounded from the Covid-19 pandemic. Workers who change jobs often command bigger pay increases and employers also raise wages to compete to keep existing workers, economists say.

Annual wage growth for the typical worker hit 6% in March, averaged over three months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s wage tracker. That is up from 3.4% a year earlier and above the 3.7% rate in February 2020, before the pandemic, when the unemployment rate was at a 50-year low.

Oil prices were lower in early Asia trade, weighed by concerns over China's COVID-19 outbreaks and expectations for aggressive interest-rate increases by the Fed.

Oil prices were lower in early Asia trade, weighed by concerns over China's COVID-19 outbreaks and expectations for aggressive interest-rate increases by the Fed.

Shanghai authorities have erected fences outside residential buildings, sparking fresh public outcry over a lockdown that has forced much of the city's 25 million people indoors.

Developments relating to Russia's invasion of Ukraine will remain in focus, as the current situation is adding pressure on the EU to sanction Russian oil, ANZ analysts said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. recently announced additional sanctions on Russia by banning entry of Russian ships to the U.S. ports, the analysts noted.

Front-month WTI crude oil futures are 1.8% lower at $100.24 per barrel, while Brent fells 1.9% to $104.65 barrel.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures slid $1.90, or 1.8%, to $104.75 a barrel at 0015 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell $1.89, or 1.9%, to $100.18 a barrel.

The benchmarks lost nearly 5% last week on demand concerns.

"Bearish sentiment outweighed concerns over tight global supply as China continued lockdowns in Shanghai and investors prepared for a series of U.S. rate hikes," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities.Investors are trying to adjust their positions before the U.S. summer driving season kicks off later in May, he said.

"But oil prices are not expected to fall below $90 a barrel due to the prospect of a potential ban by European Union on Russian oil amid a deepening Ukraine crisis," he said.

On the supply side, U.S. energy firms added oil and natural gas rigs for a fifth straight week amid high prices and prodding by the government.

In Europe, the Russia-Kazakh Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) was resuming full exports from April 22 after almost 30 days of disruptions following repairs on one of its key loading facilities, three sources familiar with the port loading plan told Reuters on Friday.

Still, some analysts say the worsening crisis in Ukraine could raise pressure on the EU to sanction Russian oil and prices could move higher later this year.

Russia is Europe's top gas supplier and the world's second-biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia.

Morgan Stanley raised its third-quarter price forecast for Brent by $10 per barrel to $130 citing a "greater deficit" this year due to lower supply from Russia and Iran, which is likely to outweigh short-term demand headwinds.

- Reuters contributed to this report.

Gold prices inched lower in early Asian trade as investors digest the prospects for more aggressive interest-rate hikes by the Fed to combat rising inflation.

Investors are likely to remain focused on developments relating to China's COVID-19 outbreaks, as well as Russia's war in Ukraine.

Oanda analyst Jeffrey Halley put support for gold at $1,940 per ounce and resistance at $1,980 per ounce. Spot gold is lower at $1,928.31 per ounce.

An elevated U.S. dollar continued to pressure demand for greenback-priced bullion as gold prices fell to their lowest levels since April 7 on Friday and marked a weekly decline as signs of faster policy tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve lifted Treasury yields and the dollar.

Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. short-term interest rates and higher yields, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. It is also, however, seen as a safe store of value during economic and political crises.

Gold futures for June delivery fell 0.7% to settle at $1,934.30 an ounce, for a 2.1% fall for the week, after back-to-back weekly gains, FactSet data show.

- Reuters contributed to this report.