Swarmer, a small-cap developer of drone software, saw its shares soar 520% on Tuesday, the first day after its IPO. Against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions and increased military spending globally, investors have turned their attention to the defense segment, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-17/ai-drone-software-stock-jumps-700-in-best-ipo-since-newsmax">notes</a>.

Drone software company Swarmer skyrockets 520% in first day of trading

Oracle Corporation

Palantir Technologies Inc.

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.

'Impressive turnaround': software makers' stocks come out on top after war breaks out

In February, the wholesale cost of goods and services in the U.S. - the segment where rising inflation usually shows up earliest - rose much more strongly than expected, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/18/ppi-inflation-february-2026.html">writes</a>.

US wholesale inflation in February significantly exceeded expectations

With the outbreak of war in the Middle East, the commodity crisis forced many investors to revise their economic forecasts and look for safe havens. All of this has had a direct impact on the currency market. Gleb Nazarenko, CEO of Astero Falcon, wrote which ones showed resilience in the crisis, and which ones were among the victims.

The dollar has strengthened since the start of the war in the Middle East. What other currencies have gone up? 

Nebius Group N.V.

Arkady Volozh's Nebius Group, a cloud provider, has raised $4 billion through the placement of convertible bonds, according to the company's statement, which is available to Oninvest. Thus, the company increased the volume of the deal - from the originally <a href="https://oninvest.com/article/nebius-privlecet-3-75-mlrd-cerez-konvertiruemye-obligacii-akcii-upali-na-5">planned</a> $3.75 billion. It needs the money to finance the construction of data centers.

Volozh's Nebius raised $4 billion through a bond issue. This is more than planned

Amazon.com, Inc.

lululemon athletica inc.

Alphabet Inc.

Daily review and forecast of events on the U.S. stock market from Mikhail Denislamov, Deputy Director of Freedom Capital Markets Research.

Morning in New York: the Fed is on the ropes

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates are planning to relax tax residency requirements for expats, allowing them to spend more time abroad without losing their favorable tax status, sources <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/ea6c84c9-3385-4b32-ab25-0f439a26891d?syn-25a6b1a6=1">told the</a> Financial Times. The measure is aimed at those who left the country after the outbreak of war in the Middle East, during which Iran has repeatedly attacked various sites in the UAE, including the center of Dubai.

UAE may relax tax rules for expats who left because of war with Iran - FT

Devon Energy Corporation

Diamondback Energy, Inc.

Permian Resources Corporation

One of Japan's largest banks advised betting on relatively small oil producers

In search of 'undervalued value': Mizuho names stocks that have yet to recover from oil's rise

The Mosaic Company

TotalEnergies SE

Exxon Mobil Corporation

Chevron Corporation

Cheniere Energy, Inc.

Alcoa Corporation

CF Industries Holdings, Inc.

Nutrien Ltd.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation

In the third week of U.S. and Israeli military action against Iran, commodity markets entered a phase that CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/01/experts-weigh-potential-scenarios-for-oil-if-strait-of-hormuz-closes.html">compares</a> to the oil crisis of the 1970s. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has effectively cut off Asia's and Europe's largest consumers from some of their suppliers of energy, metals and chemicals. Who loses from this and who stands to gain?

Which companies will benefit from the disruption of raw material supplies due to the Iran war 

Microsoft Corporation

Minimax-wp

Knowledge Atlas Technology Joint Stock Company Limited

Oil prices fell after Iraq agreed to resume exports through Turkey to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. crude inventories were higher than expected. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's stock surged on Chinese AI tigers. Microsoft is preparing for a possible lawsuit with Amazon and OpenAI over circumventing Azure exclusivity. On these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of March 18.

Highlights for the morning: oil is cheaper, AI tigers take off, Microsoft vs. OpenAI and Amazon

AI will destroy 34 million U.S. jobs by 2030. What to prepare children for?

NVIDIA Corporation

The situation with obtaining export licenses from Washington has improved in recent weeks