British consumer price inflation accelerated to 3.3% in the year to March, up from 3.0% in February, the Office for National Statistics said on April 22. The rise — the first official sign of the Iran war’s impact on the UK cost of living — was driven largely by an 8.7% month-on-month jump in motor fuel prices, the biggest monthly rise since June 2022. Transport costs, air fares and food also contributed; services inflation unexpectedly climbed to 4.5% while core inflation eased slightly to 3.1%. Producer input prices surged, signalling possible further pass-through to consumer prices. The data has complicated the Bank of England’s policy outlook: markets now see one or two rate rises possible this year, but most economists expect rates to be held at the April 30 meeting. Chancellor Rachel Reeves warned the conflict was “pushing up bills for families and businesses.” Forecasters including the IMF have lifted UK inflation forecasts, with some warning it could peak near 4% in coming months if energy supply disruption persists.

ServiceNow reported first-quarter 2026 results on April 22, beating revenue and most profitability metrics but warning of near-term margin pressure and delayed deal closings tied to the Middle East conflict. Revenue was $3.77 billion, up 22% year‑on‑year; subscription revenue reached $3.67 billion. Adjusted EPS of $0.97 met expectations and non‑GAAP operating margin for Q1 was 32%. Management said deal timing in the Middle East created roughly a 75 basis‑point headwind to subscription growth and flagged margin drag from the recently closed Armis acquisition (closed mid‑April), which it expects to add to subscription growth but reduce full‑year operating margin by about 75 bps and depress Q2 operating margin by roughly 125 bps. CEO Bill McDermott raised the company’s AI revenue target to about $1.5 billion for 2026. Investors sold heavily on April 23, driving the shares down roughly 15–18% intraday; multiple analysts cut price targets while others reiterated buy/overweight ratings (Barclays initiated coverage at overweight, $132 target).

PARIS, April 23, 2026 — Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH, told shareholders at the luxury group’s annual meeting that the company’s return to growth hinges on a swift resolution of the Middle East conflict and warned the war could spiral into a “global catastrophe.” Arnault said the conflict shaved about one percentage point off LVMH’s organic sales growth in the first quarter, which came in at 1%, and noted that some malls in the Middle East saw sales slump as much as 70% in early March. LVMH shares have fallen roughly 26% year-to-date. Arnault said business could resume normal growth if the crisis is resolved rapidly; if it expands, outcomes are unpredictable. He also dismissed immediate succession concerns after shareholders renewed his mandate last year, while involving his five children more visibly in the meeting. The company — whose brands include Louis Vuitton, Dior and Tiffany — flagged the conflict’s dampening effect on tourism and high-margin regional sales, underscoring the luxury sector’s sensitivity to geopolitical shocks.

SpaceX announced a strategic partnership with AI coding platform Cursor that gives the rocket company the right to acquire Cursor for $60 billion later this year or, alternatively, to pay $10 billion for collaborative development of a next‑generation “coding and knowledge work” AI. The deal pairs Cursor’s popular Composer coding model and distribution to software engineers with SpaceX’s Colossus supercomputer in Memphis, which the company says has compute equivalent to about a million Nvidia H100 GPUs. Cursor, which sold a $2.3 billion Series D late last year valuing it at $29.3 billion, had been pursuing a separate fundraising that valued it above $50 billion; that process has paused. Early investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital stand to reap multibillion‑dollar gains if the acquisition completes. Reports say Microsoft explored buying Cursor before SpaceX’s move but did not make a formal bid. Observers note the structure may be designed to align with SpaceX’s planned IPO and reflects xAI’s need for compute and product capabilities to close gaps with rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

U.S. Internal Revenue Service investigators are reporting a sharp increase in cryptocurrency fraud schemes enabled by artificial intelligence, CBS News reported April 23-24, 2026. The IRS warned scammers are using AI tools to create more convincing deepfakes, synthetic identities, automated phishing campaigns and fraudulent transaction histories to deceive investors, exchanges and tax authorities. CBS correspondent Anna Schecter said investigators have observed AI-generated voice and video impersonations, automated social-engineering bots and falsified documentation that accelerate scheme scale and lower operational costs for criminals. The agency is urging taxpayers, financial firms and crypto platforms to heighten verification protocols, scrutinize unusual account activity and report suspected scams promptly. The bulletin underscores challenges for existing know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) controls and signals likely increased scrutiny from U.S. enforcement agencies and potential coordination with industry to stem losses and pursue perpetrators.

Intel reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of about $13.6 billion, beating analyst estimates, and said on April 23–24 that second-quarter revenue is expected to be between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion — well above Wall Street forecasts. Revenue from its Data Center and AI unit rose to $5.1 billion, a roughly 22% year-on-year gain, while its foundry business produced $5.4 billion. The company posted a GAAP loss reflecting restructuring and goodwill impairments but delivered positive adjusted earnings. After the guidance, Intel shares jumped in extended trading — gains reported between roughly 15% and 22% across outlets — lifting market value by tens of billions and sending the stock to multi-year highs. CEO Lip-Bu Tan, one year into the role, credited a turnaround driven by booming demand for CPUs for inference and agentic AI workloads, expanded deals with Google, and a nascent partnership tied to Elon Musk’s Terafab project. Intel also repurchased a minority fab stake in Ireland and cited ongoing supply constraints for wafers and memory as limits on near-term shipments.