Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:    

• Chinese Earnings Estimates Cut Most Among Major Asian Markets. Chinese companies listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong had their profit estimates cut the most among major Asian economies as the slowest growth in more than two decades erodes corporate earnings. Projections for earnings of companies in the Shanghai Composite Index in the next 12 months were lowered by 6.8 percent, while those for firms in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, or the H-share gauge, were reduced by 6.2 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
• China's Stocks Drop Most in Two Weeks as Slowdown Hurts Profits. China’s stocks fell the most in two weeks as the slowing economy and slumping commodity prices dragged down profits of some of the nation’s largest companies including PetroChina Co. The Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.6 percent, led by energy, material and financial companies. PetroChina declined for a fourth day after posting its weakest annual profit since 1999 and crude oil extended its retreat below $40 a barrel. Citic Securities Co. paced losses for brokerages after China International Capital Corp. cut its 2016 profit estimates. Chinese earnings, especially those of industrial companies, won’t pick up unless economic growth regains momentum, according to Xufunds Investment Management Co. The most recent data show industrial companies’ profits declined 4.7 percent in December. The nation’s monetary and fiscal stimulus have yet to spur a growth rebound, based on the earliest private economic indicators for March.
• Emerging Markets Extend Losses as Hawkish Remarks Halt Fed Rally. Emerging-market stocks and currencies headed for their first weekly declines in March as a rising chorus of Federal Reserve officials for a quicker path of interest-rate increases drove investors away from riskier assets. A resurgent dollar sent oil and commodities lower, pushing equity gauges in Russia and the Middle East down by at least 1.5 percent amid plunging volumes. MTN Group Ltd. led nine shares trading without their latest dividend rights in Johannesburg, shaving off 0.4 percent from the benchmark index. Chinese shares in Hong Kong fell the most in a month on signs slower growth in the second-biggest economy is hurting corporate profits. Russia’s ruble and South Africa’s rand weakened the most among currencies. A number of Fed officials are backing an April increase in U.S. interest rates. A move may be warranted at the next meeting amid prospects for inflation and unemployment exceeding targets, said James Bullard of St. Louis, who is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee this year. Philadelphia’s Patrick Harker said this week he would like to see the tightening of borrowing costs go “a little faster.” Central bankers from Atlanta and San Francisco also called for an imminent move.
• Europe Stocks Slide With Retailers on Thin Volume Before Holiday. Retailers led a fourth day of declines in European shares in a holiday-shortened week. Next Plc led retail shares to the worst performance among Stoxx Europe 600 Index groups, down 15 percent after cutting its annual sales-growth forecast. Marks & Spencer Group Plc and Associated British Foods Plc slid 4.9 percent or more. Volkswagen AG dropped 1.7 percent after it failed to reach an agreement with U.S. authorities over its tainted diesel engines.  Europe’s benchmark dropped 1.3 percent at 4:31 p.m. in London. The volume of shares changing hands was a third percent lower than the 30-day average. Markets are closed tomorrow for Good Friday, with some including Norway and Denmark shut today as well. 
• Oil Declines a Second Day as U.S. Crude Supply Gain Adds to Glut. (video)
• Iron Ore Sinks Toward $50 Amid China Concern as BHP, Rio Retreat. Iron ore sank toward $50 a metric ton to post the first weekly loss in four amid a resurgent dollar and indications China’s economy has yet to rebound, offering early vindication to forecasters including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. who’d argued that recent gains were unlikely to persist. Spot ore with 62 percent content in Qingdao fell 2.6 percent to $56.37 a dry ton on Thursday, dropping for a third day, according to Metal Bulletin Ltd. After gyrating this month, including the biggest one-day gain on record, prices remain 29 percent higher in 2016 following three years of losses on a global glut driven by rising low-cost supply and sinking steel demand in China. There’ll be no pricing on Friday.

CNBC:

• El-Erian: Markets could fall 10% in coming months. (video)
• We're about to hit a wall of resistance: Strategist. (video)

Zero Hedge:

• US Oil Rigs Resuming Slide, Drop By 15 In Past Week To New Record Low. (graph)
• These Are The 8 Biggest Barriers To Economic Growth.
• Mapping The Belgium Terrorist Attacks: The Full Recreation Of The Brussels Bomb Explosions.
• Chinese Take Over Canada's Real Estate Market, Buy One-Third Of All Vancouver Homes Sold In 2015.
• The Stock Market Is A Monetary Policy Junkie - Quantifying The Fed's Unprecedented Impact On The S&P. (graph)
• Altanta Fed GDP Forecast Tumbles To 1.4% To Justify Fed's Downbeat Outlook On Economy. (graph)
• Brussels Suicide Bombers Planted Hidden Camera At Home Of Top Belgium Nuclear Official.
• The Next Critical Level For The S&P: Stay Above 2,028 Or Channel Support Is Broken.
• The 8 Major Problems The Next President Will Face. (graph)
• "Worst May Be To Come" Services PMI Signals "Softest Expansion Of New Business Since 2009". (graph)
• The Latest Key Developments In The Brussels Terror Attacks.
• Core Durable Goods Tumble For 13th Month, Longest Non-Recessionary Stretch In 70 Years. (graph)
• The Initial Jobless Claims Mystery Continues.  (graph)

Business Insider:

• A bomb maker, a safe house, and a suicide note: Clear links are emerging between the Brussels and Paris attacks.
• Everyone is worried that a third China bubble is about to pop.
• BPBP): The US will be energy independent in 5 years.