Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Euro-Area Unemployment Falls to Lowest Level in Eight Years. Euro-area unemployment fell to the lowest in almost eight years and a measure of manufacturing accelerated as factories in the region’s biggest economies benefited from improving global growth. The average jobless rate declined to 9.5 percent in February from 9.6 percent in January. It’s been decreasing steadily from a peak of more than 12 percent in 2013 and is now at the lowest since May 2009. Separately, IHS Markit said its Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for Germany, France and Italy all rose in March, helping to pushing its euro-region gauge to the highest since 2011. New export business increased in all three nations.

• Venezuela Credit Dashboard: Default Risk Spikes as Payment Looms. (video)

• U.S. Stocks Decline as Auto Sales Trail Estimates. (video) The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.49 percent, after increasing 5.5 percent for the first three months of the year, the best quarter in two years. The MSCI All Country World Index was down roughly 0.5 percent.

• Tesla(TSLA) Passes Ford by Market Cap Before Musk Delivers Model 3. (video) The electric-carmaker climbed as much as 5.7 percent a day after beating analysts’ estimates by reporting shipments of 25,000 cars and SUVs in the first quarter. Its market value is now at about $47.6 billion, $2.7 billion more than Ford. Tesla has supplanted Ford even though it delivered fewer than 80,000 vehicles globally last year, compared with 6.7 million from Ford, the second-biggest automaker in the country behind General Motors Co.

• Panera Bread (PNRA) Said to Explore Possible Sale After Receiving Takeover Interest.

Wall Street Journal:

• Digital Clue Links North Korea to Theft at New York Fed, Security Firm Says. Kaspersky Lab says digital records show link to a computer with North Korean internet address.

Fox News:

• St. Petersburg subway blast: Two suspects sought in bombing that killed 10. (video)

CNBC:

• Put me in, coach: Money is pouring into the market from the sidelines. (video)

• April is the Dow's best month and these stocks do particularly well.

• China wants a piece of the US infrastructure boom. Trump won't let it come easy. (video)

• How Democrats are about to give Trump his groove back. (video)

• Wall Street is vastly underestimating how many people are going to buy the next iPhone, analyst says. (video)

• Shares of US auto companies fall as car sales decline. (video)

• The best could still be ahead for surging Amazon — and here's how to play it. (video)

Zero Hedge:

• Confirmed: Susan Rice "Unmasked" Trump Team.

• Democrats Have Enough Votes To Block Gorsuch Nomination, "Nuclear" Showdown Inevitable.

• Russia Releases First Photo Of St Petersburg Terrorism Suspect As Death Toll Climbs.

• 'Soft' Data Slammed As Manufacturing PMI Plunges To 6-Month Lows: "Bodes Ill For Second Quarter". (graph)

• The Best And Worst Performing Assets Of The First Quarter.

• Gorsuch "Nuclear Option" Could "Fundamentally Transform" The Senate Forever.

• A Record 67% Of Low-Income Americans Are Worried "A Great Deal" About Hunger And Homelessness.

• Russia Releases First Photo Of St Petersburg Terrorism Suspect As Death Toll Climbs.

Business Insider:

• Baltic states think Russia is laying the groundwork for looming 'kinetic operations'.

• One of the most anticipated hedge fund launches this year is even bigger than we thought.

• This robotic surgery is so intricate it can stitch a peeled grape back together. (video)