Trump sweeps 5 primaries while Clinton takes 3, hackers target banks’ ‘nervous system’ and the Fed's monetary policy meeting

Apple suffered its first quarterly revenue decline in 13 years on the back of a growing preference among consumers for lower-priced iPhones. The US tech company reported revenues of $50.6bn and earnings of $1.90 a share, compared with the $52bn and $2 a share most analysts had expected. Revenues were down 13 per cent from the same period last year while earnings per share fell 18 per cent. Shares fell 7.8 per cent in after-hours trading to $95.99. (FT)

In the news

ExxonMobil loses its triple A rating Standard & Poor’s stripped the company of its long-held coveted rating amid a crude price rout that has added strain to the oil major’s balance sheet. (FT)

Hackers target banks’ ‘nervous system’ Thieves who raided the Bangladesh central bank in February are now targeting other financial institutions, according to the main group providing interbank transfer messages and a cyber security company investigating the crime. Swift, the financial transaction system that has about 11,000 banks worldwide as its customers, said it had ordered clients using its Alliance Access interface software to install a mandatory upgrade after attackers “successfully compromised the banks’ own environments” in order to send messages. (FT)

Twitter tumbles as advertising fails to fly Shares in Twitter dropped as much as 10 per cent in after-hours trading after the messaging platform revealed revenue rose 36 per cent year on year to $595m, lower than the consensus forecast for $608m. (FT)

Trump sweeps 5 primaries, Clinton takes 3 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won a majority of delegates in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island and Delaware on Tuesday, decreasing the odds of a contested convention. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton was victorious in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware, losing only Rhode Island to Bernie Sanders. (NYT)

BTG Pactual founder freed Star banker André Esteves, the founder of Latin America’s largest standalone investment bank who was jailed in November over corruption allegations, has been freed by Brazil’s Supreme Court in a move that is set to delight investors but could heap criticism on the country’s landmark graft investigation. (FT)

Malaysia’s 1MDB in default as Abu Dhabi dispute escalates The Malaysian state investment fund defaulted on a $1.75bn bond on Tuesday, triggering cross defaults on two other notes totalling $1.9bn and raising the stakes in a dispute between the troubled fund and an Abu Dhabi counterpart. (FT)

CO2’s ’greening effect’ Up to half of the Earth’s vegetation-covered land is now “greener”than it was 30 years ago, according to new research. Most of the change is down to rising CO2 from human activity, say the researchers, but they note that this is not necessarily good news for the planet. As CO2 concentrations increase, other factors such as the availability of nutrients may limit growth, and the rate of climate change will increase. (Nature Climate Change, CarbonBrief)

It’s a big day for

Rate watchers All eyes are on the Federal Reserve which will hold its third monetary policy meeting of the year. Economists expect it to keep interest rates in a 0.25-0.5 per cent range amid continuing questions about the strength of the economy. (FT)

Food for thought

Rebutting Brexit Martin Wolf breaks down the top 10 points in favour of an exit, and finds them all wanting. (FT)

Righting the ’Fiscal Ship’ A new online game from the Brookings Institution and the Wilson Center requires players to maintain the US national debt at its current level while meeting three major policy objectives. Try it out here.

Putin’s tacky taste in art is ruining Moscow The city’s intelligentsia is recoiling in horror at the aesthetic assault brought on by the president’s positively Khrushchev-esque taste. (New Yorker)

Uncertain future for Prince’s ‘vault’ Prince died without a will, his younger sister said in a court filing Tuesday, further muddying the fate of his vast musical catalogue, particularly the trove of unreleased songs known as “the vault”. (WSJ)

Video of the day

Immigration top card for Brexit campaign After the geopolitical fallout of President Barack Obama’s visit to the UK, many believe those campaigning to leave Europe in the UK referendum have been put on the defensive. FT editor Lionel Barber asks Janan Ganesh what cards the Brexiteers have left. (FT)