The Asian newspaper Nikkei revealed today that the electric car company Tesla and its partner Panasonic are freezing their plans to expand at the (Gigafactory 1) plant in the United States.

The newspaper said that Tesla and Panasonic are reconsidering a plan to increase the production capacity of the plant 50% by 2020.

This comes as a result of investors' growing concerns about the possibility of weak demand for Tesla electric cars in the coming period, which means an abundance of production to no avail.

Consequently, by 19:23 GMT, Tesla fell by 3% to $267.6, as the index hit a day high of $270.5 and a low of $267.5.

The cost of the plant was $4.5 billion, located near Reno, Nevada, where Tesla and Panasonic collaborate to produce batteries for electric cars as well as other energy storage products.

Some Tesla components, parts and spare parts are also being manufactured at the factory, despite another plan by the company to produce the "Model W" in the factory.

Tesla said earlier that the demand for Tesla in the US market had risen significantly and exceeded expectations during the first quarter of the current year, and the company confirmed that it aims to deliver between 360 thousand and 400 thousand cars this year.

Palladium prices fell during today trading, as the dollar rallied against most major currencies, while analysts call the strong metal jumps "the bubble that burst."

The price of palladium had approached the $1,600 barrier for an ounce earlier this year with a rise in value by more than 50%.

This came as a result of strong demand from automakers for the use of palladium in the production of car components that reduce pollution levels.

In conjunction with strong demand, the Russian government announced its intention to ban the export of palladium from May to October.

Separately, by 14:09 GMT, the dollar index (against a number of major currencies) rose by 0.1% to 97.06 points, reaching a high of 97.1 points and a low of 96.8 points.

In today's trading, by 14:06 GMT, palladium futures (June delivery) fell by 0.9% to $1350.5 an ounce, the metal hit a high of $1373 and a low of $1338.3.

Ethereum fell by more than 8% on Thursday's spot trading, with a second loss in the last three days as correction and profit taking accelerated after a strong wave of gains, with the crypto market losing about $13 billion in less than 24 hours, In a negative sign that indicates a halt to the bullish market.

 As of 12:25 GMT, at Bitstamp, Ethereum is trading around $163.22, down by $14.49 or by 8.1%, from the opening price of $177.71 with the day's high at $178.00 and the low at $160.33.

Ethereum yesterday gained 1.2%, after losing 2.8% on Tuesday's trading on correction and profit taking from the highest level in five months at $187.26, which was recorded the day before.

The market value of cryptocurrencies on Thursday fell by about $13 billion to a total of $169 billion, with a large decline currently in most of the major currency prices in the market.

The total value of cryptocurrencies yesterday reached the level of $186 billion, which is the highest level since last November.

The correction and profit-taking in the crypto market accelerated on a strong wave of gains, with most of the major cryptocurrencies hitting their highest level in five months.

The current decline appears to be logical due to oversold levels, but the market losing about $13 billion in less than 24 hours causes difficulty, as it's a negative sign that indicates the end of the bullish trend in the market, which dominated most major currencies since early April, especially the world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.

On the other hand, Chairwoman of the International Fund, Christine Lagarde, said that the Blockchain technology is shaking the traditional financial world, and has a clear impact on the movements of existing financial institutions.

At the same time, the US Department of Energy project, which is based on the usage of the Blockchain technology to enhance the security of power plants is entering its second phase. As the project aims to prevent remote attacks, such as those that hit Ukraine's network in 2016.

The British pound fell against the US dollar on Friday, as uncertainty increased among investors after the EU approval to postpone the Brexit deadline.

The leaders of the European Union announced yesterday the postponement of the Brexit until October 31, in order to give the UK more time and the opportunity for further negotiations to reach a departure agreement.

It is worth mentioning that the British parliament has rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's agreement three times, which was reached last year with Brussels.

The leaders of European countries stressed that the negotiations between Brussels and London will be reviewed in June in order to verify the possibility of reaching a final agreement.

During today's trading, by 18:50 GMT, Sterling pound fell against the dollar by 0.3% to 1.3053, with the highest price at 1.3109 and the lowest price at 1.3051.