Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet said on Tuesday that their latest revenues and earnings had surged above the stock market’s already optimistic expectations, confirming that demand for their digital services and gadgets continued to soar as some countries began to emerge from the pandemic. Apple Apple’s profits almost doubled in its latest quarter to $21.7bn, as
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Multimillion-euro fines can force Big Tech companies to change their behaviour, despite their deep pockets, the president of the French Competition Authority has argued. Isabelle de Silva said she did not believe sanctions could be played down as merely “the cost of doing business”, breaking away from the consensus in the EU, where competition officials
The British government is exploring ways to remove China’s state-owned nuclear energy company from all future power projects in the UK, including the consortium planning to build the new £20bn Sizewell nuclear power station in Suffolk, according to people close to the discussions. The change in mood at the top of government also affects proposals
The lending businesses of large US banks are doubling down on wealthier customers, as well-to-do Americans borrow to buy second homes, invest in the stock market and potentially lighten their tax bills. The combined value of loans made by the wealth management arms of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley surpassed $600bn
US stocks ended Friday at a new high, reversing steep losses at the start of the week, as fears about the Delta variant of coronavirus were soothed by strong corporate earnings and continued central bank support for financial markets. The S&P 500 climbed 1 per cent, lifting the index’s weekly gain to 2 per cent
Supply disruptions, a drought in China and rebounding electricity demand have fired up the market for thermal coal, making the world’s least liked commodity one of this year’s best-performing assets. Since the start of the year, the price of high energy Australia coal — the benchmark for the vast Asian market — has climbed 80
Global investment banks are racing to redirect Chinese groups’ initial public offerings towards Hong Kong after new cyber security rules instituted by Beijing halted lucrative tech listings previously heading for New York. About 20 Chinese companies had publicly disclosed plans to raise $1.4bn from share sales in New York this year, Dealogic data showed. But
Google and Mukesh Ambani’s Jio are hoping to crack one of the world’s largest untapped smartphone markets, launching a device they hope will be cheap enough to convert 450m Indians on “dumb” handsets into smartphone users. The JioPhone Next, a successor to Ambani’s earlier-generation JioPhone, has been designed by the companies to run a custom version of
The European Commission is set to warn of increasing threats to judicial independence and to the fight against official corruption in Hungary and Poland, underscoring deep concerns within Brussels as the two countries seek EU approval for their recovery plans. A report from the commission into the maintenance of the rule of law, due on
Tokyo’s dreams of a trouble-free run-up to Friday’s Olympic opening ceremony have been shattered by a tally of Covid-19 infections, an alleged rape, a bullying scandal and a vanished weightlifter. Just four days before the start of what the head of the International Olympic Committee has described as “the most complex” games ever held, organisers
Costs at the top US banks jumped more than $6.6bn, or 10 per cent, in the most recent quarter compared with the same period of last year as executives paid up for talent and technology to fortify their businesses against increasing competition from nearly every angle. The increase in spending at JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs,
The US is experiencing a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”, the head of the country’s top public health agency warned, as new coronavirus cases have jumped 70 per cent in the past week. More than 33,000 infections were reported across the US on Thursday, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said
Beijing has snubbed the US by refusing to grant Wendy Sherman, deputy secretary of state, a meeting with her counterpart during a proposed visit to China that would have been the first top-level engagement since acrimonious talks in Alaska. The US halted plans for Sherman to travel to Tianjin after China refused to agree to
The pace of China’s economic recovery rose modestly in the second quarter after signs of sluggishness in the world’s second-biggest economy stoked expectations of greater policy support. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, China’s gross domestic product expanded 1.3 per cent in the three months to the end of June, up from a 0.4 per cent expansion
The breakneck pace of US consumer price increases seen since the start of the year accelerated in June, challenging the Federal Reserve’s case that the burst of inflationary pressures accompanying the economic reopening will prove temporary. The consumer price index rose 5.4 per cent in June from a year ago — above the nearly 13-year