Shares of Microsoft edged lower ahead of its earnings report, with the stock down around 1% in early trading on Wednesday. The move comes as investors positioned for key updates on cloud growth, capital spending, and artificial intelligence monetisation. Microsoft’s earnings are expected to provide a critical update on whether its aggressive AI strategy is
The consumer goods giants that built empires on household staples are struggling to justify their valuations. At the time of writing, Nestlé has shed nearly a quarter of its market value over the past five years. PepsiCo is up just 6.9%. Procter & Gamble, 11.2%. Colgate-Palmolive, 4.3%. Only Coca-Cola, with a near 40% gain, has
Corning reported better-than-expected first-quarter results but issued a softer revenue outlook for the current quarter, weighing on investor sentiment and halting a recent rally in optical communications stocks. The company posted adjusted earnings of 70 cents per share for the quarter, edging past analysts’ estimate of 69 cents, according to FactSet. Core sales rose 18%
The CEO of Norway’s $2.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund has urged companies to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in a way that benefits society broadly, cautioning against using the technology primarily to cut jobs. Speaking on Tuesday to Reuters, Nicolai Tangen warned that layoffs linked to AI adoption could spark a backlash, particularly as companies globally
US stocks opened lower on Tuesday, led by weakness in technology shares, as investors reassessed whether the artificial intelligence boom can sustain its momentum. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell more than 1.15%, while the S&P 500 dropped around 0.54%. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher by 110 points or 0.23%, supported by
Foreign demand for US investment-grade corporate bonds has remained strong for 15 consecutive months, according to a note by Citigroup, as cited in a Reuters reports. Overseas investors are increasingly rotating into technology, media and telecom (TMT) debt while reducing exposure to financial bonds. This trend comes despite recent concerns over rising corporate debt levels,
In a seismic shift for the global oil market, the United Arab Emirates has confirmed its exit from OPEC and OPEC+, effective May 1. The move, announced Tuesday by the country’s state news agency WAM, ends nearly six decades of membership and removes the cartel’s third-largest producer, marking one of the most consequential departures in
Standard Chartered said on Tuesday it has launched a new framework allowing institutional clients to use BlackRock’s tokenised short-term US Treasury fund as collateral on the crypto trading platform OKX. The lender has partnered with BlackRock and OKX to enable VIP and institutional clients on OKX Middle East to use the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital
Semiconductor stocks declined sharply on Tuesday, with Nvidia and its peers coming under pressure after fresh concerns emerged about the financial trajectory of OpenAI. Nvidia shares fell about 1.5% in trading, reversing some of the previous session’s gains when the stock closed at a record high after rising 4%. The chipmaker had recently broken out
Gold slumped to a three-week low on Tuesday as energy prices climbed due to stalled negotiations between the US and Iran. Meanwhile, crude oil rose sharply as the Strait of Hormuz remained shut, thereby affecting the free flow of shipments. However, oil prices trimmed some gains as the United Arab Emirates announced that it will