WORLD
Crypto market value climbs Back above $2 trillion in broad rally
Bitcoin’s 22% year-to-date gain has helped to lift the market capitalization of digital assets above $2 trillion for the first time since April 2022, data from CoinGecko show. Bitcoin and Ether were up more than 1% at one point on Thursday in Singapore, with the latter changing hands at $2,785 as of 9:37 a.m.
WORLD
Thailand mulls $1 billion global sovereign bond offer, first in two decades
The Finance Ministry aims to wrap up a cost-benefit analysis and other steps for the offering for the government to take a decision by May, according to Public Debt Management Office Director-General Patchara Anuntasilpa.
WORLD
NYC sues social media platforms over teen mental-health concern
The most populous US city filed a lawsuit Wednesday in California state court in Los Angeles against Meta, its Facebook and Instagram platforms; TikTok Inc. and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd.; Google LLC and its YouTube platform; and Snapchat owner Snap Inc.
BUSINESS
SoftBank’s Vision Fund swaps splashy bets for ‘timid’ investing
The surprising part was that TravelPerk’s lead backer was SoftBank, a Japanese investor whose Vision Fund was famous for giving startups outrageous price tags until it racked up immense losses in an investing spree under founder Masayoshi Son.
BUSINESS
Sony plans financial unit IPO in 2025 after PS5 sales falter
The company revealed plans for the partial sale after reporting earnings and revising its forecasts for the fiscal year through March.
INDIA
PM Modi pushes ahead with mideast-europe corridor despite conflict
Modi met with UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, where the war and conflict in the Red Sea featured heavily in discussions, according to India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra.
INDIA
India’s seven days of love sees young people spend millions on Valentine’s Day gifts
E-commerce platforms, along with dating sites, are pushing the trend and engaging in aggressive campaigns to promote romantic products.
WORLD
Japan GDP set to confirm slip to world’s fourth-largest economy
For a country once tipped to eventually boast the world’s largest economy, the latest slide down the list of economic rankings will raise fresh questions for a domestic audience about the nation’s trajectory.
WORLD
Apple’s longest-serving designer to depart company, adding to exodus
Andre was one of the last remaining designers from the Ive era and helped create the aesthetic for Apple products released over the past three decades — even prior to Steve Jobs returning to the helm in the late 1990s.
WORLD
Walmart is in talks to buy TV maker Vizio: Report
Discussions are ongoing and a deal may not materialize, the Journal reported. Walmart and Vizio declined to comment.
WORLD
Jeffrey Gundlach looks to PCE as inflation metric after CPI ‘bites’ Fed
PCE, which comes out Feb. 29, “cannot go up and have the Fed talking about cutting interest rates,” Gundlach said. The three-month annualized core CPI is coming up now and the trend may stick, he added, so the market can no longer look at it and take comfort.
WORLD
Lyft shares see-saw after error in margin forecast is corrected
The company’s shares initially surged in late trading, then gave up much of the gain when Lyft disclosed an erroneous margin projection in its earnings release — later corrected on a conference call.
WORLD
Jeff Bezos sells $4 billion of Amazon stock in four trading days
The sales, revealed in regulatory filings, took place over just four trading days. The world’s second-richest person previously hadn’t sold stock since 2021.
BUSINESS
Standard Chartered weighs breaking up corporate, investment bank
The lender has been weighing options including separating its investment bank from its corporate and commercial banking operations, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUSINESS
Nvidia’s $560 billion gain has Wall Street racing to lift targets
The chip giant’s shares have surged 46 percent this year and added about $560 billion in market value as of February 12
BUSINESS
Family Offices cut stocks, boosted real assets in 2023, KKR says
Public equities dipped to 29% of the average total assets in family offices surveyed, down from 31% in 2020, according to Tuesday’s KKR Family Capital report, which canvassed more than 75 chief investment officers.
BUSINESS
Masayoshi Son adds $4 billion to his wealth on Arm’s 192% Rally
The pace of increase in his wealth puts the Japanese billionaire in the top 30 gainers among the world’s 500 richest people tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
TECHNOLOGY
Ex-Amazon Duo’s Marqo raises funding to build AI search tech
Investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners,Blackbird Ventures and January Capital took part in the Series A round, and the money will go toward commercializing its search platform, Marqo said.
BUSINESS
Indonesia’s next leader must turn EV dollars into jobs, growth
The three presidential contenders are proposing different ways to continue President Joko Widodo’s policy of using the country’s mineral riches to become an EV producer
BUSINESS
Retail traders are losing billions in India’s booming options market
Ansari is meeting his fans in Pune, about 90 miles south of Mumbai. He’s selling the dream of stock market riches to India’s fast-growing cadre of small investors. With half a million social media followers, he’s pushing an especially risky strategy: trading stock options, often as all-or-nothing bets on future share prices.
WORLD
Elon Musk says Vladimir Putin can’t lose in Ukraine, opposes senate bill
Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., made the comments in a forum Monday on X Spaces, part of his X social media platform.
WORLD
SoftBank shares hit most overbought level since 2003 on Arm jump
The 14-day relative strength index for SoftBank hit 88 on Tuesday, exceeding the level of 70 that signals to some traders that an asset’s gains may have been excessive.
BUSINESS
Arm Holdings shares extend blistering rally in wake of earnings
The chip designer’s shares soared as much as 42% on Monday on volume that was more than four times the average over the past three months.
BUSINESS
SAP splits with Chairman nominee ahead of Plattner retirement
Renjen and SAP had a “difference in perspective on the role,” the German company said in a statement late Sunday. Renjen was due to succeed SAP’s Hasso Plattner at the end of his term in May.
