WORLD
OpenAI pauses new signups to manage overwhelming demand
Sam Altman’s company introduced new features and upgrades at its first-ever developer conference last week, allowing users to build custom versions of ChatGPT to accomplish specific tasks.
BUSINESS
Druckenmiller, Soros cut stakes in Nvidia after share surge
Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office cut its Nvidia Corp. stake in the quarter ended Sept. 30, according to its 13F filing, the first time this year the New York-based firm disclosed a drop in its holdings of the major beneficiary of increased AI interest.
BUSINESS
US producer prices decline by most since April 2020 on Gasoline
Prices paid to US producers unexpectedly declined in October by the most since April 2020, adding to evidence of abating inflationary pressures across the economy.
BUSINESS
SpaceX discusses spinning off Starlink via IPO as soon as 2024
SpaceX is discussing an initial public offering for its fast-growing Starlink satellite business as soon as late 2024, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a bid to capitalize on robust demand for communications via space.
WORLD
Justin Trudeau faces calls to exit with his party trailing in polls
The Canadian prime minister may not have to face voters until 2025, thanks to a power-sharing deal with a left-leaning opposition group, which gives him some runway to try to turn things around.
BUSINESS
Vitol says refiners face ‘Soft Patch’ in 2024 on new plants
Global oil refiners will suffer a “soft patch” next year as new capacity in Mexico, Africa and the Middle East boosts fuel supply, according to Vitol Group’s Head of Research Giovanni Serio.
BUSINESS
Actis’s Aggarwal said to be frontrunner for India NIIF CEO job
Sanjiv Aggarwal, who leads energy investments for Actis LLP in Asia, is emerging as the frontrunner to head India’s $4.9 billion quasi sovereign fund, according to people with knowledge of the matter, filling a role left in limbo for more than a year.
WORLD
UK inflation rate falls to the lowest level in two years
Consumer prices rose 4.6% from a year earlier in October, down sharply from 6.7% in September and the slowest pace since 2021, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. The 2.1-percentage point fall between the two months was the steepest since 1992.
WORLD
China claims world’s fastest internet with 1.2 terabit-per-second network
The two firms teamed up with Tsinghua University and research provider Cernet.com Corp. to build what they claim is the world’s first internet network to achieve a “stable and reliable” bandwidth of 1.2 terabits per second, several times faster than typical speeds around the world.
BUSINESS
UBS is calling time on Indian stocks’ outperformance over China
Stocks in China have currently priced in “lots of negatives,” making them poised for a sharp rebound when catalysts arrive, said Sunil Tirumalai, UBS’ global emerging market strategist. Meanwhile, earnings-based valuations for Indian shares are already at “fairly extreme levels.”
WORLD
A 1962 Ferrari GTO race car auctions for record $51.7 million
Jim Jaeger, a prominent collector in Ohio and co-founder of the company that came to manufacture Escort radars, owned the car for nearly four decades prior to the sale. A spokesperson from RM Sotheby’s did not identify the new owner.
WORLD
Israeli forces begin ‘targeted operation’ at Gaza Hospital
Israel Defense Forces are “carrying out a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa Hospital,” the IDF said in a statement early Wednesday.
WORLD
Tencent, Alibaba earnings hold key to $44 billion China tech run
As the country’s major tech firms start reporting third-quarter earnings this week, expectations are for Tencent to show strong growth given cost reductions and a friendlier regulatory climate for gaming that also benefits rival NetEase Inc.
WORLD
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire trims HP stake, exits bet on General Motors
The conglomerate’s retreat from Activision completes Buffett’s arbitrage play amid the video-game maker’s prolonged effort to merge with Microsoft Corp., which ran into antitrust scrutiny before the deal was completed in October.
WORLD
Cathie Wood predicts deflation to take hold in US next year
“The Federal Reserve has overdone it, we’re going to see a lot more deflation going forward,” the head of ARK Investment Management told Bloomberg TV Tuesday. “If we’re right, and they’ve gone way too far, they’ll have to cut fairly significantly.”
WORLD
US dollar tumbles most in a year as traders bet on end of US hikes
A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar tumbled as much as 1.3% on Tuesday, the largest such drop since November 2022. It stayed close to the previous day’s close on Wednesday, helping propel the won and ringgit to the top of Asia’s currency rankings.
WORLD
China’s Xi Jinping begins first US trip in six years amid tight security
Xi will be greeted at 3 p.m. local time Tuesday by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen — one of the several top US officials who smoothed the path for his visit. The Chinese leader is traveling with his chief of staff Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
WORLD
China pumps cash into banking system to support stimulus funding
The People’s Bank of China offered 1.45 trillion yuan ($200 billion) of cash through its medium-term lending facility — 600 billion yuan more than the 850 billion yuan coming due in November. The net injection was the most since 2016.
WORLD
Japan economy shrinks more than expected, supporting BoJ easing
Gross domestic product shrank at an annualized pace of 2.1% in the third quarter, largely on the back of falling business spending and higher imports that dragged on the economy, the Cabinet Office reported Wednesday.
BUSINESS
US Inflation broadly slows in sign of progress for Fed
US inflation broadly slowed in October, an encouraging sign of progress for the Federal Reserve in the long path to taming price pressures.
BUSINESS
World set to warm with current climate policies, UN warns
The UN estimates that carbon emissions released into the atmosphere will increase by about 9% in 2030, compared with 2010 levels, based on current national pledges submitted ahead of the upcoming COP28 climate summit.
BUSINESS
Dubai Air Show: Boeing extends successful run, Airbus struggles
Ethiopian will buy 20 737-8 short-haul aircraft as well as 11 787-9 Dreamliners, with options to expand the order to as many as 67 aircraft.
WORLD
Vodafone beats Q2 sales growth, reiterates outlook
Organic service revenue in the second quarter rose 4.7%, the Newbury, England-based phone carrier said in a statement on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
India gets temporary inflation reprieve, keeping RBI on guard
The consumer price index rose 4.87% from a year earlier, statistics ministry data showed Monday, down from 5.02% in September, but slightly higher than economists had estimated.
