AFP

Stock markets surged on Wednesday, buoyed by robust US bank earnings and encouraging inflation data from the United States and Britain.Wall Street’s three main indexes closed sharply higher after US financial titans Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock and others posted stellar quarterly results.Fresh data published earlier Wednesday showed headline inflation in the Untied States accelerated …

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The United States unveiled further export controls Wednesday on advanced computing semiconductors, increasing due diligence requirements for businesses as it seeks to prevent diversion of tech to China despite existing restrictions.The move — part of a series of actions before President Joe Biden leaves office — comes days after US officials announced fresh curbs on AI …

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TikTok faces an imminent shutdown in the United States after Congress passed a law last year forcing its Chinese owner ByteDance to either sell the platform or close it on Sunday.The US Supreme Court is expected to rule this week on TikTok’s challenge to the law.Following a hearing last Friday, expectations are high that the …

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Social media giant TikTok plans to completely shut down its operations in the United States this Sunday if a ban ordered by legislators goes through as planned, a report said.The platform, which counts over 170 million American users, will implement an immediate blackout rather than allowing existing users continued access as had been expected, according …

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European stock markets rose Wednesday as traders focused on inflation data in Britain and the United States.London led the way in Europe as official figures showed an unexpected dip to UK annual inflation, easing some pressure on the Labour government as it struggles with growing the economy.The pound steadied versus the dollar and euro, with …

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After travelling to Tokyo for meetings, Yoshiki Kojima’s IT company employees crash out in a capsule hotel, as a tourism boom makes regular rooms too pricey for business trips.A weak yen is attracting more visitors than ever to Japan, with national tourism figures released Wednesday showing a new record of an estimated 36.8 million arrivals …

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Beijing on Wednesday said it “firmly opposes” a US move to effectively bar Chinese technology from smart cars in the American market, saying alleged risks to national security were “without any factual basis”.”Such actions disrupt economic and commercial cooperation between enterprises… and represent typical protectionism and economic coercion,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said, adding: …

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Stock markets were mixed Wednesday as traders assess the economic outlook ahead of Donald Trump returning to the White House next week, with focus now on the release of key US inflation data.A below-forecast read on wholesale prices provided a little relief and helped the Dow and S&P 500 end in the green, though sentiment …

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One rocket, two missions: lunar landers built by US and Japanese companies launched their “rideshare” to the Moon on Wednesday, showcasing the private sector’s growing role in space exploration.On board the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida were Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost and ispace’s Resilience from Japan, …

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