U.S. Stocks Move Down Once Again
Stocks moved down for the second day as traders continued to book profits after earnings reports from major corporations. There is also the volatility ahead of Friday’s options expiry.
Cisco Systems, the biggest maker of computer networking equipment, pulled down Dow Jones after a poor sales projection. Alibaba Group also cut its projections for 2022 revenue with reduced consumer spending in China.
- Stoxx Europe is down by 0.47%
- Dow Jones is down by 0.51%
- NASDAQ is down by 0.10%
Chinese Digital Stocks to Recover in the Long Term, Says Templeton
Franklin Templeton Investments said on Thursday that digital and internet-related stocks of China had taken huge hits in the previous months, but they will recover and continue to grow in the long term. The Hang Seng Tech Index, which includes internet stocks such as Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, has recovered in recent weeks but remains more than 40% below its February peak. China’s tight controls and China-U.S tech war affected these stocks adversely.
Gemini Crypto Exchange Looking to Raise $400 million Funds
The cryptocurrency exchange Gemini Trust is seeking to raise $400 million funds and take the total valuation to $7 billion. No final decisions have been taken and the terms can still change. Many crypto exchanges are boosting their business thinking that the market is favorable. The exchange which was founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss recently had about $268.3 million in daily spot volume as compared with Binance at $30.2 billion.
Alibaba Group Slashes its Fiscal 2022 Forecast
Alibaba Group reported a 29% rise YoY in revenue to 200.7 billion yuan (Rs 2,33,171 crores) for the quarter ended September. It expects revenue growth of 20% to 23% in 2022 fiscal, below the analyst expectation of a 27% increase. The slowdown is majorly caused by China’s latest regulations on the domestic technology industry as a part of its data protection rules. Many Chinese tech giants was adversely affected, including Alibaba who was fined $2.8 billion (Rs 20,794 crores) in April as part of this anti-monopoly probe.
Turkish Currency Falls to Record Lows
Turkey’s central bank has continued to cut its interest rate for the third consecutive month, with President Recep Erdogan asking for cheaper loans. However, this is damaging the currency of the country and inflation is going through the roof. Read this article from March to learn more about Turkey’s never ending crisis.
Bill Gates says Covid Death Levels may drop by 2022
Microsoft Co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates said today that Covid deaths and infection rates may dip below seasonal flu levels by the middle of next year assuming new variants of the virus don’t emerge. He was talking at a Bloomberg event in Singapore and said that the vaccines, natural immunity and oral medicines are catching up to the disease spreading rate.
Jack Ma’s Ant Group Sees Profit Rise 39% on Investments
Ant Group Co.’s profit rose an estimated 39% in the June quarter, attributed to a gain in investments as billionaire Jack Ma’s fintech giant grapples with the impact of China’s rapidly shifting rules for private enterprise. The company contributed 6.5 billion yuan ($1 billion) to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s earnings, a filing showed Thursday. Based on Alibaba’s one-third stake in Ant, that translates to an estimated 19.71 billion yuan in profit, up 39% from a year earlier. Ant’s earnings lag one quarter behind Alibaba’s. Ant declined to comment.
