The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% to a fresh intraday record high on Friday, following the release of December’s employment report, which showed a mixed labor market picture that calmed recession fears. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 213.52 points, or 0.43%, closing at 49,480.41 as of midday trading. The
US job growth stalled in December, underscoring a labor market losing momentum, while geopolitical and policy uncertainty weighed on global sentiment. Iran’s Supreme Leader warned protests could isolate the country further as security forces tightened controls. In the US, OpenAI and SoftBank moved to secure clean energy for AI infrastructure with a $1 billion renewables
Wheat kicked off the new year with a price surge, as the most actively traded futures contract on the CBOT climbed to 522 US cents per bushel on Thursday, marking its highest level since December 26. At the time of writing, US wheat futures for the March contract were at 518 cents. Wheat prices began
OpenAI and SoftBank announced a joint $1 billion investment in SB Energy on Friday to build and operate a 1.2-gigawatt data centre in Milam County, Texas. On the surface, it reads like yet another megadeal in the booming AI infrastructure arms race. But it signals something more urgent: electricity has become AI’s single largest production
US big banks are set to kick off earnings season next week, and experts are bracing for solid results. According to Ken Leon, a senior CFRA analyst, the outlook for these banking giants is “very positive”, with several tailwinds that could lift both profits and stock prices. Note that iShares’ big banks exchange-traded fund (ETF)
India heads into 2026 with headline indicators that would be the envy of many major economies. Growth is strong, inflation is subdued, and political stability remains intact. Yet beneath these reassuring numbers lies a widening disconnect between macro performance and lived economic reality, said a Financial Times report. For investors and policymakers alike, this dichotomy
The Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (EWIT) has generated a near 950% return on its long-held investment in Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies, better known as SpaceX, underscoring one of the most successful private-market bets in its portfolio. The investment has also become a focal point in a growing dispute with the trust’s largest shareholder, activist
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) remained in the flat territory Tuesday as Wall Street analysts moved to the sidelines, trimming growth forecasts ahead of the electric automaker’s fourth-quarter delivery report. The share price was slightly up, after facing some serious headwinds in December as Morgan Stanley downgraded the name, citing slowing momentum and a valuation that
xAI is moving to scale up its artificial intelligence infrastructure in the southern US, buying a data centre footprint anchored in Memphis. The expansion centres on the purchase of a third facility in the region, a move that significantly lifts the company’s planned computing capacity and reinforces its ambition to run one of the world’s
Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink has begun offering free broadband access to users in Venezuela through Feb. 3, as the country deals with widespread disruption following US airstrikes and the arrest of former leader Nicolas Maduro. The move places a private technology provider at the centre of a fast-moving geopolitical crisis, where connectivity has