Business

WPP moves to seal Sony findings in rebate fraud lawsuit

WPP is seeking to seal "highly confidential and sensitive" client information from a lawsuit that alleges Sony investigated the advertising giant's media operations and concluded it ran a "global crime scene," according to a motion filed Thursday in New York…

Gold surges past $4,600 as US-Iran standoff escalates

Gold prices rose above $4,600 per ounce on Friday, hitting a three-month high as escalating tensions between the United States and Iran drove investors toward safe-haven assets. The precious metal climbed more than 2% on the day, with prices reaching…

Apple paid Ireland $17B in taxes last year, new EU filings show

Apple paid Ireland approximately $17 billion in corporate income taxes in its fiscal year ending September 2025, a sum that accounted for roughly 40% of the company's $43 billion worldwide corporate tax bill, according to new country-by-country filings first reported…

Bitcoin tops $79K as ETF inflows hit $825M

U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds attracted a combined $825.8 million in net inflows on August 20, their strongest single session since early May, as institutional demand surged alongside a broad crypto rally that pushed Bitcoin above $76,000.

Ethereum surges 30% as SEC crypto rules spark record short squeeze

Ethereum surged roughly 30% this week, climbing from below $1,920 to above $2,400 after bearish sentiment fell to a three-month low on August 17, just two days before a record-breaking short squeeze ripped through the crypto market.

Bank of America predicts bolder Apple under incoming CEO Ternus

Apple is days away from its first leadership change in nearly 15 years. On September 1, John Ternus, the company's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, will become chief executive officer, succeeding Tim Cook, who announced the transition in April.…

Bitcoin tops $77,000 as Treasury buyback rally extends into third day

Bitcoin extended a week-long rally on Friday, climbing above $77,600 and approaching $78,000 as investors continued to digest the U.S. Treasury Department's decision to double its long-dated bond buyback operations — a move some in the market have likened to…

Tech giants’ AI bond binge tops $223B, pushing global yields higher

A record wave of bond issuance by the technology companies building out artificial intelligence infrastructure is emerging as a force in global debt markets, competing directly with government bonds and adding to upward pressure on sovereign yields worldwide.

South Korea, Japan vow deeper FX cooperation after rare joint intervention

Senior finance officials from South Korea and Japan met in Tokyo on Friday, vowing to maintain close coordination just three weeks after a rare coordinated currency intervention jolted regional markets and helped bolster both the won and the yen.

Griffin says Citadel unwound 80% of risk from AI fund fire sale

Ken Griffin told Citadel clients on Friday that his firm has unwound more than 80% of the aggregate risk from the portfolio it acquired from Leopold Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness hedge fund, conducting more than 100 block trades representing over $4…

China orders Tesla’s largest-ever recall over driver monitoring

China's State Administration for Market Regulation on Friday ordered Tesla to recall 2,740,642 domestically built Model 3 and Model Y vehicles after regulators determined the automaker's driver attention monitoring was inadequate during assisted-driving operation.

Japan’s inflation hits 2026 high, bolstering case for September rate hike

Japan's headline inflation rate rose to 1.9% in July, its highest level this year, as energy costs tied to the Middle East conflict and a persistently weak yen pushed up import prices, reinforcing expectations that the Bank of Japan will…

Samsung approves up to $80B shareholder return, largest ever by a Korean company

Samsung Electronics approved a shareholder return plan on Friday estimated at 90 trillion to 110 trillion won ($65 billion to $80 billion), the largest ever by a Korean company and roughly five times its previous record of 20.3 trillion won…

Oil posts second weekly gain as U.S.-Iran standoff deepens

Crude oil prices surged to their highest levels since late July this week before easing slightly on Friday, as President Donald Trump threatened "crushing economic warfare" against Iran and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced plans to impose what he called…

Euro-area inflation expectations, wage growth both cool as ECB weighs next hike

Euro-area consumers lowered their inflation expectations in July while negotiated wage growth decelerated in the second quarter, giving the European Central Bank a pair of data points that support its disinflationary narrative even as geopolitical risks keep rate-hike bets alive.

Monte Paschi launches €34B twin bids to fend off Intesa takeover

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena on Friday launched simultaneous all-share takeover bids worth approximately €34 billion ($39.8 billion) for rival lender Banco BPM and wealth manager Banca Generali, escalating a consolidation battle reshaping Italy's banking sector.

Bitcoin surges past $75K on track for biggest weekly gain this year

Bitcoin rocketed past $75,000 this week for the first time since May, putting the cryptocurrency on track for a weekly gain of roughly 20% as a confluence of macro, regulatory, and market-structure catalysts aligned in its favor.

Tesla discontinues Solar Roof after a decade of broken promises

Tesla has officially ended its Solar Roof tile program, informing third-party installers that it will no longer supply the product and shifting its residential solar strategy entirely to conventional panels. The company's dedicated Solar Roof webpage now redirects to its…

Dollar slides to 3-month low as Treasury buyback plan fails to ease fiscal fears

The US dollar slumped to a three-month low on Friday, heading for a weekly decline of nearly 1%, as investors dismissed the Treasury Department's decision to double bond buybacks as a band-aid solution that fails to address America's deteriorating fiscal…

Saudi Aramco shuttles oil north to evade Houthi blockade

Saudi Aramco is deploying a fleet of tankers to shuttle crude oil northward through the Red Sea, circumventing Houthi militant attacks that have targeted the kingdom's exports through the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint in the south.

Wheat importers turn to U.S., Australia as Black Sea strikes choke supply

Global wheat importers are scrambling to secure alternative grain supplies as escalating Russian strikes on Black Sea port infrastructure have crippled Ukrainian exports during the peak harvest season, driving benchmark futures to near three-year highs.

China vows new fiscal measures as economic slowdown deepens

Vice Finance Minister Liao Min announced Friday that China will roll out additional fiscal policy measures "in a timely manner" to boost domestic demand, as the world's second-largest economy loses momentum following weaker-than-expected July data across multiple indicators.

Apple App Store revenue drops for first time in 4 years

Apple is facing fresh headwinds in its high-margin services business after Morgan Stanley data showed the App Store's net revenue declined 0.6% year-over-year through mid-August, marking the first such drop in four years. The investment bank simultaneously flagged an accelerating…

Eurozone business activity hits 2026 high as manufacturing surges

Private-sector business activity in the eurozone unexpectedly improved in August, reaching its fastest pace since November, as the manufacturing sector delivered its strongest expansion in more than four years despite headwinds from the Middle East conflict and elevated energy costs.

Gold heads for third straight weekly gain above $4,500

Gold prices edged higher on Friday, holding firmly above $4,500 an ounce and on track for a third consecutive weekly gain — a streak not seen since March — as a weaker U.S. dollar and expanded Treasury bond buybacks continued…

Global stocks head for biggest weekly drop since mid-July

Global stocks are heading for their steepest weekly decline since mid-July as surging oil prices and persistent bond market stress reignite inflation concerns six months into the Iran conflict. Brent crude broke above $94 a barrel this week while U.S.…

China’s offshore trust tax crackdown rattles luxury market

China's sweeping campaign to tax offshore wealth is sending shockwaves through the financial lives of the country's ultra-rich and into the global luxury market, as new rules impose a 20% levy on offshore trust assets and enforcement efforts expand to…

Gold breaks above $4,500 an ounce for the first time

Gold prices in Thailand surged at market open on Thursday, August 20, 2026, with domestic prices rising 1,550 baht per baht-weight as the global spot price broke above the $4,500 per ounce level for the first time.

Asian stocks fall as Treasury yield rebound rattles global markets

Asian stock markets opened broadly lower on Friday, August 21, tracking a sharp decline on Wall Street as rising bond yields and weak retail data from Walmart dampened risk appetite across the region.

Samsung stock jumps after foundry price hike signals AI chip crunch

Samsung Electronics shares jumped nearly 9.5% on Thursday in Seoul after reports confirmed the company raised prices on advanced contract chipmaking services by up to 15%, a move that underscored how demand for artificial intelligence hardware has outstripped global manufacturing…