BUSINESS

Asian shares mostly gained on Wednesday after global markets fell as traders locked in profits following recent tech-driven rallies.

Clamping down harder and faster on abuses of power by the world's biggest digital companies: such is the promise of the European Union's new legal arsenal, which comes into full force from Thursday.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took back his spot as the world's richest man on Monday, dethroning Elon Musk on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Former top executives of Twitter sued Elon Musk on Monday saying he has failed to pay them nearly $130 million after the billionaire took over the social media company and dismissed them.

An investor group that offered to buy the struggling US department store chain Macy's in December and was turned down said Sunday it has sweetened its bid.

Extending a global retreat from news content, Meta said it would scrap the Facebook News tab in Australia and would not renew deals with news publishers worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The statement did not provide a reason for the unexpected move, just saying it wanted to "wish him all the best for the forthcoming new chapter in his life."

A closing conference previously scheduled for 1000 GMT on Friday was pushed back by three hours, as trade ministers negotiated agreements on fisheries and agriculture with new draft texts on the table after all-night talks.

Apple has abandoned its ambitions to produce an electric car, US media reported Tuesday, ending a struggling decade-long project.

British telecoms giant Vodafone is in advanced talks to sell its Italian unit to Switzerland's Swisscom, agreeing on a preliminary price of eight billion euros ($8.7 billion), the companies said Wednesday.

Boeing employees are confused and distrustful of changes to safety reporting systems implemented by the aerospace giant after fatal plane crashes in 2018 and 2019, according to a US report released Monday.

India's Reliance Industries has signed a "binding pact" for a merger deal with Walt Disney's local unit, Bloomberg News reported Monday, a major shakeup for the country's multi-billion dollar entertainment industry.

Boeing and Airbus struck deals to sell billions of dollars' worth of planes at this week's airshow in Singapore, but supply chain disruptions mean they may struggle to deliver them on time, analysts said.

Online retailer Amazon said Friday it had paid $1.9 million to more than 700 contracted workers in Saudi Arabia as reimbursements for unlawful recruitment fees, among other alleged violations.

Reddit on Thursday told US stock regulators that it plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RDDT." Reddit did not provide details regarding the number or price of shares nor when the initial public offering would occur.

HSBC said Wednesday it achieved "record profit" in 2023 as pre-tax gains soared by nearly 80 percent, with the banking giant also announcing further share buybacks.

US banking giant Capital One announced Monday it will acquire financial services company Discover in a $35.3 billion all-stock deal combining two of America's major credit card firms.

Microsoft on Thursday shook up the video game world with word it is making some once-exclusive Xbox video games available for play on rival consoles.

Japan's Sony upgraded its annual net profit forecast on Wednesday but trimmed its PlayStation 5 unit's sales target, with the flagship console currently in its fourth year on the market.

Bitcoin spiked above $50,000 Tuesday for the first time in more than two years as investors grow optimistic that US approval of broader trading in the unit will ramp up demand.

French luxury giant Hermes posted on Friday record annual sales and net profit, with plans to reward all employees worldwide with a bonus following strong growth in every region last year.

An Australian man went on trial in London this week over his claims of inventing bitcoin -- not the first time someone has been linked to being the cryptocurrency's enigmatic creator.

British consumer goods giant Unilever on Thursday said its net profit dropped 15 percent last year to 6.5 billion euros ($7 billion) as sales flattened as the group hiked prices.

French group TotalEnergies reported on Wednesday the highest profit of its history for 2023, underpinned by performances in its liquefied natural gas and electricity divisions as it continues to invest heavily in fossil fuel production.

Swiss banking giant UBS said Tuesday it would hand shareholders up to $1 billion in share buybacks as it posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss stemming from the costs of absorbing fallen rival Credit Suisse.

The trial of an alleged bitcoin creator opened in London on Monday, seeking to determine whether an Australian computer scientist invented the world's most popular cryptocurrency.

A South Korean court acquitted Samsung Electronics chief Lee Jae-yong on Monday of a raft of crimes linked to a controversial 2015 merger, Lee's lawyers said.

The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB) and others have held interest rates elevated in recent months in an attempt to bring inflation back down toward target, following a post-pandemic surge in prices.

The move comes as President Joe Biden pushes to rein in health care costs ahead of November's election. The negotiation program came on the back of Biden's landmark Inflation Reduction Act, a major package of energy transition policy and social reforms.