Bitcoin tops $106,000, hopes grow for strategic reserve

Bitcoin hit a record high above $106,000 on Monday after President-elect Donald Trump suggested he plans to create a US bitcoin strategic reserve similar to its strategic oil reserve, stoking the enthusiasm of crypto bulls. Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best known cryptocurrency, hit a high of $106,533 and last traded up 2.6 percent at $103,917 at 12:15 GMT (9:15 p.m. in Korea). Smaller crypto ether was up 0.4 percent at $3,918. "We're in blue sky territory here," said Ton

Dec. 16, 2024

SoftBank CEO to announce $100b investment in US during visit to Trump

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son will announce a $100 billion investment in the United States over the next four years during a Monday visit to US President-elect Donald Trump's residence, Mar-a-Lago, CNBC reported. Son will also promise in a joint announcement with Trump to create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence and related infrastructure, with the money to be deployed before the end of Trump's term, CNBC said, citing sources. The funding could come from various source

Dec. 16, 2024

Bitcoin surges to new record as Trump's election turbocharges cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin soared to a record high above $82,000 on Monday on expectations that cryptocurrencies will boom in a favorable regulatory environment following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president and of pro-crypto candidates to Congress. The world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency , has now more than doubled from the year's low of $38,505 and was last at $81,991, having earlier touched a record high of $82,413. Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to

Nov. 11, 2024

Bitcoin hits $80,000 for the first time

Bitcoin soared to a new record high on Sunday, as the cryptocurrency continues to rise following Donald Trump's presidential election win. The digital currency passed $80,000 for the first time shortly after 12:00 pm (1200 GMT). It reached $75,000 on Wednesday, topping its previous all-time peak of $73,797.98 achieved in March. (AFP)

Nov. 10, 2024

OpenAI's ChatGPT faces massive outage with thousands of users impacted

Microsoft-backed OpenAI said on Friday night it is facing an issue that has resulted in its popular chatbot ChatGPT being unavailable. The company said in a statement on its website that it was investigating the issue and working to restore functionality as soon as possible. Over 19,403 users had been impacted by the outage as of 7:13 p.m. ET, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reuters)

Nov. 9, 2024

[Graphic News] MS tops Forbes’ Best Employers List, Samsung ranks 3rd

Microsoft topped Forbes’ World’s Best Employers list for 2024, surpassing Samsung Electronics, which had previously held the top spot for four consecutive years since 2020. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, secured second place, with Samsung ranking third. The list, based on a survey conducted by Forbes in collaboration with German polling firm Statista, polled over 300,000 employees from more than 50 countries, focusing on multinational companies with over 1,000 employees o

Nov. 4, 2024

Fed's favored inflation gauge shows cooling price pressures, clearing way for more rate cuts

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure on Friday provided the latest sign that price pressures are easing, a trend that is expected to fuel further Fed interest rate cuts this year and next. Prices rose just 0.1 percent from July to August, the Commerce Department said, down from the previous month’s 0.2 percent increase. Compared with a year earlier, inflation fell to 2.2 percent, down from 2.5 percent the previous month and barely above the Fed's 2 percent inflation

Sept. 27, 2024

China’s biggest stock buying frenzy in years overwhelms exchange

Chinese equities capped their biggest weekly rally since 2008 with a burst of trading that overwhelmed the Shanghai stock exchange, underscoring a dramatic shift in investor sentiment after Xi Jinping’s government ramped up economic stimulus. In an echo of the rally that followed China’s massive stimulus during the global financial crisis, the CSI 300 Index of large-cap shares soared 4.5 percent on Friday — bringing this week’s gain to 16 percent. Trading activity was

Sept. 27, 2024

WTO to examine China complaint over US electric vehicle subsidies

The World Trade Organization agreed Monday to establish an expert panel to examine US subsidies for electric vehicles after Beijing accused Washington of unfair competition. The United States slammed China's complaint, insisting the country was seeking "to distract from its own non-market policies and practices that undermine a fair, competitive, and mutually beneficial trading system." The world's second-largest economy initially brought the case to the WTO in March, chargin

Sept. 23, 2024

Global stock markets diverge after global rally

Global stock markets diverged and the dollar was mixed against main rivals Friday following an equities rally triggered by a jumbo US interest rate cut this week. In early afternoon deals, European stocks pared back hefty gains from the previous session, won after the Federal Reserve opted for a bumper 50-basis-point rate reduction and pledged further cuts as inflation cools. There had been fears the move could signal officials were worried about the economy and were behind the curve in easing p

Sept. 20, 2024

Boeing, union to resume talks as strike quiets Seattle plants

Negotiators from Boeing and the machinists union are scheduled to resume talks Tuesday after some 33,000 workers went on strike late last week. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 have been picketing 24 hours a day following the walkout early Friday morning, shuttering Seattle-area factories that assemble the 737 MAX and 777. "Now is the moment to rise -- show Boeing that our voices aren't just loud; they are unstoppable," the

Sept. 17, 2024

Powell at Jackson Hole: 'The time has come' for the Fed to soon begin reducing interest rates

JACKSON, Wyoming (AP) — With inflation nearly defeated and the job market cooling, the Federal Reserve is prepared to start cutting its key interest rate from its current 23-year high, Chair Jerome Powell said Friday. Powell did not say when rate cuts would begin or how large they might be, but the Fed is widely expected to announce a modest quarter-point cut in its benchmark rate when it meets in mid-September. “The time has come for policy to adjust," Powell said in his keynot

Aug. 24, 2024

[Graphic News] Samsung retains global smartphone market lead in Q2

Samsung Electronics has maintained its lead in the global smartphone market for the second consecutive quarter this year, according to data from market research firm International Data Corporation. In the second quarter, Samsung shipped 53.9 million smartphones, securing an 18.9 percent market share. Apple followed, shipping 45.2 million units and capturing 15.8 percent of the market. Overall, global smartphone shipments reached 285.4 million units, marking a 6.5 percent increase from last yea

Aug. 7, 2024

[Graphic News] TikTok leads global social app revenue surge in Q1

Global in-app payment revenue for social applications reached an all-time high in the first quarter of 2024, with the Chinese platform TikTok leading the charge, according to a report by data analysis company Sensor Tower. In-app payment revenue for social apps worldwide hit $4.5 billion in Q1 2024, marking a 19 percent increase year-over-year. TikTok’s in-app purchases soared to over $2 billion, a 26 percent rise from the previous year, driven primarily by livestreaming sponsorships. Yo

July 18, 2024

Germany to ban use of China's Huawei, ZTE in 5G network

Germany said Thursday it will phase out the use of components from Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE in its 5G networks in the coming years due to national security concerns. Parts from the firms will no longer be used in "core" 5G mobile networks by the end of 2026 at the latest, the interior ministry said. In 5G access and transmission infrastructure, the systems of the telecom firms must be replaced by the end of 2029. "We are protecting the central nervous systems of Germa

July 11, 2024

European shares fall on French election uncertainty; log weekly gain

European shares fell on Friday, weighed down by losses in banks and energy stocks as investors became more cautious ahead of the second round of voting in French parliamentary elections. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.2% lower, after notching a more than one-week high early in the day. The index, however, clocked a 1% gain for the week. French financial markets have come under selling pressure since President Emmanuel Macron called for a snap election last month, with concerns that a f

July 6, 2024

[Graphic News] Qatar Airways named world’s top airline, Korean Air No. 2

Qatar Airways has been named the world's best airline by aviation rating website AirlineRatings.com. The Doha-based carrier has taken the title, “Airline of the Year 2024,” on the world’s only safety and product rating website. AirlineRatings.com releases an annual ranking of the top 25 airlines, based on criteria including: aircraft safety, flight crew service, serious accident history and passenger evaluations. This year, Korean Air secured second place on the list, fo

June 28, 2024

Apple and Meta have discussed AI partnership: WSJ

Facebook parent Meta Platforms has discussed integrating Meta's generative AI model into Apple Inc's recently announced AI system for iPhones, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Apart from Google and Meta, AI startups Anthropic and Perplexity have also been in discussions with Apple to bring their generative AI to Apple Intelligence, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Apple, Meta, Perplexity and Anthropic did not respond immediately to requests for c

June 23, 2024

Fed freezes key interest rate for 7th straight time, forecasts one rate cut this year

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its benchmark lending rate steady for a seventh consecutive time and projected one rate cut later this year as it noted "modest further progress" towards its 2 percent inflation target. After the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the central bank announced the decision to maintain the rate in the 5.25 to 5.50 percent range, a 23-year high. The decision came hours after new data showed inflation eased slightly last month. FOMC member

June 13, 2024