SHANGHAI ⸺ Asian shares slipped on Friday, with a gauge of regional equities set for its biggest monthly drop since the height of global pandemic lockdowns last March, while the dollar lagged near one-month lows on expectations of continued Fed stimulus. But the stock market losses were moderate compared with sharp falls earlier in the week that had been sparked by investor fears over the impact of regulatory actions in China against the education, property, and tech sectors. Reassurances from Chinese regulators and official media have helped to soothe investors’ nerves, as have statements fro ..read more

The International Space Station (ISS) was thrown briefly out of control on Thursday when jet thrusters of a newly arrived Russian research module inadvertently fired a few hours after it was docked to the orbiting outpost, NASA officials said. The seven crew members aboard – two Russian cosmonauts, three NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut, and a European space agency astronaut from France – were never in any immediate danger, according to NASA and Russian state-owned news agency RIA. But the malfunction prompted NASA to postpone until at least Aug. 3 its planned launch of Boeing’s new CST-1 ..read more

SHANGHAI ⸺ Asian shares slipped on Friday, with a gauge of regional equities set for its biggest monthly drop since the height of global pandemic lockdowns last March, while the dollar lagged near one-month lows on expectations of continued Fed stimulus. But the stock market losses were moderate compared with sharp falls earlier in the week that had been sparked by investor fears over the impact of regulatory actions in China against the education, property, and tech sectors. Reassurances from Chinese regulators and official media have helped to soothe investors’ nerves, as have statements fro ..read more

The International Space Station (ISS) was thrown briefly out of control on Thursday when jet thrusters of a newly arrived Russian research module inadvertently fired a few hours after it was docked to the orbiting outpost, NASA officials said. The seven crew members aboard – two Russian cosmonauts, three NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut, and a European space agency astronaut from France – were never in any immediate danger, according to NASA and Russian state-owned news agency RIA. But the malfunction prompted NASA to postpone until at least Aug. 3 its planned launch of Boeing’s new CST-1 ..read more

Ride-hailing company Didi Global on Thursday denied a media report that the company was considering going private to placate Chinese authorities and compensate investor losses since it listed in the United States. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the Chinese company has been mulling delisting plans as a crackdown in China widens and it has received support from cybersecurity regulators. Didi, which listed in New York last month after raising $4.4 billion in an initial public offering (IPO), said in a statement that the WSJ report was not true. “The ..read more

Led by Facebook, social media platforms from Alphabet’s YouTube to Snap Inc and Twitter are investing heavily in shopping features to drive revenue growth, a major theme that emerged during second-quarter results over the past week. The companies are vying for a piece of the so-called social commerce industry, which relies on users’ ability to discover and buy products through social media apps and is expected to balloon to $50 billion from $36 billion in annual sales by 2023 in the United States according to research firm eMarketer. The success of social commerce stems in part from product ta ..read more

T-Mobile US Inc said on Thursday it added more monthly-bill-paying phone subscribers than expected during the second quarter, helped by higher demand for 5G-related services and devices driven by remote working and learning trends. The wireless carrier’s subscriber growth also got a boost from its stores reopening and the customer base from its acquired peer Sprint. T-Mobile expects 2021 postpaid net customer additions between 5 million and 5.3 million, compared with prior forecast of 4.4 million to 4.9 million, it said. The company added 627,000 postpaid phone subscribers in the reported quar ..read more

Microsoft Corp is in advanced talks to invest in Indian hotel chain Oyo at a $9 billion valuation, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The deal could be announced in the coming weeks and would be a prelude to an initial public offering (IPO) by Oyo, the source said.  Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ritesh Agarwal said earlier this month that Oyo would consider a potential public offering, but did not provide a timeline. The deal may involve Oyo shifting to use Microsoft’s cloud services, TechCrunch reported earlier on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. O ..read more

Amazon.com Inc on Thursday said sales growth would decelerate in the third quarter as customers leave their homes more, a slow start to the reign of CEO Andy Jassy after 27 years with Jeff Bezos at the retailer’s helm. Shares fell 7% in after-hours trade. A year into the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon’s financial luster is fading slightly. When brick-and-mortar stores closed, Amazon posted record profits, drew more than 200 million Prime loyalty subscribers, and recruited over 500,000 workers to keep up with surging demand. Now, the company is facing the tough task of climbing higher ..read more

Robinhood Markets Inc’s shares closed more than 8% lower at $34.82 per share on their first day of trading, as many investors who used the popular trading app to participate in this year’s “meme” stock trading frenzy snubbed its initial public offering (IPO) Only 16 of the 99 U.S.-listed companies that were worth at least $10 billion when they went public declined on their first day, according to Dealogic, whose data goes back to 1995. “A year ago we were trading the stock at 15 bucks a share. And our most recent trades in early June were $55 a share (in the private market),” said Glen Anderso ..read more