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US Adds 1.4M Jobs In August, Unemployment Falls To 8.4 Pct

7Sep By reutersNo Comments

USA

US Adds 1.4M Jobs In August, Unemployment Falls To 8.4 Pct

Job growth slowed further in August in the United States as financial assistance from the government ran out, threatening the economy's recovery from the COVID-19 recession. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.371 million jobs last month after advancing 1.734 million in July, the Labor Department's closely watched employment report showed on Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 8.4 percent from 10.2 percent in July. Economists polled by Reuters news agency had forecast 1.4 million additional jobs in August and the unemployment rate sliding to 8.4 percent. Companies from transport to manufacturing industries have been announcing layoffs or furloughs, putting pressure on the White House and Congress to restart stalled negotiations for another fiscal package. With just two mo...

Swedish startup Volta unveils electric truck

3Sep By reutersNo Comments

Automobile

Swedish startup Volta unveils electric truck

STOCKHOLM, Sept 3, 2020: Swedish startup Volta Trucks unveiled its Volta Zero, a 16-tonne electric truck, with plans to start production in 2022 in the United Kingdom. Following the success of companies such as Tesla in popularising electric cars, electric trucks have also been getting a lot of attention from existing players such as Volvo and Daimler and startups like Rivian and Nikola. Trials will start next year with parcel delivery companies such as DPDgroup in the UK and other firms in Europe and Volta aims to put 500 vehicles on the road by 2022, CEO Rob Fowler told Reuters. "We are also well progressed with another seven or eight customers," he said. The company said the first Volta vehicle was manufactured by Prodrive in Warwick, England, and it is in discussion with a...

Alibaba beats Quarterly Revenue, Profit Estimates

21Aug By reutersNo Comments

CHINA

Alibaba beats Quarterly Revenue, Profit Estimates

China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd beat quarterly revenue and profit estimates on Thursday as its core commerce and cloud computing businesses benefited from a shift to online shopping and working from home due to the coronavirus crisis. The company’s U.S.-listed shares were up marginally before the bell. The stock has gained about 23% this year, but has faced pressure as U.S. President Donald Trump has said he could exert pressure on more Chinese companies after he moved to ban TikTok. Sales from the company’s core commerce business jumped 34% to 133.32 billion yuan ($19.27 billion) in the three months ended June. Alibaba said its domestic core commerce business has fully recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels, while cloud computing revenue surged 59% to 12.35 billion yuan. Excludin...

Chinese Company Files $1.4 Billion Lawsuit Against Apple

3Aug By reutersNo Comments

CHINA

Chinese Company Files $1.4 Billion Lawsuit Against Apple

Shanghai, 3rd Aug 2020: Chinese artificial intelligence company Shanghai Zhizhen Intelligent Network Technology Co, Ltd, also known as Xiao-i, has filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc, alleging it has infringed on its patents. The company is calling for 10 billion yuan ($1.43 billion)in damages and demands that Apple cease "manufacturing, using, promising to sell, selling, and importing" products that infringe on the patent, it said in a social media post. Xiao-i argued that Apple's voice-recognition technology Siri infringes on a patent that it applied for in 2004 and was granted in 2009. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters was not immediately available to find a copy of the court filing. The lawsuit marks the continuation of a row that has been ongoing for n...

13Jul By reutersNo Comments

CHINA

Smartphone shipments in China fall 16% in June

SHANGHAI, 13th July 2020 (Reuters) - Smartphone shipments in China fell 16% in June compared with a year earlier, according to government data released on Tuesday. The numbers suggest that handset demand in China remains lukewarm despite the country’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, boding poorly for Apple Inc AAPL.N and its local rivals like Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. Phone makers shipped 27.7 million handsets in June, down from 32.7 million in June 2019, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a state-backed think tank. That follows a similar decline in May, when shipments dropped more than 10% annually, from 36.4 million in May 2019 to 32.6 million one year later. In April, after a slump in the previous months due to the...

Alibaba’s Jack Ma sells $9.6 billion worth shares, stake dips to 4.8%

13Jul By reutersNo Comments

News

Alibaba’s Jack Ma sells $9.6 billion worth shares, stake dips to 4.8%

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd co-founder Jack Ma has cut his stake in the company over the past year to 4.8% from 6.4%, cashing out around $9.6 billion at its current share price, the firm's annual filing released on Friday showed. The divestment comes as Ma retired as the Chinese e-commerce company's executive chairman in September and pulled back from formal business roles to focus on philanthropy. Alibaba did not disclose the average selling price of his divestment. Its share price has risen around 40% since Ma reported his 6.4% holding in the company a year ago. The stock's stellar performance has been helped by forecast-beating earnings growth, even as China's economy sharply slows, as more people shop online for essentials due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alibaba Executive Vice...

US Invest $1.6 billion in Novavax for Coronavirus Vaccine

8Jul By reutersNo Comments

USA

US Invest $1.6 billion in Novavax for Coronavirus Vaccine

The US government has awarded Novavax Inc $1.6 billion to cover testing and manufacturing of a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus in the United States, with the aim of delivering 100 million doses by January. The award announced by the US Department of Health and Human Services is the biggest yet from "Operation Warp Speed," the White House initiative aimed at accelerating access to vaccines and treatments to fight Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. Shares in Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Novavax rose 29% to $102 in morning trading. "What this Warp Speed award does is it pays for production of 100 million doses, which would be delivered starting in the fourth quarter of this year, and may be completed by January or February of next year," Novavax...

Chinese EV startup Byton to suspend production from July 1 for reorganization

1Jul By reutersNo Comments

Automobile

Chinese EV startup Byton to suspend production from July 1 for reorganization

SHANGHAI, 1st July, 2020: China-based electric car startup Byton will suspend production from July 1 to conduct a reorganization of the firm after being hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The company, which is backed by state-owned automaker FAW Group and battery supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, said it was also actively raising funds to address issues relating to unpaid staff salaries and that it hoped to start paying employees from July. "The new coronavirus epidemic has brought great challenges to Byton's financing and production operations," it said in a statement. "After careful consideration and joint consultations with our shareholders and management, we have decided to, from July 1, kickstart a plan to lower employee costs and promote the company's strategic...

Amazon agrees to buy self-driving startup Zoox for over $1 billion

26Jun By reutersNo Comments

Automobile

Amazon agrees to buy self-driving startup Zoox for over $1 billion

Seattle, 26th June, 2020: Amazon has agreed to pay over $1 billion to buy self-driving startup Zoox Inc, the Information reported on Thursday, citing sources, in a move that would expand the e-commerce giant's reach in autonomous-vehicle technology. The report did not mention the exact purchase price and added Amazon is unlikely to disclose it when the deal is announced, likely to be on Friday. A majority of Zoox investors are getting their money back, with some making a positive return, the report added. Lux Capital, DFJ and Atlassian co-founder Michael Cannon-Brooks are some of the investors. Amazon and Zoox did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the companies were in advanced talks and the deal could va...

4Jun By reutersNo Comments

News

SoftBank launches $100 mln fund investing in ‘people of colour’

TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp is launching a $100 million fund to invest in “companies led by founders and entrepreneurs of colour”, in the latest corporate action as protests roil the United States. Described as SoftBank’s bid to improve diversity, “we have to put money behind it, set plans, and hold ourselves accountable,” SoftBank’s Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure, who will head the fund, wrote in a letter to employees on Wednesday. Named the “Opportunity Growth Fund” and focused on African Americans and Latinos in the U.S. it is, SoftBank says, the largest fund of its kind. It will invest in entrepreneurs “from communities that face systemic disadvantages in building and scaling their businesses,” Claure wrote. SoftBank also runs the $100 billion Vision Fund...

Abu Dhabi state fund in talks to invest $1 bn in Jio Platforms: Report

29May By reutersNo Comments

FUNDING

Abu Dhabi state fund in talks to invest $1 bn in Jio Platforms: Report

Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment Company is in talks to invest about $1 billion in Reliance Industries' digital unit Jio platforms, three sources said on Thursday. Jio Platforms, which houses music and movie apps as well a Reliance's telecoms venture Jio Infocomm, has secured a massive $10 billion from investors including Facebook Inc within a month. Reliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "Clearly Jio's platform is attracting a wide range of world-class investors, given its enormous potential to serve one of the world's largest marketplaces," Mubadala said in an email to Reuters. Indian telecom company Reliance Jio recently done five Investment deals in four weeks that will inject a combined $10.5 billion in the oil-to-telecom conglomerate to he...

28May By reutersNo Comments

INDIA

Google faces Antitrust case in India over payments app

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India’s antitrust body is looking into allegations that Alphabet Inc’s Google is abusing its market position to unfairly promote its mobile payments app in the country, five sources familiar with the case told Reuters. The complaint was filed in February and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has kept the identity of the complainant confidential, the first source with direct knowledge of the case said. The complaint alleges the U.S. tech giant more prominently showcases its Google Pay app inside its Android app store in India, giving it an unfair advantage over apps of competitors which hurts consumers, the source added. Google did not respond to a request for comment. Two of the sources said the watchdog informed Google about the case being filed a f...