South Korea's KOSPI index surpasses 9,000 points for the first time, driven by a technology rally led by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, with the index soaring over 110% this year amid optimism over an interim US-Iran peace deal.
China's securities regulator announced a crackdown on stock market manipulation and illicit activities related to artificial intelligence themes, citing concerns over market abuse and potential bubbles fueled by the AI rally.
Zhipu AI released GLM-5.2 with a 1-million-token context window, significantly undercutting Western AI models on price. The company's Hong Kong-listed stock surged by up to 48% following the announcement.
SpaceX's market debut successfully raised $75 billion by selling 555.6 million shares. A greenshoe option mechanism could allow Morgan Stanley to purchase an additional 83 million shares, potentially increasing the total raised by $11.2 billion, depending on stock performance.
South Korea's livestock product prices surged nearly 6% in May year-on-year due to disease outbreaks and reduced supply. While agricultural products saw a decline, food and dining prices also increased, with potential further rises expected due to global factors.
Despite a strong Google I/O showcasing AI advancements, Alphabet's stock fell 2%. Bank of America maintains a 'buy' rating, citing leading product innovation, but acknowledges unresolved monetization questions and projected drops in free cash flow due to increased capital expenditure.
Hive Digital Technologies' stock price surged 26% after announcing a 320 MW AI data center in the Greater Toronto Area. The "sovereign AI infrastructure" project aims to keep data and processing within Canada, with an estimated cost of C$3.5 billion.
Many S&P 500 companies citing AI for layoffs have seen stock declines, with an average drop of 25% for those affected. Investors struggle to discern AI's true impact amid "AI washing" and other economic pressures.
South Korea's KOSPI index briefly surpassed 8,000 points, driven by optimism in AI and strong tech earnings, marking a 90% surge since the start of the year.
State Bank of India reported a 6% rise in Q4 FY26 net profit to Rs 19,684 crore, driven by improved asset quality and lower bad loans. Despite this, total income saw a slight decline, and net interest margins compressed, leading to a drop in operating profit and a subsequent fall in SBI's stock price.
A succession of strong earnings seasons since then has allowed tech stocks to "grow into" their stock prices.
SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's main Korea Composite Stock Price Index (K...
Microsoft is offering voluntary retirement to about 8,750 US employees, marking the first time in its 51-year history. The move comes amid a stock price decline and increased AI infrastructure spending, aiming for a softer approach than previous layoffs.
Microsoft is offering voluntary retirement to approximately 8,750 US employees (7% of its 125,000-person American workforce) — the first such program in the company's 51-year history. Eligibility requires employees to have age plus years at Microsoft equal 70 or higher, be at senior director level or below, and not be on a sales incentive plan. The move represents a strategic shift from blunt layoffs (which totaled over 15,000 last summer alone) to a softer approach as the company faces pressure from a declining stock price and heavy AI infrastructure investments. Eligible employees will be notified May 7 with 30 days to decide.
HCL Technologies shares fell over 10% on Wednesday after missing quarterly earnings expectations and providing weak FY27 growth guidance. Multiple brokerages downgraded the stock or cut target prices, citing concerns over discretionary spending, AI-driven deflation, and project cancellations.
Crypto majors are mostly flat headed into Monday open; btc even at $90,600; eth +1% at $3,110, sol +2% at $140; xrp -2% to $2.04. Ip (+20%) and xmr (+15%) led top movers; xmr hit a new ath at $590. Fed chair Jerome Powell released a video message claiming that the criminal charges he faces are due to his not cutting interest rates in line with Trump’s wishes. X (twitter) announced plans for “smart cashtags” to show crypto and stock prices live next to tickers. Vaneck projected bitcoin could reach $53m by 2050, outlining long-term adoption, trade settlement and store-of-value assumptions driving 29% annual growth. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) raised $15b to fund American Dynanism, with ai and crypto at the forefront. Ripple received FCA approval to scale crypto payments in the uk. Bny mellon debuted tokenized deposits for institutional and digital-native clients. A new house bill would bar lawmakers and federal officials from using prediction markets. Tether froze $182m in usdt linked to Venezuela oil trades.
