Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, reported a first-half profit of 1.48 trillion kroner ($138 billion) on Wednesday, driven by strong returns from technology investments. The fund’s total value reached 17.75 trillion kroner by the end of June. Despite an impressive overall return of 8.6% for the six-month period, the…
U.S. small-business confidence surged to its highest level in nearly two and a half years in July, signaling that fears of a looming recession may have been overstated. According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), its Small Business Optimism Index rose by 2.2 points to 93.7, marking the highest reading since February 2022.…
Chinese electric car brand Zeekr has announced the launch of new batteries that claim to be the fastest-charging in the world, a move aimed at addressing consumer concerns over battery range and charging convenience. Zeekr, which is listed in the U.S., revealed that its new batteries can charge from 10% to 80% in just 10.5…
Efforts to expand the use of carbon credits as a means for companies to offset their greenhouse-gas emissions have stalled, raising concerns that some companies might reconsider or even abandon their net-zero targets. Since the 2015 Paris Agreement, more than half of the world’s largest 2,000 publicly listed companies have pledged to reduce their emissions…
Tencent Music Entertainment reported a slight decline in quarterly revenue on Tuesday, with a 1.7% drop to 7.16 billion yuan ($999 million) for the three months ending June 30. Although this marked the fourth consecutive quarterly decline, the company’s performance surpassed analysts’ expectations, which had forecasted revenue of 7.14 billion yuan, according to LSEG data.…
Huawei Technologies is gearing up to launch a new artificial intelligence (AI) chip, Ascend 910C, positioning itself as a competitor to Nvidia in China despite U.S. sanctions. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Huawei’s latest processor is being tested by major Chinese internet and telecom companies, with the tech giant claiming the…
James Kirsh, president of a family-owned foundry in Wisconsin, is bracing for a significant spike in property and casualty insurance costs for his business. As his current insurer, Acuity, withdraws from covering factories like his, which deal with molten metal, Kirsh faces the challenge of piecing together more expensive coverage from multiple providers. “It’s a…
Shares of Amazon.com tumbled more than 12% on Friday after the company reported slower growth in online sales during the second quarter. The e-commerce giant also noted that consumers are increasingly opting for cheaper alternatives, reflecting a broader trend in value-conscious consumer behavior. This shift comes ahead of Walmart’s upcoming quarterly results, with Amazon CEO…
A global outage affecting Microsoft products including email service Outlook and video game Minecraft has been resolved, the technology giant said in an update. The firm said preliminary investigations show the outage was caused by a cyber-attack and a failure to properly defend against it. Earlier, the company issued an apology for the incident, which…
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer BYD is preparing to enter the Canadian automotive market, according to recent regulatory filings. This expansion comes at a time when Canada is considering imposing tariffs on vehicles imported from China, following similar actions by the United States and the European Union. In June, Canada indicated that it might impose…
