US Stock Market
Major indexes in the US stock markets closed Monday’s trading session with record gains as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the S&P 500 surged to fresh highs. The gains were mainly driven by the new $1.9 Trillion stimulus package which was signed last week by President Joe Biden.
More countries suspend use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine
The Swedish Public Health Agency on Tuesday temporarily suspended covid-19 vaccinations using a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca plc. and Oxford University over safety concerns.
Several European countries have also suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, including Denmark, Norway, Italy, Germany, France, Ireland and the Netherlands.
DigitalOcean plans $5B IPO
Cloud infrastructure provider DigitalOcean Inc. on Monday said it was looking to go public in New York under the symbol “DOCN.” with a valuation of almost $5 billion.
According to a filing with the regulator, DigitalOcean plans to raise $775.5 million by offering 16.5 million shares at a price of between $44 and $47 apiece.
The company has an annual revenue of $360 million and its major competitors are Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle.
Nokia to Shed Off 10,000 jobs
Nokia Corporation announced on Tuesday it would cut between 5,000 to 10,000 jobs in the next two years to compensate for the losses made amid the COVID-19 pandemic and invest more in its research capacities.
The company explained it hoped to decrease its costs by about €600 million by the end of 2023 and to make half of those savings this year.
China Cracks Alibaba
Chinese internet firms have reportedly removed Alibaba’s internet browser from their app stores after the Communist Party of China (CPC) warned that “some platform companies are growing in an inappropriate manner and therefore bear risks”, the Financial Times reported.
This comes after the Chinese government asked Alibaba Group to unwind its huge media assets, as per the reporting by the Wall Street Journal who cited sources familiar with the matter.
According to the report, government officials are concerned over Jack Ma’s company’s influence over public opinion via its media assets, which include the South China Morning Post
