Wall Street
Major indices on Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday as the markets await President Joe Biden’s Wednesday reveal of his administration’s economic pan and the infrastructure bill that is equivalent to $2.25 trillion.
At the close of trading, the Dow Jones fell 0.31% as the S&P 500 fell 0.32% while the Nasdaq 100 also fell 0.53%.
According to media reports, Biden’s tax plan includes raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, imposing a global minimum tax on profits from foreign subsidiaries, tax capital gains as regular income for the wealthy and tax unrealized capital gains at death.
Major News in Global Markets
PayPal customers to checkout with cryptocurrency
PayPal Holdings, Inc. on Tuesday announced the launch of Checkout with Crypto, a new feature that will allow its customers with cryptocurrency holdings in the U.S. to be able to choose to check out with crypto seamlessly within PayPal at checkout.
“As the use of digital payments and digital currencies accelerates, the introduction of Checkout with Crypto continues our focus on driving mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies while continuing to offer PayPal customers choice and flexibility in the ways they can pay using the PayPal wallet,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO, PayPal. “Enabling cryptocurrencies to make purchases at businesses around the world is the next chapter in driving the ubiquity and mass acceptance of digital currencies.”
Brazil’s central bank Approves WhatsApp transactions
The Central Bank of Brazil on Tuesday approved the use of WhatsApp messaging service for funds transactions between users through Visa and Mastercard card networks.
The approval comes after the Central Bank in June 2020, ordered Visa and Mastercard to suspend the rollout of WhatsApp Payments service, citing fears that the service would be anti-competitive at the time.
“We are making the final preparations to have payments on WhatsApp available in Brazil as soon as possible,” the company said following the approval.
Deliveroo IPO
Food delivery company Deliveroo will on Wednesday went public on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker $ROO targeting a valuation of between £7.6 billion and £8.8 billion.
According to UK media reports, Deliveroo is expected to price its shares at between £3.90 to £4.60.
The company recently hired JP Morgan to prepare its UK IPO after completing a $180 million funding round.
READ; Amazon Gets Approval to Buy 16% Stake in Deliveroo
Tesla News
Electrek on Tuesday announced that Tesla is building a new Tesla Semi production line at a new building near its Gigafactory Nevada plant, and it plans to produce five electric trucks per week.
Reliable sources familiar with the matter told the outlet that Tesla is currently building a low-volume Tesla Semi production line in the building. Once completed, they expect a production capacity of five Tesla Semi electric trucks per week.
Xiaomi Enters EV Market
Chinese company firm Xiaomi Communications Co. Ltd. has revealed plans to invest over $10 billion over ten years into the development of electric vehicles (EV).
The tech company will initially invest $1.5 billion into a newly formed EV subsidiary, which will be headed by Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun.
READ; Xiaomi Ventures into Electric Vehicles, Invests $10 Billion
Amazon
Amazon is working on the development of a “chip to power the hardware switches that shuttle data around networks,” The Information reported on Tuesday.
The team that will reportedly develop the chip was a part of Israeli microelectronics company and Amazon’s subsidiary Annapurna Labs, which was acquired in 2015 for $350 million.
According to the source, the move will help Amazon improve its network switches and make the company less reliant on Broadcom Inc. when it comes to chip technology.
Epic Games Vs Apple
Epic Games has filed an antitrust complaint to the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) against Apple Inc. for “monopolistic” and anti-competitive behaviour by Apple when it comes to acquiring and distributing apps for their products.
Epic Games complaint states that the restrictive rules are a violation of UK law. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney added, “these harmful practices lead to artificially inflated costs for consumers, and stifle innovation among developers, many of whom are unable to compete in a digital ecosystem that is rigged against them.”
Vaccine News
Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) has recommended the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine only for men and women aged 60 and above, according to Focus Online.
“On the basis of the currently available, but still limited, evidence and taking into account the current pandemic situation, the STIKO recommends using the COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 60,” the committee stated.
