Major stock markets in the United States closed mixed on Tuesday with the Dow Jones closing 0.05% higher while the Nasdaq 100 lost 0.22% as the S&P 500 closed 0.13% higher.
The country’s Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke in Congress on Tuesday playing down concerns of an inflationary outbreak from another big fiscal stimulus package.
According to Bloomberg, Jerome Powell voiced expectations for a return to more normal, improved activity later this year.
“The economy is a long way from our employment and inflation goals, and it is likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved,” he said.
Major News
Apple shareholders approve executive compensation
Apple shareholders on Tuesday voted to approve the re-election of the company’s board, compensation for its senior executives, including an equity package of 1 million new shares for the company’s CEO Tim Cook.
The board supported Cook’s pay package in a filing, citing an 867% return to shareholders, including dividends. Cook also announced the company will raise its dividend. In the last two quarters, the dividend was $0.205.
Amazon senior VP steps down
Amazon’s senior vice president Jeff Blackburn has decided to leave the company after his 22-year tenure, CNBC reported.
Blackburn shared that he isn’t retiring from the workforce, with the company’s outgoing CEO Jeff Bezos adding that Blackburn’s next step “is a very exciting one”.
Blackburn has held positions in a variety of Amazon’s offshoots, such as Amazon’s Prime Video streaming unit, Amazon Studios film division and Amazon Music.
READ; Amazon Earnings, Bezos To Step Down
Huawei signs over 1,000 5G corporate contracts
Huawei Technologies on Tuesday announced that the company had signed over 1,000 corporate 5G contracts in order to expand its network business to soften the fact that its smartphone operations were dwindling.
The United States in September imposed sanctions against the Chinese Tech firm, causing a shortage of computer chips for the company, hurting the growth of its smartphone business.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel Ltd. said it will work together with chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. on the rollout of 5G services in India.
Lucid Motors to go public in SPAC merger with CCIV
American luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors has signed an agreement to become a publicly-traded company through a merger with special-purpose acquisition (SPAC) company Churchill Capital IV Corp.
The agreement values Lucid at an initial equity value of $24 billion as it looks to raise around $4.4 billion in cash. The market capitalization of the combined company is expected to amount to $64 billion.
Boris Johnson says England can reopen on June 21
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday said that he is “very optimistic” about removing coronavirus restrictions in England on June 21, although he cautioned that ” nothing can be guaranteed and it all depends on the way we continue to be prudent and continue to follow the guidance in each stage.”
