SoftBank Group Corp unveiled a series of transactions on Monday to divest more than $21 billion worth of stock in U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc, as it seeks funding for a $41 billion share buyback and debt reduction plan. While the divestments have bankrolled a string of share buybacks, delighting investors including hedge fund Elliott Management Corp, they have raised concerns among credit ratings agencies about the Japanese conglomerate's financial standing. Many of the T-Mobile shares divested by SoftBank were acquired by T-Mobile itself, which will in turn sell them on to the open market and private investors....
Stock futures fell sharply and then pared losses, after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said during a Fox News interview that any trade deal with China was “over” but then walked back the remark and clarified that the Phase 1 trade deal “continues in place” in subsequent statements to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News....
(Bloomberg) -- Asian financial markets were roiled for a time Tuesday morning after comments by a senior White House official that had quickly revived concerns about U.S.-China tensions.Peter Navarro, who has advised President Donald Trump on trade matters, had been quoted saying the Sino-American trade deal was “over” in an exchange on Fox News primarily focused on China’s connection with the coronavirus. That triggered a selloff in Asian stocks, U.S. futures, crude oil and the offshore yuan.Moves quickly began reversing after Navarro was quoted saying his remarks had been taken out of context. President Donald Trump’s remark that the bilateral trade deal signed in January was fully intact helped send S&P 500 futures back into the green.The swings in risk assets Tuesday followed what had been a constructive session on Wall Street Monday, when equities climbed as investors continued to bet on companies with strong balance sheets and better prospects in...
(Bloomberg) -- A supercomputer developed by Fujitsu Ltd. and Japan’s Riken research institute was ranked the world’s fastest in an independent survey, beating out U.S. and Chinese rivals.Built using technology from SoftBank Group Corp.’s Arm Ltd., the Fugaku cluster has more than 150,000 processors and roughly 2.8 times the performance of the second-fastest supercomputer, according to TOP500, a research organization that compiles the rankings twice a year. It marks the first time that a Japanese supercomputer has led the ranking since Fujitsu’s K computer took the crown in 2011, the company said. It also boosts Arm’s claims that it can compete with the likes of Intel Corp. in high-performance computing.The new supercomputer is installed at the Riken Center for Computational Science in Kobe and will begin full operation in 2021. It will contribute to research in areas from drug discovery to weather forecasting and help shape policy decisions.Read more: Apple-Made Computer...
(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks and U.S. futures slid along with the yuan after a Trump administration official described the Sino-American trade deal as “over.”Treasuries climbed and crude oil dropped after Trump aide Peter Navarro said “it’s over,” when asked in a Fox News interview about the trade agreement with China. S&P 500 futures, which had opened higher, dropped over 1%. While Navarro didn’t specify whether the entire deal signed in January was now invalid, his remark revived concerns about deteriorating U.S.-China ties. The risk-off moves Tuesday morning followed what had been a constructive session on Wall Street Monday, when equities climbed as investors continued to bet on companies with strong balance sheets and better prospects in work-from-home economy. The Nasdaq 100 jumped more than 1%, and the Nasdaq Composite capped a seventh straight advance in its longest rally of the year.Influential investors had added to the positive sentiment prior to Navarro’s...
