JD.com Shopping Event Sales Growth Slow Down
In the ‘618’ event hosted by Chinese e-commerce tycoon JD.com, the total sales generated by the firm jumped 10.3% over the 18 days to Sunday. During the first significant shopping festival after a recent coronavirus outbreak, according to the company, this marks a sharp decline from the event's surge of 27.7% in 2021.
This year's result was the lowest for the retailer, demonstrating how the dwindling economy and increased lockdowns to combat the Omicron coronavirus have diminished customer demand in the world’s second-largest economy.
MACROECONOMIC DATA ANALYSIS
A day after the UAE expressed alarm over Tehran's nuclear program, Iran informed the United Arab Emirates on Saturday that bolstering ties with its neighbors was a top priority. On Friday, the UAE's representative to the UN's nuclear watchdog expressed his hope that Iran will co-operate with the organization to reassure both the international community and the region regarding Tehran's nuclear program.
Due to escalating interest rates and rising debt levels, Finance Minister Christian Lindner warned that interest payments on Germany's public debt could reach 30 billion euros in 2023. He also vowed to fight initiatives for higher spending. Lindner also said that he wants to re-introduce Germany's constitutional debt brake and put an end to the three years of government generosity that had re-inforced efforts to aid the economy through the COVID-19 crisis.
CURRENCIES
The U.S. dollar was up on Friday, clawing back from a one-week low after the Federal Reserve decided to hike interest rates in the United States. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, escalated 1.01% to 104.460.
GOLD
Gold prices dropped on Friday, amid a stronger U.S. dollar greenback and recovering Treasury yields swaying investors away from the bullion and more towards dollar-backed assets. Gold futures were down 0.43% in value to price at $1,841 per ounce.
OIL
Oil futures plunge by roughly 6% on Friday to four-week lows, on worries that interest rate increases by high-impacting central banks may slow the global economy and weigh down on energy demand. Brent futures plummeted 5.17% to $113.61 per barrel, while WTI futures were crushed by 6.05% to $110.48 a barrel.
INDICES
USA: S&P500 +0.22%, Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.13%, Nasdaq Composite +1.24%
Europe: FTSE 100 -0.41%, DAX +0.67%, CAC 40 -0.06%
Asia: Nikkei 225 -1.77%, Hang Seng +1.10%, CSI 300 +1.39%, Nifty 50 -0.44%
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Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, has provided the closest thing to a confirmation that the company is developing a headset.
In a recent interview with China Daily USA, Cook was questioned about what, in his opinion, are the essential elements for augmented reality, or AR, to be successful in the consumer market.
“I am incredibly excited about AR as you might know. And the critical thing to any technology, including AR, is putting humanity at the center of it,” he said, echoing comments he’s made in the past about how important AR is to the company.
Meta, Microsoft, and other tech titans racing to build the emerging metaverse concept have formed a group to encourage the development of industry standards that will make the companies' nascent digital worlds compatible with one another.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), as well as other well-known standards-setting organizations, are among the participants in the Metaverse Standards Forum, according to a statement released by the group on Tuesday announcing its formation.