Business and technology quick bites: 12.05.2021

Updated version at 8.20 am

The highlighted words in red are links to the news article.

May 12, 2021,

Business News

1. US stocks closed lower on Tuesday as rising commodity prices and labor shortages fed fears that despite reassurances from the US Federal Reserve, near-term price spikes could translate into longer-term inflation. And over in Europe, European stocks tumbled from all-time highs, with the travel, retail and technology sectors among the top losers.
2. SoftBank targets payment app PayPay for IPO, adding that subsidiary SB Payment Service could also be a candidate for listing.
3. Australia unveils big-spending budget that seeks to drive unemployment down to levels rarely seen in the past 50 years.
4. The UK’s financial watchdog has opened an investigation into the collapse of Liberty Steel backer Greensill Capital over “potentially criminal” allegations.
5. Sovereign wealth funds‘ direct investments almost doubled in 2020 to US$65.9 billion, with a significant portion of that amount invested at home as funds sought to soften the hit to their economies from the Covid-19 crisis.
6. ST Engineering and Temasek Holdings have set up a 50-50 joint venture (JV) for freighter aircraft leasing targeting to build a portfolio valued at around US$600 million (S$800 million) within five years.
7. Chinese food delivery giant Meituan‘s shares have fallen sharply after its boss reportedly shared a 1,000-year-old poem on social media.
8. SoftBank Corp to invest US$60 million in Axiata Group Bhd‘s data analytics and artificial intelligence unit, ADA, to establish the latter as its core digital and data marketing partner in Asia.
9. Bill Gates-backed Boston-based biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks makes market debut via US$15 billion SPAC.

Technology News

1. Renowned investor Jim Rogers backs Singapore-based foodtech company Life3 Biotech and joins as a member of its board of investors. Life3 is the first alternative protein company that he is advising.
2. YouTube will pay $100 million to its most popular users on its Shorts product, which aims to compete with popular video app TikTok.
3. Softbank-backed digital mortgage lender Better.com will make its market debut by merging with Aurora Acquisition Corp., valuing Better at $7.7 billion.
4. Thailand’s public listed financial consultancy firm, Brooker Group, will invest a total of US$48 million in a diversified portfolio of decentralised applications (dApps) and decentralised finance (DeFi) tokens.
5. Filipino neobank Tonik has raised US$17 million in a pre-Series B funding round, led by Singaporean VC firm iGlobe Partners.