Author: fortraders

The European Commission has appealed to the European Court of Justice to make Apple pay a record 13 billion euros in Irish back taxes. The case has far-reaching implications for corporate tax bills and will determine whether member states may continue to grant multinationals substantial tax breaks in return for jobs and investments.

Apple has refuted the Commission’s arguments, saying it has paid its fair share of taxes in the appropriate country. The EU competition enforcer has suffered court losses in recent months to challenges by Fiat Chrysler, Amazon and Starbucks, although it had a legal victory when the CJEU in September took its side in a Belgian tax break case against a group of multinationals.

A ruling by the Court of Justice is expected in the coming months and would be the final word. The outcome of this case will have a major impact on the taxation of multinationals in the European Union.

The cloud unit, which is part of the company’s core commerce business, has been expanding rapidly in recent years. It reported a revenue of $2.2 billion in the quarter ended June 30, up from $1.3 billion a year earlier. The unit is expected to be a key driver of growth for the company in the coming years.

The job cuts come as Alibaba prepares for an initial public offering of its cloud unit, which could be one of the largest tech IPOs in recent years. The company has yet to announce a timeline for the IPO, but it is expected to take place in the next few months.

The job cuts are part of Alibaba’s efforts to streamline its operations and focus on its core businesses. The company has been investing heavily in its cloud business and is looking to capitalize on the growing demand for cloud services in China.

India stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with the Nifty 50 up 0.18% and the BSE Sensex 30 index up 0.03%. Adani Enterprises Ltd. was the best performer of the session, rising 13.22% or 307.60 points to 2,633.70. Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd. was the worst performer, falling 1.40% or 64.30 points to 4,541.00. On the BSE Sensex 30, Bajaj Finserv Ltd. rose 1.75% to 1,437.55, while Tech Mahindra Ltd. was down 1.21% to 1,091.10. The India VIX, which measures the implied volatility of Nifty 50 options, was up 0.28% to 12.60. Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.99% or 19.50 to $1,957.70 a troy ounce. Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.61% or 0.44 to hit $72.49 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.58% or 0.44 to trade at $76.43 a barrel. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.35% at 103.43.

The Alliance for Open Media (AOM), which includes members such as Alphabet’s Google, Amazon, Apple and Meta, has been cleared of any potential fines by the European Commission. The Commission had been investigating the AOM’s video licensing policy since last year, but decided to close the investigation for priority reasons.

AOM welcomed the move, stating that royalty-free licensing is essential for technological standards and the open internet. The AV1 software, which is used by Netflix, YouTube, Google Chrome and Firefox, is an open, royalty-free video coding software designed for video transmission over the internet.

Other AOM members include Netflix, Broadcom, Cisco, Tencent, Intel, Huawei, Mozilla, Samsung and Nvidia. Companies face fines of up to 10% of their global turnover for breaching EU antitrust rules.

Vietnam’s No Va Land Investment Group Corp is in talks with creditors to restructure part of its $1 billion foreign debt, according to two people familiar with the matter. The company has reached deals with some creditors and is considering options to restructure other parts of its foreign debt, including Credit Suisse, which has committed to loans worth about $55 million.

No Va Land is also trying to reduce repayment pressure by selling assets, but has struggled to find buyers. The company’s total debt, including domestic loans and bonds, is about $2.7 billion, equivalent to 24% of its assets.

The real estate sector in Vietnam has been hit by a government crackdown on corruption and stricter rules on corporate bond issuance and refinancing, leading to a credit crunch and a surplus of high-end property. No Va Land, currently valued at around $1.1 billion after an 83% plunge in its shares in the last 12 months, is the fifth-largest developer by market value in the country.

Shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) surged 15% in pre-market trading Tuesday after it was reported that activist investor TSC Capital Management has a stake in the service-recommendation business. TSC has amassed a stake of over 4% in Yelp and its Founder and President Eric Semler will tell the company’s board that it should be sold to another bigger tech company or a private-equity business. Semler believes the company’s stock should be sold for at least $70 a share and is prepared to make an offer to acquire Yelp. A Yelp spokesperson said the company “maintains an active dialogue with our shareholders and values constructive feedback on our business and ways to create value.”

Chinese investors are pouring money into Japan-focused stock funds as the Nikkei 225 Index hits 33-year highs. Two Shanghai-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the Nikkei 225 Index have seen their prices far exceed their net asset value, prompting warnings from fund managers about market risks.

The Nikkei has gained 19% this year, with foreign investors in particular attracted by strong corporate earnings and signs of economic recovery. Chinese investors have been ploughing money into a handful of ETFs that invest in Japanese stocks under QDII, the outbound investment scheme.

The Hua An Mitsubishi UFJ Nikkei 225 ETF has seen its assets under management more than double this year to 123.5 million yuan ($17.52 million). Demand is also reflected in the price premiums of ETFs, which can be bought and sold like stocks. The premium for the E Fund Nikko AM Nikkei 225 Index ETF shot up to 23% last Friday, before shrinking as the fund manager issued warnings.

The mutual fund companies have cautioned investors to pay attention to price premium risks in the secondary market, warning that if investors invest blindly, they may incur huge losses.

U.K. stock markets traded in a mixed fashion Tuesday as investors digested the lack of an agreement to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and a series of economic data releases. The FTSE 100 index traded flat, the mid-cap FTSE 250 traded 0.2% higher, while the combined FTSE 350 fell 0.1%. High inflation resulted in Britain posting a larger-than-expected budget deficit in April. Flash PMI figures for May are expected to show strength in services but a downbeat manufacturing sector. BT Group stock rose 0.3% after Altice UK increased its stake in the telecoms giant to approximately 24.5%. Ninety One stock rose 0.6% after the asset manager announced that its directors had purchased £250,000 worth of shares. Pennon Group stock fell 2.1% after the water services company said that U.K. regulators have launched an investigation into its South West Water unit.

Virgin Australia, the airline owned by U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, is aiming for a A$1 billion listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in November. This would be the largest new share sale in almost two years since GQG Partners raised A$1.18 billion in its listing in October 2021.

The size of the stake that Bain will sell has yet to be decided, but could be between 30% and 40%. The IPO could value the domestic focused carrier at $A2.5 billion to $A3 billion.

Bain Capital declined to comment on the timeline of the deal, but details were first reported by Bloomberg News on Tuesday. The final valuation will be decided after further management and analyst briefings with potential investors.

This listing would be a major milestone for Virgin Australia, which was placed in voluntary administration in 2020. The airline is now aiming to raise up to A$1 billion in the deal, which would be a major boost for the Australian economy.

The Australian stock market closed lower on Tuesday, as losses in the Gold, Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples sectors weighed on the S&P/ASX 200. Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) was the best performer, rising 12.73%, while Elders Ltd (ASX:ELD) was the worst, falling 4.34%. Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.92%, while Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.15%. The AUD/USD was unchanged at 0.66, while the US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18%.