Business and technology quick bites

Updated version at 9.03 am

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

March 31, 2021,

Business News

1. Stocks fell for a second day and Treasury yields touched a 14-month high as traders weighed the consequences of more stimulus from the Biden administration.
2. Regulators in DC are starting to feel the pressure to address the fallout from Archegos Capital, the faltering family firm that could inflict up to $10 billion in losses on some of the world’s largest banks.
3. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is seeking to establish a framework for green investments in the region that could be worth as much as US$3 trillion.
4. German automaker Volkswagen AG’s US unit issued a false news release on Tuesday (Mar 30) claiming it would rename its US operations as “Voltswagen of America” in a marketing stunt designed to call attention to its electric vehicle efforts, three people briefed on the matter told Reuters.
5. German air shuttle startup Lilium said it would float on the U.S. stock market via a reverse merger with Qell Acquisition Corp, a blank-cheque acquisition company, in a deal valuing the combined business at US$3.3 billion.
6. Ongoing travel restrictions and uncertainty over the Covid-19 situation are key concerns for analysts tracking low-cost carrier AirAsia Group Bhd when gauging the likelihood of the airline’s recovery this year
7.  The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) will look at the full report on the allegation by the United States that Top Glove Corp Bhd had used forced labour in the production of its disposable glove in Malaysia.
8. From his perch high above Midtown Manhattan, just across from Carnegie Hall, Bill Hwang was quietly building one of the world’s greatest fortunes. Hwang and his private investment firm, Archegos Capital Management, are now at the center of one of the biggest margin calls of all time — a multibillion-dollar fiasco involving secretive market bets that were dangerously leveraged and unwound in a blink.

Technology News 

1. Brazil’s central bank cleared the way for Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service to let its users send each other funds using the Visa Inc and Mastercard card networks, according to a statement.
2. China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group plans to set up a commercial aerospace company to develop its satellite and communications technologies in the southern city of Guangzhou, local government said on Tuesday.
3. Microsoft Corp said that it aims to place 50,000 people in jobs that require technology skills as part of a broader push being undertaken with its professional networking website LinkedIn to help workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic move into new fields.
4. Enterprise software startup Nimbly Technologies has raised US$4.6 million in a pre-Series A round led by Insignia Venture Partners, along with Silicon Valley-based Sovereign’s Capital and Saison Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Tokyo-listed Credit Saison.