Business and technology quick bites: 21.05.2021

Updated version at 8.00 am

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

May 21, 2021,

Business News

1. Asian stocks look set to climb after technology companies led a Wall Street rebound on economic optimism and easing concern about the possibility of reduced U.S. stimulus.
2. SoftBank-backed WeWork reported a first-quarter net loss of $2.06 billion, ahead of public listing through a merger with BowX Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, in a deal that valued it at $9 billion.
3. Reports of the Treasury Department’s proposal sliced into bitcoin’s gains Thursday, leaving the cryptocurrency up 3% on the day after earlier jumping more than 10%. Thursday’s gains brought bitcoin back to near US$40,000.
4. Shell sells its entire stake in the Malampaya natural gas field off the Philippines for up to US$460 million.

Technology News

1. Snapchat, the social network popular with young smartphone users, claims to have 500 million monthly active users amid surging growth in many parts of the world.
2. Broker app Trade Republic, founded by former Merrill Lynch banker Christian Hecker, has become one of Germany’s biggest fintech firms by valuation, at more than US$5 billion.
3. Singapore-base fintech companies have raised about S$656 million in the first quarter of 2021, up 355% from the year before, according to a report released by the Boston Consulting Group.
4. O2 and Virgin Media get nod to merge operations, a US$44.4 billion deal powerhouse that will reshape the nation’s phone markets.
5. Google‘s first-ever physical retail store set to open in New York this year, as the tech giant moves increasingly into gadgetry in competition with Apple.
6. Co-founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, Zhang Yiming, steps down as chief executive.
7. Secai Marche, an online marketplace that connects farmers with restaurants in Japan and Malaysia, raised US$1.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round from Japanese VC firms Rakuten Ventures and Beyond Next Ventures.