Business and technology quick bites

Updated version at 8.30 am

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

April 16, 2021,

Business News

1. The Dow industrials closed above 34,000 for the first time on Thursday as the blue-chip benchmark and S&P 500 posted fresh record highs on a tech stock rally fueled by falling bond yields and strong March U.S. retail sales.
2. JPMorgan Chase & Co. sold $13 billion of bonds Thursday, the largest deal ever by a bank, taking advantage of some of the cheapest borrowing costs in years to boost its capital after the Federal Reserve let pandemic relief measures lapse.
3. Blockchain accelerator Tribe Accelerator has snagged strategic investment from Korea Investment Partners (KIP), a South Korean venture capital firm with US$3 billion of assets under management. This is KIP’s first direct investment in Singapore.
4. Citigroup Inc (Citi) is exiting retail banking in Malaysia, alongside 12 other markets across two regions, Asia and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
5. Daimler AG unveiled a battery-powered counterpart to its top Mercedes-Benz luxury sedan as German carmakers ramp up their challenge to electric upstart Tesla.
6. Singapore’s trader lavish lifestyle allegedly fueled by US$740 million fraud.

Technology News

1. Shares of mobile app and gaming company AppLovin Corp fell as much as 16.6% in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday, valuing the KKR & Co Inc-backed business at around US$24 billion.
2. Shipper, an Indonesia-based digital logistics provider, announced today that it has secured US$63 million in a Series B funding round, led by DST Global partners and Sequoia Capital India.
3. Kraver’s Canteen, a Philippine cloud kitchen startup, has secured US$1.5 million in a seed round led by Foxmont Capital.
4. Regardless of where one sits in the broader tech and venture world, Coinbase storming north of a $100 billion valuation during its first day of trading was the biggest startup happening of the year.
5. Microsoft (MSFT) on Thursday debuted a new kids mode for its Edge web browser, the first such feature from any major browser, designed to prevent kids 12 and under from gaining access to sites and services their parents may find objectionable.