We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Top Chinese nuclear, radar and missile experts vanish from engineering body site 2. The US is shifting THAAD to the Middle East. What does that mean for China? 3. Hong Kong OpenClaw users say tool is...
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Top Chinese nuclear, radar and missile experts vanish from engineering body site 2. The US is shifting THAAD to the Middle East. What does that mean for China? 3. Hong Kong OpenClaw users say tool is helpful ‘family member’ who must be watched 4. Inside the coconut cartel: how Chinese money...
Over the past couple of years, artificial intelligence (AI) investing has focused mostly on companies supplying chips, servers, and cloud infrastructure. However, the next phase of the AI cycle can reward companies that successfully monetize AI use, especially through recurring software revenue. Microsoft (MSFT 1.57%) appears well positioned to benefit from this transition. In addition to building...
Over the past couple of years, artificial intelligence (AI) investing has focused mostly on companies supplying chips, servers, and cloud infrastructure. However, the next phase of the AI cycle can reward companies that successfully monetize AI use, especially through recurring software revenue. Microsoft (MSFT 1.57%) appears well positioned to benefit from this transition. In addition to building AI-optimized Azure cloud infrastructure, the company is offering services to build AI agents. Microsoft has also integrated AI-powered assistants and other AI tools across its core software offerings. Hence, the company is now monetizing AI through paid subscriptions and enterprise software products. Here's why that opportunity can become even larger in 2026. Copilot is quickly becoming a source of recurring revenue Microsoft's AI assistant, Copilot, is already seeing strong traction. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026 (ending Dec. 31), paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats increased by more than 160% year over year to reach roughly 15 million. Enterprise (business) deployments are accelerating, with the number of organizations that are deploying more than 35,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot seats tripling year over year in the second quarter. Microsoft reported a tenfold year-over-year increase in daily active users of Microsoft 365 Copilot, while the average number of conversations per user doubled. Expand NASDAQ : MSFT Microsoft Today's Change ( -1.57 %) $ -6.32 Current Price $ 395.54 Key Data Points Market Cap $2.9T Day's Range $ 394.24 - $ 404.80 52wk Range $ 344.79 - $ 555.45 Volume 1.4M Avg Vol 34M Gross Margin 68.59 % Dividend Yield 0.88 % These adoption trends are reflected in the company's financial performance. In the second quarter, Microsoft 365 Commercial Cloud revenue was up 17% year over year, supported partly by the higher average revenue per user from Copilot and premium subscriptions. Microsoft is expanding its AI monetization avenues with the launch of a new Micr...
Listen to this article Listen to this article 1x Workers produce goods for export at a factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, March 16, 2026. Photo: VCG China’s industrial output grew faster than expected in the first two months of this year, while retail sales showed modest improvement. Value-added industrial output rose 6.3% year-on-year during the period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (N...
Listen to this article Listen to this article 1x Workers produce goods for export at a factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, March 16, 2026. Photo: VCG China’s industrial output grew faster than expected in the first two months of this year, while retail sales showed modest improvement. Value-added industrial output rose 6.3% year-on-year during the period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday, exceeding the 5.1% average forecast in a Caixin survey. NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui attributed the growth to improving domestic demand, stronger exports and the effects of macroeconomic policies.
Japan’s equity rally built on strong corporate earnings is beginning to look vulnerable as the escalating conflict in Iran pushes crude oil prices higher, stoking concern that rising energy costs could erode profits. A 10% gain in Brent crude prices would shave 1% to 2% off Japanese companies’ net income, said Kazunori Tatebe , chief strategist at Daiwa Asset Management Co. Brent is trading at abo...
Japan’s equity rally built on strong corporate earnings is beginning to look vulnerable as the escalating conflict in Iran pushes crude oil prices higher, stoking concern that rising energy costs could erode profits. A 10% gain in Brent crude prices would shave 1% to 2% off Japanese companies’ net income, said Kazunori Tatebe , chief strategist at Daiwa Asset Management Co. Brent is trading at about $104 a barrel, more than 50% above last year’s average — a heavy burden for a nation that imports almost all of its oil. The outlook for strong earnings was a key factor behind Japan’s Topix climbing 15% over the past six months, beating indexes in the US, Europe and China. While expectations of fiscal stimulus and corporate reforms have also supported the rally, the prospect of solid profit growth has been a key driver. “Investors had anticipated double-digit profit growth for Japanese firms next fiscal year, but with the sharp rise in oil prices, they are beginning to consider the possibility of single-digit growth — and a decline in profits in the worst case,” said Shingo Ide , chief equity strategist at NLI Research Institute. Mamoru Shimode , a strategist at Resona Asset Management Co., warned that Japanese companies may issue more conservative outlooks if the conflict continues past April, when many firms begin reporting full-year results. Meanwhile, sectors expected to make large contributions to profit growth in fiscal 2026 — including electronics, transportation equipment and banks — may also come under pressure from a softening US labor market and a slowdown in AI data-center investment. If these industries weaken, the overall earnings outlook for the Topix could be revised downward, strategists at SMBC Nikko Securities including Hikaru Yasuda said in a report on Monday. “It’s not just raw material prices — transportation costs will rise as well, and a global economic slowdown could curb demand,” NLI Research’s Ide said. Real wages, which recently turned positi...
Susumu Yoshioka/DigitalVision via Getty Images Dubai briefly suspended flights at its main international airport after a drone struck airport facilities, disrupting the aviation hub’s attempts to restore normal operations as the Iran conflict entered its third week. Local authorities announced the suspension hours after a drone strike caused a fire at a nearby fuel tank on Monday, which forced air...
Susumu Yoshioka/DigitalVision via Getty Images Dubai briefly suspended flights at its main international airport after a drone struck airport facilities, disrupting the aviation hub’s attempts to restore normal operations as the Iran conflict entered its third week. Local authorities announced the suspension hours after a drone strike caused a fire at a nearby fuel tank on Monday, which forced aircraft to circle outside the airport while emergency teams responded. The fire was successfully contained, Dubai’s media office said in a post on X. No injuries were reported. Elsewhere, the chief executives of several major U.S. airlines urged Congress to quickly resolve a 29-day partial government shutdown, warning that unpaid airport security officers are beginning to disrupt air travel as the busy spring break season approaches. In an open letter, leaders from American Airlines ( AAL ), United Airlines ( UAL ), Delta Air Lines ( DAL ), Southwest Airlines ( LUV ), JetBlue Airways ( JBLU ), and Alaska Air Group ( ALK ) said the shutdown has forced about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers to continue working without pay, contributing to longer checkpoint lines at some airports. Dear readers: We recognize that politics often intersects with the financial news of the day, so we invite you to click here to join the separate political discussion. More on markets, Synaptics: A Better Business, But Still Waiting For The AI Ramp Politics And The Markets 03/16/26 Mondelēz And The Cocoa Crash: Margin Potential Outweighs Chocolate Deflation Risk Goldman Sachs sees S&P 500 rising to 7,600 on earnings growth Oil climbs past $100 as Iran war disrupts global supply
Getty Images Market Review US Large Cap equities (S&P 500 Index) rose 2.66% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Sector performance was generally positive, led by Health Care and Com munication Services, while Real Estate and Utilities were the only notable laggards. Monetary policy remained a key macro driver, as the Federal Reserve delivered two additional 25 basis point rate cuts in October and Decem...
Getty Images Market Review US Large Cap equities (S&P 500 Index) rose 2.66% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Sector performance was generally positive, led by Health Care and Com munication Services, while Real Estate and Utilities were the only notable laggards. Monetary policy remained a key macro driver, as the Federal Reserve delivered two additional 25 basis point rate cuts in October and December following the initial September cut, reinforcing a more accommodative policy stance. Market sentiment was intermittently challenged by late-year volatility tied to macro data, earnings revisions, and ongoing geopolitical and trade policy uncertainties. Performance Review The Goldman Sachs Large Cap Growth Insights Fund returned in the fourth quarter of 2025 (net, I-share), underperforming its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index, by 24 basis points (“bps”). Our Sentiment Analysis pillar was the largest contributor to performance throughout the period, driven largely by our positioning in the Industrials sector. Our signals that aim to capture investor sentiment guided an additive overweight positioning towards Aerospace & Defense and Passenger Airlines names. Improved sentiment towards these Industries was driven by a widespread rotation towards cyclicals amid easing financial conditions. Continued global geopolitical instability further propped up Aerospace and Defense names. Our Themes & Trends pillar largely flat across the quarter. Additive positioning in the aforementioned Industrials names, driven by our suite of signals seeking to identify economic linkages between stocks, was offset by an underweight to travel-related Consumer Discretionary names. Our Fundamental Mispricings pillar was also flat to slightly negative over the quarter. While relative valuation signals contributed positively at times - particularly within Industrials and Materials - these gains were offset by weaker performance from industry rotation signals earlier in the quarter. Sector posit...
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to release an agentic AI service for companies, banking on national enthusiasm around artificial intelligence assistants like OpenClaw that help users perform actual tasks. The Chinese company may announce the new AI agent product, based on its flagship Qwen model and tailor-made for enterprises, as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said. The compa...
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to release an agentic AI service for companies, banking on national enthusiasm around artificial intelligence assistants like OpenClaw that help users perform actual tasks. The Chinese company may announce the new AI agent product, based on its flagship Qwen model and tailor-made for enterprises, as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said. The company plans to gradually integrate other services with the agent, including online shopping site Taobao and fintech platform Alipay, the people said, asking to remain anonymous discussing private plans. The tool was developed by the team that runs Alibaba’s Slack-like DingTalk platform, the people added. Alibaba’s latest product underscores its steady investment in a panoply of artificial intelligence services, as well as a recognition of the explosive popularity of agentic AI like OpenClaw that can help buy items or manage email. The newly created enterprise AI tool can help firms operate computers, browsers and cloud servers, though with built-in features to safeguard data security, the people said. It’s unclear how Alibaba is going to charge enterprises for the product, or the extent to which it will integrate existing in-house services at the outset. Alibaba didn’t respond to an emailed request seeking comment. Read More: China Becomes Agentic AI’s Biggest Lab With OpenClaw Stampede Alibaba, which is set to report quarterly earnings on Thursday, is grappling with questions about its AI strategy following the sudden departure of one of its star developers. Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu promised over $53 billion of investment in AI last year, after announcing artificial general intelligence as the company’s primary goal. It’s since experienced triple-digit growth in AI-related businesses — though off a low base. Alibaba had mostly focused on enterprise-facing AI and cloud computing solutions before revamping its Qwen app last year for consumers. This month, it also became...
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to release an agentic AI service for companies, banking on national enthusiasm around artificial intelligence assistants like OpenClaw that help users perform actual tasks. The Chinese company may announce the new AI agent product, based on its flagship Qwen model and tailor-made for enterprises, as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said. The compa...
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to release an agentic AI service for companies, banking on national enthusiasm around artificial intelligence assistants like OpenClaw that help users perform actual tasks. The Chinese company may announce the new AI agent product, based on its flagship Qwen model and tailor-made for enterprises, as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said. The company plans to gradually integrate other services with the agent, including online shopping site Taobao and fintech platform Alipay, the people said, asking to remain anonymous discussing private plans. The tool was developed by the team that runs Alibaba’s Slack-like DingTalk platform, the people added. Most Read from Bloomberg Alibaba’s latest product underscores its steady investment in a panoply of artificial intelligence services, as well as a recognition of the explosive popularity of agentic AI like OpenClaw that can help buy items or manage email. The newly created enterprise AI tool can help firms operate computers, browsers and cloud servers, though with built-in features to safeguard data security, the people said. It’s unclear how Alibaba is going to charge enterprises for the product, or the extent to which it will integrate existing in-house services at the outset. Alibaba didn’t respond to an emailed request seeking comment. Alibaba, which is set to report quarterly earnings on Thursday, is grappling with questions about its AI strategy following the sudden departure of one of its star developers. Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu promised over $53 billion of investment in AI last year, after announcing artificial general intelligence as the company’s primary goal. It’s since experienced triple-digit growth in AI-related businesses — though off a low base. Alibaba had mostly focused on enterprise-facing AI and cloud computing solutions before revamping its Qwen app last year for consumers. This month, it also became one of the first Chinese tech companies to intr...