- The Nasdaq closed Monday 0.48% lower at 13,895.
- Verizon to sell media business including Yahoo & AOL to Apollo for US$5bn.
- Moderna surged on news of supplying COVAX with 34 million doses of vaccine.
The US markets closed mixed on the first trading day of May. Investors piled into stocks of economically sensitive companies like energy and materials as Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the US economy?s outlook had brightened.
Earnings season also continues this week in a strong quarter of results. As of Friday, results from 87% of reporting companies beat analyst expectations.
The Dow Jones rose 0.7% to finish the trading day up 238 points to close at 34,113 points.
The tech heavy NASDAQ fell 0.48% to finish the trading day down 68 points to close at 13,895 points.
One bitcoin is worth US$57,252 going into the Asian trading day.
The Australian dollar is stronger against the major currencies and is buying 77.59 US cents.
American telecommunications giant Verizon is selling its media business, including Yahoo and AOL, for US$5bn to Apollo global management while keeping a 10% stake in the new business called Yahoo. The sale came as Verizon struggled to compete with the likes of Google and Facebook in the media space.
Moderna stocks jumped on Monday after the biotech company announced it?ll supply COVAX with 34 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. COVAX is the initiative set up by the World Health Organisation that gives free vaccine doses to poorer countries.
And Bill and Melinda Gates have filed for divorce after 27-years of marriage. The power couple announced the split on Twitter, saying ?we no longer believe we can grow as a couple?.