Australia goes after Facebook and Google | Calamatta Cuschieri

The Maltese market closed in the red on Monday, with MSE total index ending the session 0.414% lower to 8035.943 points. The best performer was Malta Properties Company plc with its surge of 13.33% to close at 0.595, followed by 5.56% jump of MIDI plc and 2.27% gain of Trident Estates plc with closing price 0.38 and 1.35 respectively. The biggest fall of 5.88% was seen from Simonds Farsons Cisk plc with closing price of 8.00, followed by a 3.09% decline of GO plc which closed at 3.76. Malta International Airport plc and BMIT Technologies plc results slid 0.40% to close at 4.98 and 0.488 respectively.

European stocks rebounded from their intra-day lows near the end of the session after Germany eased its Covid-19 lockdown slightly and amid some slightly less dire news regarding the death toll from the pandemic. By the close of markets, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.67% higher to 335.70, alongside a 0.47% rise to 10,675.90 for the German Dax while the FTSE Mibtel was up by 0.05% at 17,064.14.

US stocks closed lower on Monday following a sharp decline in US crude oil prices. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.44% at 23,650.44, while the S&P 500 was 1.79% weaker at 2,823.16 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.03% softer at 8,560.73.

Australia plans to force Google and Facebook to share advertising revenue with domestic media after complaints.

Australia will force Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to share advertising revenue with local media firms, the country's treasurer said on Monday, becoming one of the first countries to require digital platforms to pay for content they use.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the move comes after talks with Facebook and Alphabet failed to yield a voluntary code to address complaints by domestic media players that the tech giants have too tight a grip on advertising, their main source of income.

The government has now asked the country's competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to frame a mandatory code of conduct between media outlets and digital platforms after talks stalled on content payment rules.

The government scrapped its initial plan to come up with a voluntary code by November and has asked ACCC to submit its draft mandatory code by July, to be passed into legislation shortly thereafter.

This article was issued by Nadiia Grech, Junior Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.