US stocks retreat as technology loses favour | Calamatta Cuschieri

Investors sold off technology stocks that benefited from virus lockdowns on Tuesday, instead favouring sectors that have suffered the most during the pandemic on hopes a COVID-19 vaccine will turn the economy around. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 262.95 points, or 0.9%, to 29,420.92, the S&P 500 lost 4.97 points, or 0.14%, to 3,545.53 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 159.93 points to 11,553.86.

European shares held near eight-month highs, riding a wave of optimism about a COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough, although concerns about the pandemic’s economic damage capped gains. The pan-European STOXX 600, which rallied 4% on Monday after positive news from U.S. drugmaker Pfizer about its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, rose 0.9%.

Maltese markets meanwhile shot up on gains from larger stocks, with the MSE Equity Total Return closing up 3.23 percent to 7,466.226 points. Bank of Valletta Plc led the gains with shares up 8.14 percent to €0.93, followed by Malta International Airport which gained 8 percent to €5.40. 10 stocks traded, with 8 recording large gains.

Apple launches new M1 chip for their Mac lineup

Apple Inc on Tuesday introduced a MacBook Air notebook and other machines with its first central processor designed in-house for Macs, a move that will tie its computers and iPhones closer together technologically. The new chip, called the M1, marks a shift away from Intel Corp INTC.O technology that has driven the electronic brains of Mac computers for nearly 15 years.

The MacBook Air will start at $999, the same as its predecessor, and have up to twice the battery life, Apple said. The M1 will also power the MacBook Pro notebook, which starts at $1299, and its $699 Mac Mini computer, which comes without a monitor. I t is a boon for Apple computers, which are overshadowed by the company’s iPhone but still rack up tens of billions of dollars in sales per year. Apple hopes developers now will create families of apps that work on both its computers and phones.

The new products will be available from next week, executives said. Shares of Apple were up about 0.2% as the event ended.

Source: Reuters

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