Australia eyes bigger budget surplus but warns economy still slowing

By Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s budget surplus for 2022/23 will be bigger than the A$4.2 billion ($2.81 billion) projected in the May budget but high inflation and global challenges will “significantly slow” the domestic economy, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday. Strong jobs growth and bumper mining profits will swell government coffers, similar…

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US considering new restrictions on AI chip exports to China – WSJ

(Reuters) – The United States is considering new restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Shares of Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) fell about 1.4% on the news. Nvidia, Micron, and AMD are among the U.S. chipmakers caught in…

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Microsoft attempts to pick apart US legal argument against deal to buy Activision

By Greg Bensinger SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Arguing for the government on Tuesday in its legal fight against Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to buy game maker Activision Blizzard, Harvard economist Robin Lee struggled at times to plainly demonstrate how the planned deal would hurt gamers. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has asked a federal judge…

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Wall Street ends sharply higher, dollar softens as data points to economic resilience

By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks advanced in a broad rally on Tuesday, and the dollar softened as robust economic data eased recession fears and stoked investors’ risk appetite. All three major U.S. stock indexes closed well into positive territory, with tech-related megacaps – particularly those involved in a nascent AI frenzy…

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