Microsoft Financial News

Investing.com — Investors prepare for a raft of fresh corporate earnings this week that will include some of the largest U.S. banks and major tech industry players. Elsewhere, Chinese quarterly growth figures provide further evidence of the country's sputtering recovery from the pandemic. Plus, Microsoft signs a licensing agreement with PlayStation over the «Call of Duty» gaming franchise that could bring the tech giant's mega-merger with Activision Blizzard one step closer to completion.

(Reuters) — U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Monday after last week's gains, as investors geared up for quarterly results from industry heavyweights through the week.

ToolJet has raised funding from M12, the venture arm of Microsoft, and cloud-based software development platform GitHub, the company said on Monday. The amount of investment has not been disclosed.

Sony Playstation platform following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.  With the agreement, the company seeks to address regulators’ concerns that the merger would make more Activision games — such as the massively popular shooting-game franchise — exclusive to Xbox. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had earlier argued the deal would hurt consumers whether they played video games on consoles or had subscriptions because Microsoft would have an incentive to shut out rivals like Sony Group. The announcement was made by Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer via a post on micro blogging site Twitter.

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole

Exchange-traded funds can still compete in today's «stock picker's» market, according to a top investor.

Microsoft has signed an agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the chief executive officer of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, said in a tweet on Sunday.

Investing.com — Here is your Pro Recap of 4 head-turning deal dispatches you may have missed last week: uncertainties loom around the Microsoft-Activision deal; Broadcom-VMware receives EC approval; Exxon Mobil to acquire Denbury; and Stratasys receives a sweetened offer from 3D Systems.

Investing.com — Second-quarter earnings season kicks into gear, the U.S. and China release economic data and inflation figures out of the U.K. will likely determine the size of the Bank of England’s next rate hike. Meanwhile, oil prices look poised for another weekly gain.

Shopify wants to cut down on ‘meeting creep’—the way meetings seem to proliferate on corporate calendars like mushrooms across a shady lawn. Earlier, the company axed recurring meetings of three or more people and went in for no-meet Wednesdays. Now, the Ottawa-based e-tailer has integrated a meeting-cost calculator into its calendar app.

In the September 2022 update, a significant amount of new functionality was included, and later in October 2022, File Explorer tabs were finally introduced. Subsequently, in February 2023, another set of new features was released. These updates, known as 'Moment' updates, seem to be the future direction for Microsoft, but that doesn't mean they will completely eliminate major feature updates. Version 23H2 is scheduled to be released before the end of 2023, and some of its noteworthy new features have already been disclosed.

(Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Friday rejected the Federal Trade Commission's request to pause Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)'s $69 billion purchase of «Call of Duty» maker Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI).

Microsoft is set to release a major update for Windows 11, named 23H2, in the fourth quarter of 2023. While the exact features are yet to be unveiled, beta testing for the Operating System (OS) indicates exciting possibilities.The Verge has reported that among the unreleased features is Windows Copilot, which utilises the GPT generative AI tech for an OS-wide personal assistant. Users can already test this new feature. Another anticipated addition is the next File Explorer, featuring tabs, favourites, and a modernised appearance. Further, gamers can rejoice as native RGB lighting settings will arrive, eliminating the need for hardware-specific software. The update will also bring built-in support for RAR and 7-zip compressed files and introduce a dark mode for Paint. The upgrade process to the new OS involves downloading the 23H2 update to systems already running the current version, 22H2. However, the new features will remain dormant until Microsoft is ready for the official release.

regulators to block Microsoft from closing its $68.7 billion deal to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard, paving the way for the completion of the biggest acquisition in tech history after a legal battle over whether it will undermine competition. In a brief ruling, a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded there were no grounds for issuing an order that would have prevented Microsoft from completing its nearly 18-month-old deal to take over the maker of popular video games such as Call of Duty.

Roblox Chief Business Officer Craig Donato is leaving gaming and metaverse company Roblox, the company told Reuters on Friday. Donato has been at Roblox nearly seven years and will be departing at the end of the summer, the company said.

Elon Musk on Friday said the purpose of his new artificial intelligence company, xAI, will be to «understand the universe.» In an often meandering 90-minute long Twitter Spaces audio chat, the billionaire discussed his vision for xAI for the first time while veering into topics such as the Earth's evolution and the fragility of civilization. In seeking to deepen the understanding of the universe, Musk joked that xAI's mission statement would be «what the hell is really going on?» Musk announced the formation of xAI on Wednesday after accusing companies like OpenAI and Google of developing the technology without considering risks to humans. OpenAI and Google did not respond to request for comment.

Activision Blizzard. The decision removes one of the few remaining hurdles stopping Xbox maker Microsoft from closing the deal and expanding its gaming business. The FTC had also asked Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the U.S.

xAI, will be to "understand the universe." In an often meandering 90-minute long Twitter Spaces audio chat, the billionaire discussed his vision for xAI for the first time while veering into topics such as the Earth's evolution and the fragility of civilization. In seeking to deepen the understanding of the universe, Musk joked that xAI's mission statement would be "what the hell is really going on?" Musk announced the formation of xAI on Wednesday after accusing companies like OpenAI and Google of developing the technology without considering risks to humans. OpenAI and Google did not respond to request for comment.

Investing.com — U.S. stocks rose on Friday, ending a strong week on a positive note following healthy results from some of the country’s leading banks and a stronger-than-expected reading on consumer sentiment for July.

Investing.com — U.S. stocks were rising after three big banks reported strong second quarter profits.

Investing.com -- The U.K.'s competition watchdog has extended the deadline for the proposed $69 billion merger between Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), in the latest sign that the regulator's opposition to the biggest deal in the history of the video game industry may be softening.