Microsoft Corp. $MSFT is set to announce another round of job reductions in early July, targeting sales, marketing, and customer service teams. The move follows the May 2025 layoffs that affected roughly 6,000 technical employees, including software developers and engineers. This time, the cuts will affect frontline commercial operations as the company redirects spending toward AI infrastructure. In April, Microsoft confirmed plans to outsource parts of its SMB software sales to external partners—an early sign of the broader restructuring now underway.

Algorithmic trading is rapidly transforming global financial markets, increasingly replacing traditional trading methods. According to Bloomberg, by 2025, over 80% of trading volumes across major asset classes will be executed by trading algorithms. A key technical element in this shift is the correct connection between a trading bot and a broker, which ensures real-time market data access, accurate order execution, and uninterrupted strategy deployment

As algorithmic trading continues to dominate both traditional and crypto markets, the importance of fine-tuning a trading bot’s parameters becomes increasingly evident. According to projections by Goldman Sachs, over 85% of all trades in equities and derivatives will be executed algorithmically by 2025. But without carefully calibrated parameters, no strategy—regardless of how sophisticated—can effectively respond to shifting market dynamics.

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc. $JD has launched a disruptive initiative targeting the domestic travel and hospitality sector, unveiling a zero-commission hotel membership program that rattled shares of major players Trip.com Group Ltd. $TCOM and Meituan $3690.HK on Thursday. In an open letter to hotel operators, JD.com outlined its strategy to offer supply chain management services, aiming to cut operational costs and improve service quality across China’s hospitality landscape. The move signals JD.com's ambitions to expand beyond retail and food delivery into high-margin service verticals, intensifying competition in China’s already crowded travel-tech market.

Shares of Revolution Beauty Group PLC $REVB.L fell sharply by over 21% on Thursday, following confirmation that Frasers Group PLC $FRAS.L has terminated discussions around a potential acquisition. The retail group, led by Mike Ashley, issued a statement declaring it would not move forward with a takeover bid for the cosmetics company. The announcement led to immediate downward pressure on REVB’s market valuation. The pullback marks a reversal from early June, when Frasers had indicated it was exploring a possible all-cash acquisition. That initial interest drove speculation around a potential turnaround for Revolution Beauty, which has faced inconsistent financial performance and governance scrutiny since its public listing.

European equities declined on Thursday as renewed tensions in the Middle East and looming central bank meetings weighed heavily on investor sentiment. The DAX fell by 0.7%, mirroring a similar decline in France's CAC 40, while the FTSE 100 $^FTSE slipped 0.4% in London. The downturn comes as market participants reassess geopolitical risks and their potential implications for global economic stability and monetary policy. The underlying trigger for the sell-off was heightened speculation that the United States (USD) might support Israeli airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear and missile infrastructure, potentially escalating the already volatile situation in the region.

XPS Pensions Group PLC $XPS.L posted robust financial results for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2025, highlighting consistent topline growth and operational leverage. The UK-based pension consultancy reported a revenue increase of 18% year-over-year, reaching £231.8 million, in line with its April 16 trading update. This revenue growth was driven by continued demand across pension administration, investment advisory, and actuarial consulting segments. The firm’s business model has shown resilience amid regulatory complexities and structural pension scheme transitions across the UK.

After years of financial uncertainty and insolvency proceedings, shares of former solar manufacturer Indosolar are set to return to Indian stock exchanges. Both the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) have approved the relisting of the company under the new management of Waaree Energies $WAAREEENER.NS. The stock will trade under the symbol WaareeIndo, and be categorized in the ‘T’ group, which imposes specific trading restrictions to curb speculative activity.

Siemens Energy India $ENR.DE made a strong public debut on Thursday, with shares listing at a significant premium on both major Indian exchanges. Following the demerger of its transmission and distribution (T&D) business from Siemens Ltd. $SIEMENS.NS, the newly independent entity began trading with notable investor enthusiasm.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed that GPT-5 is set for release in the coming months. Designed to consolidate the most advanced features from GPT-4o and o3, the upcoming model is expected to represent a major shift toward generalized and autonomous AI. Altman described GPT-5 as the culmination of OpenAI’s current development arc—an inflection point where scalability meets functional integration.

Visa Inc. $V and Yellow Card Financial Inc. have formalized a strategic agreement aimed at accelerating the adoption of stablecoin-based solutions for cross-border transactions in developing regions. The partnership signals a deeper commitment from both companies to modernize international payment systems, particularly in Africa and other underbanked markets where Yellow Card operates as a licensed cryptocurrency exchange.

Roblox Corp. $RBLX has received a substantial vote of confidence from analysts at Oppenheimer, who reiterated an "Outperform" rating and raised the stock's price target from $80 to $125. The upward revision reflects increasing optimism around the company's long-term monetization capacity and deepening user engagement trends across its global ecosystem. The upgrade comes after a 76% rally in Roblox’s share price since April 10, fueled by a combination of improved content velocity, scalability of infrastructure, and expanding user demographics. Oppenheimer highlighted the company’s ability to convert high platform usage into recurring revenue as a fundamental investment thesis.