Uber's China Rival Gets a Boost, and Spotify Takes a Step Toward Public Markets
Didi Chuxing secures a $4 billion investment from SoftBank and Mubadala, bringing its valuation to $56 billion. The latest funding round comes amid reports SoftBank is looking to invest in rival Uber at a significant discount to its last $68 billion valuation.
And Spotify will reportedly get approval to list its shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange, a step towards avoiding a traditional IPO. The company could be valued as high as $20 billion.
Plus, speaking of going public, Pinterest will reportedly delay its planned IPO until 2019, as the company expects to fall short of revenue forecasts for the year. The photo-sharing app will bring in sales of $490 million this year, according to The Information. That compares to early estimates above $500 million.
The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
The United Nations' global index for tracking food prices fell 1.9 percent in December after hitting an all-time high in 2022 amid drought, war, pandemic, and supply chain challenges.
The latest jobs report is in, and once again it's looking good for workers: The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in December, and unemployment dropped to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent.
Wall Street rallied amid hopes inflation may continue to cool and the Federal Reserve may ease up on its interest rate hikes following some mixed readings on the U.S. economy.
