Fed Governor Lisa Cook Warns Inflation Risks Remain as Rates Stay Steady 
South Korea Assures U.S. on Trade Deal Commitments Amid Tariff Concerns 
Palantir Stock Jumps After Strong Q4 Earnings Beat and Upbeat 2026 Revenue Forecast 
South Korea’s Weak Won Struggles as Retail Investors Pour Money Into U.S. Stocks 
Sony Q3 Profit Jumps on Gaming and Image Sensors, Full-Year Outlook Raised 
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering 
Elon Musk’s Empire: SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI Merger Talks Spark Investor Debate 
Silver Prices Plunge in Asian Trade as Dollar Strength Triggers Fresh Precious Metals Sell-Off 
Asian Markets Slip as AI Spending Fears Shake Tech, Wall Street Futures Rebound 
Australia’s December Trade Surplus Expands but Falls Short of Expectations 
U.S.-India Trade Framework Signals Major Shift in Tariffs, Energy, and Supply Chains 
Gold Prices Slide Below $5,000 as Strong Dollar and Central Bank Outlook Weigh on Metals 
Global PC Makers Eye Chinese Memory Chip Suppliers Amid Ongoing Supply Crunch 
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Acquires xAI in Historic Deal Uniting Space and Artificial Intelligence 
RBI Holds Repo Rate at 5.25% as India’s Growth Outlook Strengthens After U.S. Trade Deal 
Nintendo Shares Slide After Earnings Miss Raises Switch 2 Margin Concerns 
Japan will investigate as early as this month whether Google and Apple forced smartphone manufacturers to install their apps and services as a condition for providing the operating software.
Officials will question smartphone manufacturers and those that sell related equipment.
The Japanese government also suspects that payment settlement services that use Google's and Apple's operating software prevent other firms from providing the same smartphone features.
The outcome of the investigation could lead to strengthened regulations of the Anti-Monopoly Law.
Google Inc., which provides Android software, and Apple Inc., which supplies iOS software, account for about 90 percent of all operating software installed on smartphones in Japan.
In February, Japan passed legislation that would obligate operators of app stores and online shopping malls to disclose information on their transactions.
The coverage of the law was expanded in April to include firms with internet advertising operations, such as Google.
A proposed strengthening of regulations could be compiled by next spring, the sources said.
The European Commission had fined Google over $4.6 billion in 2018 for forcing gadget manufacturers to install the Android software.
The US Justice Department also filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in 2020 over similar suspicions.
