NFT sales volume surges to $2.5 bln in 2021 first half

The market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) surged to new highs in the second quarter, with $2.5 billion in sales so far this year, up from just $13.7 million in the first half of 2020, marketplace data showed.
Analysis: Latam central banks look past COVID as inflation phantoms loom

Latin America’s central banks have become more hawkish as the region’s inflationary ghosts rattle their chains, with a recent pivot by the U.S. Federal Reserve further boosting market expectations of tighter monetary policies.
Robinhood reveals breakneck growth, legal pitfalls in IPO filing

Robinhood Markets Inc on Thursday set the stage for its hotly anticipated IPO as it revealed rapid growth in users of its trading app in a filing, while also flagging a swathe of investigations by prosecutors and regulators.
Dollar rides high to U.S. jobs test

The U.S. dollar was perched at a 15-month high on the yen and at multi-month peaks against other majors on Friday, as traders wagered strong U.S. labour data could lift it even further.
Ghosts of taper tantrum to haunt EMFX, stir volatility memories: Reuters poll

Volatility risks in coming months are high on the radar of emerging market currency investors still familiar with past Fed tightening, a Reuters poll of strategists found, but commodity prices are offering support amid slow vaccination rates.
EXCLUSIVE Shell plans to exit California joint venture with Exxon Mobil -sources

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) plans to leave Aera, its California-based oil and gas-producing joint venture with Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), four people familiar with the talks told Reuters.
Exxon lobbyist duped by Greenpeace says climate policy was a ploy, CEO condemns statements

A lobbyist for Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) said the company supports a carbon tax publicly because the plan to curb climate change would never gain enough political support to be adopted, according to an interview aired on Wednesday.
S&P 500 flirts with record high as month, quarter draw to a close

Wall Street was muted on Wednesday and the S&P teased its fifth straight record closing high as investors ended the month and the quarter by largely shrugging off positive economic data and looking toward Friday’s highly anticipated employment report.
Boom, bust and bewildered: Bitcoin’s year so far

If you’re a bitcoin investor, your nerves may have taken quite a pounding in 2021
After $4.4 bln New York IPO, founders of China’s Didi eye global growth

From working at a foot massage company to setting up China’s biggest ride-hailing firm, Will Wei Cheng has navigated several hurdles on the path to taking Didi Global Inc (DIDI.N) public in a $4.4-billion New York float.