Australia’s Afterpay to launch banking app in October

Afterpay Ltd (APT.AX) will launch its banking app in October to widen its offerings beyond buy now, pay later (BNPL) services for its 3.5 million-plus Australian users as competition intensifies, the company said on Tuesday.

AMC, GameStop shares fall to half of their June peaks

Shares of cinema operator AMC Entertainment (AMC.N) and video game retailer GameStop Corp (GME.N) fell sharply on Wednesday and were both trading below half their recent peak prices, testing the fortitude of the stocks’ retail shareholders.

U.S. CEO-to-worker pay ratio rose to 299:1 last year -union

The average S&P 500 .SPX chief executive made $15.5 million last year, 299 times the pay of the median worker and a higher ratio than in 2019, the top American labor union said on Wednesday, as the COVID-19 pandemic drove layoffs while executive compensation grew.

Asian shares lower on U.S. inflation jitters

Asian shares fell on Wednesday after data showing the biggest jump in U.S. inflation in 13 years fuelled some market expectations that the Federal Reserve could exit pandemic-era stimulus earlier than previously thought.