Published on 16/05/2025 04:04 PM
Microsoft offered to unbundle its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 software suites from its Teams workplace communication app to address competition concerns from European regulators.
The European Commission, which is the executive arm of the European Union, said Friday that Microsoft made commitments to address concerns over the tying of Teams to its widely-used productivity tools, such as Word and Outlook.
Under a series of proposals, Microsoft has committed to make versions of Office 365 and Microsoft 365 available without Teams at a reduced price, as well as allow customers to switch to the tools without Teams, including under existing contracts.
President Donald Trump said he would set tariff rates for US trading partners “over the next two to three weeks,” saying his administration lacks the capacity to negotiate deals with all of its trading partners.
Trump said Friday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “will be sending letters out essentially telling people” what “they’ll be paying to do business in the United States.”
“I think we’re going to be very fair. But it’s not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us,” the president said during a meeting with business executives in the United Arab Emirates.
The US president asserted there are “150 countries that want to make a deal.” He didn’t say how many, or which, nations would receive letters.
Gold fell, extending its weekly loss, as investors booked profits after trade tensions eased between the US and China this week, cutting demand for haven assets.
Bullion fell as much as 1.4% to trade near $3,200 an ounce. Traders exited positions after the metal climbed in the previous session on stronger expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts following weak US data.
Progress on trade negotiations between the US and China has also sapped appetite for haven demand, adding to bearish headwinds for gold as a detente between the world’s two largest economies led to a sharp rebound in risk assets this week.
Stocks had received a boost on Thursday as bond yields fell in anticipation of more rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve, after some disappointing macro data.
The Nasdaq underperformed as big tech was under pressure.
However, the Federal Reserve chair warned that interest rates may remain higher for long as the economy navigates a period of heightened uncertainty, volatile inflation and persistent supply shocks.
Futures on Wall Street are trading with gains indicating a positive start for Wall Street on the final trading day of the week.
The Dow futures are up 150 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are up 15 points and 50 points respectively.
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Futures are indicating a strong end to the week for Wall Street.
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