Business as usual; records for markets

US markets closed at fresh records Tuesday as a spate of upbeat earnings bolstered sentiment even as the Dow edged lower. With Tuesday’s closing bell, the S&P 500 has set a new milestone for most record finishes in January at 12. Investors diverted their focus towards incoming corporate earnings as the end of a partial government shutdown removed an element of political uncertainty from the market.

European stocks also traded higher, with the FTSE 100 leading to advances as EasyJet PLC and Sky PLC shares were among the London blue-chips index’s biggest winners. Germany’s DAX also posted solid gains, propelling the region’s benchmark index to a more-than two-year closing high as traders welcomed the end of the U.S. government shutdown and a round of solid corporate earnings.

Netflix hits $100b market cap

Netflix Inc shares jumped 10% to a record high of over $248 per share in after-hours trading after the company beat forecasts for earnings and new net subscribers. The gain drove the company into $100 billion market capitalisation territory for the first time ever. Netflix snagged more subscribers than Wall Street expected in the final three months of 2017, tripling profits at the online video service that is burning money on new programming to dominate internet television around the world.

Along with 1.98 million customer additions in the United States, the company ended the year with 117.58 million streaming subscribers around the globe, despite a price hike in October. The company has signed up more than half of all U.S. broadband households and is building its customer base in 190 countries by spending billions on programming.

Qualcomm expects fine from EU

EU antitrust regulators are expected to impose a multi-million euro fine and are pursuing two proceedings against Qualcomm for paying Apple Inc to use only its chips. Other regulators including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission are investigating Qualcomm’s dealings with Apple, and the decision may make Qualcomm more vulnerable to chip maker Broadcom Ltd’s $103 billion hostile bid for it. Broadcom argues it will smooth rocky relations with customers such as Apple.

Apple and Qualcomm are engaged in a wide-ranging legal battle over Qualcomm’s business practices, which started a year ago with Apple suing Qualcomm for nearly $1 billion in patent royalty rebates that the chipmaker allegedly withheld from the phone maker. Apple alleged Qualcomm gave it a discount on royalty payments in exchange for exclusively using Qualcomm’s so-called modem chips.