Reuters

The Federal Reserve’s hawkish shift is bolstering the case for investors looking to trim risk from their portfolios, as the U.S. central bank trains its guns on surging inflation while giving little indication that it will be swayed by the latest weakness in stocks.

Mastercard Inc reported a quarterly profit above analysts' estimates on Thursday, as a rise in domestic spending and growth in cross-border volumes following an uptick in international travel drove higher transactions through its cards.

U.S. economic growth accelerated in the fourth quarter as businesses replenished depleted inventories to meet strong demand for goods, helping the nation to post its best performance in nearly four decades in 2021.

Facebook unit WhatsApp has been given until the end of February to explain changes to its privacy policy and whether this complies with EU consumer protection laws after complaints from consumer groups, the European Commission said on Thursday.

Facebook on Thursday secured EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of U.S. customer service startup Kustomer after agreeing to provide rivals free access to its messaging channels for 10 years.

Singapore's DBS Group will announce on Friday it is to buy Citigroup's consumer finance business in Taiwan, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

The European Central Bank launched a stress test on Thursday to assess how prepared banks are to deal with potential shocks stemming from climate risk, it said in a statement.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has asked the Treasury Department for "clarity to the digital asset ecosystem" after new related reporting requirements were included in last year's $1 trillion infrastructure law, Punchbowl News said on Thursday.

Wall Street futures treaded water on Thursday, following hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve in the previous session, while attention turned to quarterly results from growth companies and final quarter GDP data.

Comcast Corp's fourth-quarter revenue beat Wall Street expectations on Thursday, driven by growth in its NBCUniversal division, which saw visitors return to its theme parks.

McDonald's Corp missed revenue expectations on Thursday, as dismal sales in its more than 4,500 restaurants in Australia and China due to pandemic-related curbs ate into gains from growth in the United States in the fourth quarter.

Blackstone Inc said on Thursday its fourth-quarter distributable earnings rose by 55% to a record high, as the world's largest manager of alternative assets took advantage of rising markets to sell assets for top dollar.

Fireblocks, a digital asset infrastructure provider, said on Thursday it raised $550 million from institutional investors, making it one of the largest financing rounds in the cryptocurrency sector in the last few years.

CoinTracker, which tracks consumers' cryptocurrency taxes and portfolios, said on Thursday it has raised $100 million in funding from a slew of institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.

Dow Inc's fourth-quarter profit more than doubled on Thursday, helped by higher prices for its chemicals as supplies remained tight amid strong demand for its products.