Dow Jones hits 50,000 milestone amid tech gains and hopes of lower interest rates

The Dow Jones industrial average crossed 50,000 for the first time, as ballooning tech valuations, robust corporate earnings and hopes of lower interest rates drive it to new highs.Leading stock markets on Wall Street came under pressure earlier this week as technology stocks fell amid scrutiny of extraordinary levels of investment into artificial intelligence.Cryptocurrencies including bitcoin have also suffered sharp falls in recent days, although they recovered some lost ground on Friday.But US equities have been rallying for months as investors largely shrugged off geopolitical tensions and grew increasingly optimistic about the economy.The Dow closed at 50,015

Amazon shares tumble as $200bn AI rollout plan worries markets – as it happened

Amazon’s shares are tumbling in early trading, though, as investors balk at its plans for an artificial intelligence spending blitz.Amazon’s shares have dropped by over 9%, a day after it announced plans to spend $200bn on artificial intelligence and robotics this year.Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy sounded bullish last night, declaring:“With such strong demand for our existing offerings and seminal opportunities like AI, chips, robotics, and low earth orbit satellites, we expect to invest about $200 billion in capital expenditures across Amazon in 2026, and anticipate strong long-term return on invested capital.”But as flagged earlier (9.59am), investors fear companies are wasting their money, given the hundreds of billions of dollars being committed to AI rollout this year

Tell us: how have you been affected by falling cryptocurrency prices?

Bitcoin sank to its lowest value in more than a year this week, faling to $63,000 on Thursday, about half its all-time peak of $126,000 in October 2025It’s part of a wider shock to crypto prices. The second-largest cryptocurrency, ether, has faced losses of more than 30% this year alone.The months-long dip in cryptocurrency prices has tanked shares of companies that have increasingly invested in bitcoin, exacerbating broader stock market jitters. CoinGecko data shows that the global crypto market has lost $2tn in value since early October. Meanwhile, gold has soared in value as investors seek safe haven assets

Hail our new robot overlords! Amazon warehouse tour offers glimpse of future

At its new Stone Mountain, Georgia, facility, Roomba-like robots shuffle between stacks, another adds shipping labels while another arranges packages in palletsOne of the reasons Amazon is spending billions on robots? They don’t need bathroom breaks. Arriving a few minutes early to the public tour of Amazon’s hi-tech Stone Mountain, Georgia, warehouse, my request to visit the restroom was met with a resounding no from the security guard in the main lobby.Between the main doors and the entrance security gate, I paced and paced after being told I would have to wait for the tour guide to collect me and other guests for a tour of the 640,000-sq-ft, four-story warehouse.Amazon offers tours to the public at 28 of its 1,200 US warehouses – a recruiting and public-relations tool to boost brand trust and address criticisms of poor working conditions. It was something to consider as I wound up having to go in the parking lot, propping open my rental car door for privacy

Winter Olympics 2026: opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro and beyond – as it happened

And with that, 60,000 spectators at the San Siro slip into the night. Time for me to go bed too. The games proper start tomorrow, with Great Britain taking on Canada at 9.05am in the mixed curling. Thanks for your messages during this long, whacky, but quite lovely opening ceremony

Intimate and enormous: Milano Cortina opening ceremony tries something different

The showpiece to kick off the Games happened across multiple venues but politics and protests were also presentThe most striking thing about the opening ceremony isn’t a single prop, celebrity cameo or piece of choreography: it’s the geography. For the first time, an Olympic opening ceremony in effect happened across multiple live venues all at once, with Milan, Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo linked into one narrative structure. It felt less like a show in a stadium and more like watching a country perform itself in real time. The organising concept – “Armonia”, the idea that different elements can move together without losing their identity – isn’t just branding. It shapes how the ceremony actually functioned