Asian Markets Slip as Precious Metals Cool, Geopolitical Tensions Weigh on Sentiment 
South Korea Factory Output Misses Forecasts in November Amid Ongoing Economic Uncertainty 
Federal Judge Clears Way for Jury Trial in Elon Musk’s Fraud Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft 
California Attorney General Orders xAI to Halt Illegal Grok Deepfake Imagery 
Asian Stock Markets Start New Year Higher as Tech and AI Shares Drive Gains 
U.S. Stock Futures Slip as Year-End Trading Turns Cautious 
China’s AI Models Narrow the Gap With the West, Says Google DeepMind CEO 
Jamie Dimon Signals Possible Five More Years as JPMorgan CEO Amid Ongoing Succession Speculation 
Google Seeks Delay on Data-Sharing Order as It Appeals Landmark Antitrust Ruling 
Oil Prices Stabilize at Start of 2026 as OPEC+ Policy and Geopolitical Risks Shape Market Outlook 
Proposed Rio Tinto–Glencore Merger Faces China Regulatory Hurdles and Asset Sale Pressure 
Forex Markets Hold Steady as Traders Await Fed Minutes Amid Thin Year-End Volumes 
Trump Criticizes NYSE Texas Expansion, Calls Dallas Exchange a Blow to New York 
White House Pressures PJM to Act as Data Center Energy Demand Threatens Grid Reliability 
China Halts Shipments of Nvidia H200 AI Chips, Forcing Suppliers to Pause Production 
Micron to Buy Powerchip Fab for $1.8 Billion, Shares Surge Nearly 10% 
U.S. Stock Index Futures Steady as Markets Await Fed Policy Clues in Holiday-Thinned Trade 
Apple and Amazon were previously slapped with a hefty $195 million fine by the Italian anti-trust regulators. However, on Monday, Oct. 3, it was revealed that the administrative court in Italy has thrown out the penalty that was imposed on the American tech firms.
According to Reuters, the country’s anti-trust body fined Amazon and Apple for a combined total of more than €200 million or about $195.3 million last year. They were accused of retail collusion and price fixing in the sale of Apple and Beats items.
In November of last year, Italy's antitrust regulator, L'Autorit Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), started an investigation after it was alleged that Amazon and Apple were working together to prevent price cuts from other vendors. The AGCM later ruled that the companies cooperated in anti-competitive advances for the sale of their Apple and Beats devices.
The officials lowered the fine to €173.3 million earlier this year, and they said the move was due to a "material error" in the previous calculation. Then this month, the court scrapped the fine altogether, and in response, Amazon said it welcomed the Italian court’s decision.
On the other hand, the anti-trust authority refused to issue a statement regarding the latest development in its collusion case against Apple and Amazon. This means that the firms will no longer be asked to pay the 200 million euro fine for the retail collusion case in which they were accused of.
In the original court decision, Apple was levied with 134.5 million euros or a $131.5 million fine, while Amazon was handed down a 68.7 million euros or about $67.2 million penalty. Based on the documents, these numbers were calculated again in January after the officials discovered some "material error," and this was why it was reduced to 173.3 million euros. In the latest documents that were also seen by the media, the Italian administrative court has decided to throw out the fines in their entirety, as per Apple Insider.
