In a big day for the EU’s crackdown on Big Tech, both Google and Apple lost their battles with the EU’s Court of Justice — leaving Apple with a EUR 13 bn tax bill and Google to pay EUR 2.4 bn in fines.

#1- Apple lost a decade-long battle over its tax setup in Ireland after the court ruled it must pay EUR 13 bn in back taxes, CNBC reports. The European Commission first ordered the repayment in 2016, when it accused Apple of receiving illegal tax perks from Ireland for two decades — a claim Apple denied and contested in court. The tech giant confirmed it will incur a USD 10 bn one-time tax charge by the end of its fourth fiscal quarter on 28 September 2024 in a filing yesterday.

Market reax: The court’s ruling comes on the same day Apple launched its new iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. Shares of the tech giant dipped 1% following the decision.

Ireland’s government downplayed the case, stating that it “involved an issue that is now of historical relevance only,” in a statement.

Meanwhile, Apple stood its ground that it had paid all the taxes it owed, with a spokesperson quoted as saying that “this case has never been about how much tax we pay, but which government we are required to pay it to,” and that the European Commission is “trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that, as required by international tax law, our income was already subject to taxes in the US.”

#2- The EU court also upheld a EUR 2.4 bn antitrust fine for Google parent Alphabet in a case that has been ongoing for seven years, that aimed to crack down on Google’s use of its search engine to rank its own product listings higher.

The two cases highlight the ongoing friction between US tech firms and the EU, which has pushed for stronger regulations on everything from data protection to taxes and antitrust issues. Recently, Apple also faced a EUR 1.8 bn fine for antitrust violations related to music streaming apps and is being scrutinized under the EU’s Digital Markets Act due to its app store squeezing out rival marketplaces.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING- Oman’s state energy firm OQ is looking to offer 25% of its exploration and production unit in a USD 2 bn IPO, in what would be the GCC’s biggest IPO in 2024. (Bloomberg).

THE MARKETS THIS MORNING-

It’s red as far as the eyes can see among Asian markets, as traders assess economic data — including unemployment figures and business sentiment gauges — from Japan and South Korea. South Korea’s small-cap Kosdaq fell 1.6%, while Japan’s Nikkei is down 0.7% and Topix is down 0.8%. Meanwhile, Wall Street futures are little changed as traders await the US’ August inflation report.

ADX

9,402

+0.5% (YTD: -1.8%)

DFM

4,387

+0.7% (YTD: +8.1%)

Nasdaq Dubai UAE20

3,819

+1.2% (YTD: -0.6%)

USD : AED CBUAE

Buy 3.67

Sell 3.67

EIBOR

5.0% o/n

4.2% 1 yr

TASI

11,987

+0.2% (YTD: +0.2%)

EGX30

30,104

-0.9% (YTD: +20.9%)

S&P 500

5,496

+0.5% (YTD: +15.2%)

FTSE 100

8,206

-0.8% (YTD: +6.1%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,747

-0.7% (YTD: +5.0%)

Brent crude

USD 69.67

-3.0%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.23

+2.9%

Gold

USD 2,545.90

+0.5%

BTC

USD 57,708.20

+1.2% (YTD: +36.1%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX rose 0.5% yesterday on turnover of AED 1.07 bn. The index is down 1.8% YTD.

In the green: National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain (+15.0%), Rak Properties (+5.41%) and Commercial Bank International (+5.3%).

In the red: Abu Dhabi National Company for Building Materials (-10.0%), Rak Company for White Cement and Construction Materials (-7.9%) and EasyLease Motorcycle Rental (-4.9%).

Over on the DFM, the index rose 0.7% on turnover of AED 324.4 mn. Meanwhile Nasdaq Dubai closed up 1.2%.

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