TikTok Signs Agreement for New US Joint Venture, Asia Reacts to US CPI

TikTok's long-delayed plan to separate from Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. was put in motion Thursday when the video sharing sensation said it's being bought by a group of buyers led by Oracle Corp. TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew told employees that the company and ByteDance signed binding agreements to create a US joint venture majority-owned by American investors, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg. Chew wrote that he was "pleased to share some great news" and said agreements with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX have been signed. The deal is expected to close on Jan. 22, 2026, though Chew added that "there's more work to be done" before then. Asian equities rose after cooling US inflation data backed the case for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts and calming tech jitters supported American stocks. We heard from Amy Xie Patrick, Head of Income Strategies at Pendal Group. She spoke to Bloomberg's Annabelle Droulers and Paul Allen. Plus - A solid outlook from giant Micron Technology Inc. underscored the voracious appetite for all things related to artificial intelligence. The S&P 500 rose nearly 1%, halting a four-day slide. We spoke to Keith Buchanan, Senior Portfolio Manager at Globalt. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.