US President Donald Trump upped his barrage of criticism against giant American technology companies, accusing Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Alphabet's Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) of being in a "very antitrust situation" but refusing to say whether they should be broken up, a report by Bloomberg said.
Under the law, the US can break up companies abusing their position to promote fair competition for the benefit of consumers.
Trump had been on the attack since Tuesday when he claimed without providing evidence that Google's news search function favored liberal over conservative outlets, even though outfits such as Politifact called the charge "false."
Google rejected the accusation, saying there is no political ideology promoted in its search windows.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
Google shares were down 0.37% at US1,234.50.
Facebook stock fell 1.1% to US$175.71.
Shares of Amazon though shrugged off the attack by rising 0.9% to US$2,020.34. Earlier in the week, it hit an all-time high of US$2,025.57 as Morgan Stanley forecast it would become the second US company with a trillion dollar valuation after Apple.
FAANG Report: Trump claims Google suppressing good news about him; Amazon in new Canada prime plan
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock rumbled to an all-time peak on Friday after the iPhone behemoth announced it would host an event on September 12 at its Cupertino, California, campus where it is widely expected to unveil new iPhone models, a report by the Guardian said.
Intense speculation has been swirling about the new iPhones, with most expecting up to three new models will be launched. Apple's event invitation made heavy use of the color gold, stoking talk the company plans to launch a gold-colored successor to the iPhone X, which was made in silver and grey last year, the report said.
For cultural reasons, gold is particularly appealing to potential customers in China and also India, the two countries that are the biggest consumers of gold in the world.
Apple shares touched a record high of US$228.87 and were trading 1.5% stronger at US$228.46.
READ: Apple expected to unveil three new iPhone models on September 12
The Venice Film Festival market is the place to be for online streaming giant Netflix and rival Amazon.com, where they not only launched movies but were also there to get business done, a report by entertainment publication Variety said.
Netflix has six films premiering in Venice and has the largest contingent of executives of about a dozen, the report said. Netflix had skipped the Cannes festival in May because their films were shut out from competition there.
Netflix stock increased 0.95 to US$374.43.