SoftBank (9984.T)

SoftBank shares rose 1.5% overnight to a record all-time high as it ramps up investments in artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

The Japanese tech firm is gaining investor attention as its telecom arm moves aggressively towards generative AI, tying up with Microsoft and start-up Perplexity AI Inc. It is also building data centres stocked with Nvidia accelerators.

Its chip unit Arm Holdings is also trying to position its architecture as a means to conserve energy in devices running AI.

Tomoaki Kawasaki, a senior analyst at Iwaicosmo Securities, said: “It’s getting another boost as more investors see it as a semiconductor-related stock."

Last month, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son told shareholders that investments the technology group had made in the past were “just a warm-up” for his grand ambition to create an era of artificial intelligence.

Reddit (RDDT)

Reddit found favour with investors last night, with the San Francisco-based company surging 10%.

It comes as usage for Reddit search has boomed. According to data from Similarweb, the social media platform saw a 39% increase in website visits, year-over-year, while Google (GOOG, GOOGL) reported a drop of 2.2%.

Meanwhile in May, the firm revealed it had struck a partnership deal with artificial intelligence start-up OpenAI.

Under the agreement, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot will get access to Reddit content, while it will also bring AI-powered features to the social media platform.

Shares were slightly lower in pre-market trading on Wednesday.

Vodafone (VOD.L)

Vodafone struck a fresh network sharing agreement with Virgin Media O2 on Wednesday, boosting hopes of winning approval for its merger deal with Three.

The operators have agreed to extend a partnership that was due to expire in 2025, while Virgin Media O2 will acquire more spectrum to better align spectrum holding between different operators in anticipation of the takeover being waived through.

The acquisition is conditional upon the merger being completed.

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Vodafone’s planned merger with Three is currently under investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The UK competition regulator will reach a decision expected before the end of the year.

Lutz Schüler, chief executive of Virgin Media O2 said: “This new agreement with Vodafone ensures that quality mobile network choice, performance, coverage and competition is enhanced to the benefit of millions of consumers, businesses and our mobile operator partners across the country.