BUSINESS
EV ride-hailing startup BluSmart raises $42 million from BP, others
Investors include BP Ventures, the investment arm of energy giant BP Plc that holds 20% equity. BluSmart is currently valued at $250 million, its co-founder Anmol Jaggi told Bloomberg News, and the founders too participated in the current round.
WORLD
What the Fed moves mean for interest rates in Asia
Australia, which serves as a proxy for risk sentiment across the region, snuck in a surprise rate hike less than 40 hours before Powell & Co. delivered what very well could be their last of this cycle. Overnight index swaps show investors expect a quick end to the Aussie hikes.
WORLD
Joe Biden picks Fed’s Philip Jefferson for Vice Chair, Adriana Kugler for Governor
The selections could be announced as soon as Friday, two of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private talks. A White House spokesperson declined to comment.
WORLD
Regional banks sink as PacWest weighs strategic options
The Beverly Hills-based lender plunged as much as 60% in postmarket trading, while Western Alliance Bancorp fell as much as 38%. PacWest has been working with a financial adviser and has also been considering a breakup or a capital raise, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUSINESS
Fierce AI talent war shifts to India with salaries being doubled
The 36-year-old data-science specialist works in artificial intelligence, perhaps the most coveted experience on the planet after OpenAI demonstrated the breakthroughs of ChatGPT.
WORLD
Recession odds are ‘pretty darn high’ right now, Jeffrey Gundlach says
“Recessionary odds are pretty darn high right now,” Gundlach said in an interview on CNBC on Wednesday after the Fed’s decision to boost its benchmark rate by a quarter-point and hint at a pause in its tightening cycle.
WORLD
Saudi Arabia Says Fiscal Expansion to Balance Out Fed Hikes
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday, Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim described Saudi Arabia as having an “expansionary fiscal environment” that he said will offset the impact of higher interest rates
WORLD
Bank pain is just getting started, ex-Fed President Robert Kaplan says
Robert Kaplan went on to say that bank equities have been marked down solely because of their over-investment in the US treasuries, while the credit phase, which is “normally more serious,” is yet to unfold.
BUSINESS
Indian Oil plans green jet fuel plant to meet surging demand
The facility will have capacity to produce 88,000 tons of SAF a year and Indian Oil is seeking to partner with other oil companies on the project, said S.S.V. Ramakumar, director for research and development. Supply agreements with airlines are needed to push ahead with the investment, he added.
BUSINESS
Accel bets on AI startups in India accelerator program revamp
The firm will choose as many as half a dozen early stage startups to fund and mentor, starting this month, it said Wednesday in a statement. It’ll also target companies that use technology to make conventional industrial processes more efficient.
WORLD
The country where bankers’ pay is booming: Saudi Arabia
State vehicles like his Public Investment Fund, with more than $600 billion of assets, are hiring at breakneck speed, often recruiting staff from foreign firms based in the country.
WORLD
Amsterdam’s airport is on a quest to ban private jets
The Netherlands’s largest airport made its intentions known in April, when it announced plans to ban night flights and private jets starting in 2026.
WORLD
Former SVB chief Greg Becker is set to testify to senate on bank collapses
Gregory Becker, who led SVB from 2011 until its collapse in March, is scheduled to testify on May 16. Scott Shay and Eric Howell, the former chair and president of Signature Bank, which also failed in March, are to appear the same day, the committee said in a press release late Tuesday.
WORLD
Morgan Stanley, UBS pick bonds over stocks on recession risk
That’s the view of some fund managers and strategists from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to UBS Group AG and Morgan Stanley, who now prefer fixed-income instruments to equities.
WORLD
What to watch as Fed readies to pause with one last hike
Fed watchers expect the US central bank will deliver its final rate hike for a while on Wednesday, with tighter lending conditions and signs of a slowing economy suggesting inflation will cool more meaningfully in the months ahead.
WORLD
Google, Amazon lobbyists helped US shape new Indo-Pacific trade framework
Officials with the US Trade Representative invited Amazon and Google lobbyists early last year to meet personally with Sarah Bianchi, the deputy trade representative, according to emails obtained by Senator Elizabeth Warren and shared with Bloomberg News.
WORLD
Wall Street rattled by selloff, trading halts at two small banks
On the eve of the Federal Reserve decision, multiple volatility halts in PacWest Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp were seen as disturbing. Both shares were down at least 15% in Tuesday trading.
WORLD
Icahn Enterprises’ plunge just one of short-seller Hindenburg’s many big hits
Billionaire Carl Icahn’s company plummeted closed down 20%, marking another double-digit drop in a stock after an attack from Nathan Anderson’s firm. The one-day losses for Icahn Enterprises stand out among those seen for Hindenburg’s recent bets against the billionaire Gautam Adani’s business empire and Block Inc.
WORLD
Carl Icahn’s wealth plunges $10 billion on Hindenburg short-seller report
Icahn Enterprises L.P., his publicly traded limited partnership that operates as a holding company, fell by 20% — the most on record — erasing $3.1 billion from his fortune.
WORLD
HSBC CEO Noel Quinn says SVB UK will form core of new global tech unit
“I want to take that capability globally,” Quinn said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday. “I’m also setting up teams in other parts of the world that are the equivalents of SVB in the UK. So we bought a business in the UK, but I want to create that capability globally.”
WORLD
Fate of an eighth of the world’s white Rhinos to be decided this week
Negotiations will now be held with parties that indicated interest and a statement will be made at the close of business on May 5, the Platinum Rhino Project, which is about 155 kilometers (96 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, said in a statement.
WORLD
ChatGPT threat sparks 38% selloff in homework-help firm Chegg
The company, which offers online guidance for students taking tests and writing essays, also gave revenue and profit forecasts for the current quarter that fell well short of analysts’ estimates. Chegg makes much of its money from subscriptions, which start at $15.95 a month, a revenue source that’s in peril if students see AI chatbots as an alternative to paying.
BUSINESS
HDFC kick-starts $1 billion Credila sale by picking Jefferies as adviser, sources say
The Reserve Bank of India has given the merged entity two years to cut its stake in fully-owned Credila to 10%, HDFC Bank said in an exchange filing last month. The sale mandate will be one of the biggest managed by Jefferies in the country and will help in its ambition to build a deal advisory business in the local market.
WORLD
Bird Flu detectives hunt for clues to stop next global pandemic
A rapid response team of local health workers was dispatched within hours to the village, a two hour drive from the capital Phnom Penh. They found a community of almost 2,000 people living in brightly colored wooden and sheet metal homes, close to their livestock and chickens.
