INDIA
India and China need to prepare for ageing populations, UN says
A United Nations report released Monday estimates that between 2023 and 2050 the number of people aged 65 or over is expected to nearly double in China and to more than double in India. That poses “significant challenges to the capacity of healthcare and social insurance systems.”
WORLD
Tech surge sends valuations to extremes, but traders don’t care
Optimism that the Federal Reserve will pivot from its most aggressive interest-rate hiking cycle in four decades – a major headwind for the industry last year – has pushed the S&P 500 Information Technology Index up 19% in 2023 compared with a 7.7% gain for the S&P 500 Index.
BUSINESS
Evercore may end decade-old tie-up with Uday Kotak’s investment banking unit: Report
The US company is weighing opening its own office in the country in order to free itself from the restrictions of its deal with Kotak Mahindra Capital Co, according to the report,
BUSINESS
LVMH’s market value surpasses $500 billion, a first in Europe
The achievement comes less than two weeks after LVMH joined the ranks of the world’s 10 biggest companies, powered by a surge in first-quarter sales.
BUSINESS
Dubai plot of sand sells for $34 Million in luxury island record
It’s a bunch of sand on an artificial island in Dubai, and it just sold on April 19 for 125 million dirhams ($34 million), setting a record in a market that continues to benefit from an influx of foreign wealth.
BUSINESS
Record gold prices in India slow buying in second-biggest market
That was especially apparent during the day of Akshaya Tritiya at the weekend, which is considered one of the most auspicious times of the year to buy gold by the nation’s majority Hindu population.
WORLD
Tech surge sends valuations to extremes, but traders don’t care
Optimism that the Federal Reserve will pivot from its most aggressive interest-rate hiking cycle in four decades – a major headwind for the industry last year – has pushed the S&P 500 Information Technology Index up 19% in 2023 compared with a 7.7% gain for the S&P 500 Index.
WORLD
Elon Musk is willing to bet Tesla’s profits on a driverless dream
Elon Musk said on a conference call last week that Tesla has the wherewithal to sell cars at “zero profit” and then earn immense sums later off driverless software.
WORLD
Rishi Sunak calls in top UK firms and investors after CBI implosion
Rishi Sunak has invited about 200 of the UK’s “highest-profile CEOs and C-suite business leaders” to an event in London for “direct and detailed discussions across key industries,” his office said in an emailed statement.
WORLD
Four reasons why investors expect US Dollar to keep sliding
Some 87% of 331 survey respondents expect the Fed to cut interest rates to 3% or below — some significantly so — in a loosening cycle that 40% believe will start this year, according to the latest MLIV Pulse survey.
WORLD
Bitcoin ‘halving’ due next year spurs predictions of rally in token past $50,000
The largest digital asset has climbed 67% since Dec. 31 in a partial revival from an epic rout in 2022. While the token at the moment is struggling in the vicinity of $30,000, halving holds the potential to trigger an advance of at least 81%, according to Bloomberg Intelligence and Matrixport.
POLITICS
Defence spending scales record highs globally as geopolitical insecurity swells
The US remains the largest spender in the world by a large margin, as its military budget is bigger than those of all other countries that make the top-10 list of the biggest weapons’ buyers combined
LUXURY-LIFESTYLE
Luxury Fortunes Jump $93 Billion on Demand Boom for Hermes, Dior
A clutch of French companies dominate the global market for luxury and beauty goods, making their founders and heirs even wealthier than before.
BUSINESS
India top recipient of money from overseas in 2022 with $100 billion
In 2022, India hit a record $100 billion in remittances, marking a 12% rise year on year.
BUSINESS
RBI seen pivoting to rate cuts by year-end after a long pause
Economists, including those at Barclays Bank Plc and Nomura Holdings Inc., see the central bank staying on a long pause as high interest rates weigh on demand in the economy.
BUSINESS
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini to open engineering hub in India
Gemini’s move to set up an engineering hub in India is similar to its rival Coinbase, which did the same last year. While India offers a huge talent pool of engineers, the country has been hostile toward the broader crypto sector.
ECONOMY
Russian arms sales to India hit currency crossroads amid US sanctions
India is unable to settle the bill in US dollars due to concerns about secondary sanctions, while Russia remains unwilling to accept rupees due to exchange-rate volatility
BUSINESS
GPT-powered math app seeks funding at $100 million-plus value
ChatGPT is propelling a wave of funding into artificial intelligence ventures, as startups from Beijing to Boston incorporate generative AI and large language models into their services
BUSINESS
GE’s stock tops $100 for first time in five years as optimism grows
The last time the shares were this high, back in 2018, the manufacturing behemoth was teetering on the brink of being thrown out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, despite being an original component of the index and lasting over 110 years
BUSINESS
India’s economy signals resilience even as exports dim outlook
The readings come in the backdrop of the Reserve Bank of India pausing rates for the first time since May to evaluate the impact of 250 basis points in rate increases so far and to support growth. Retail and wholesale price-gains have eased on still-elevated rates, spurring calls for a longer pause
BUSINESS
Zee begins settlement talks with creditors for Sony merger
The Indian television network has offered IDBI Bank Ltd., one of the creditors that moved insolvency court, to repay a loan of about 1.49 billion rupees ($18.1 million) in tranches, the people said, asking not to be named as the information isn’t public
BUSINESS
Instagram will cut or relocate its London staff
London office leader Adam Mosseri, along with unfired staff will relocated to the US Menlo Park office, sources told Bloomberg
BUSINESS
Credit Suisse veteran banker Alois Mueller retiring, sources say
Alois Mueller, most recently head of Credit Suisse’s private markets group in Asia Pacific and co-chair of its global private equity investment committee, plans to leave the firm at the end of April, sources told Bloomberg
BUSINESS
Fund Managers still shy of ramping up Adani bet
Investments by local equity mutual funds in the group accounted for only 0.9 percent of the industry’s $182 billion in assets at the end of March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
