WORLD
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10,000 Zantac cancer suits
The agreements cover cases in state courts across the US but don’t completely resolve the company’s exposure to Zantac claims, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the settlement publicly. Financial details of the accords weren’t immediately available.
WORLD
Mastercard, Citi, JPMorgan test ledger for settling bank money
The Regulated Settlement Network proof-of-concept will simulate transactions in dollars, Mastercard said in a statement Wednesday. The goal is to make transactions across borders and systems faster and easier, and to reduce the chance of error and fraud.
WORLD
Tim Cook can’t run Apple forever. Who’s next?
Tim Cook hasn’t made many changes to Apple’s executive team, which is mostly comprised of close colleagues he’s worked with since the Jobs era.
WORLD
Microsoft plans mobile-game store, vying with Apple, Google
The browser-based store will debut with Microsoft’s own games, offering discounts on in-game items associated with titles like Candy Crush Saga.
BUSINESS
JPMorgan says India index inclusion on track, most clients ready
“Based on the annual Index Governance Consultation process, market feedback so far has been largely positive, with the majority of our index clients already set up to trade in the IGB market,” managing director Gloria Kim said in an emailed reply to questions.
BUSINESS
Indian renewables may get costlier as RBI mulls changes
Lenders will be needed to set aside as much as 5% of the capital they lend to infrastructure projects under construction, a draft by the Reserve Bank of India stipulates
WORLD
Tesla ramps up job cuts in China as sales slowdown bites
Additional layoffs began earlier this week, extending cuts in mid-April that were part of the electric vehicle maker’s pledge to slash global headcount by more than 10%, said the people, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorized to disclose the information publicly.
WORLD
China’s exports rebound in April in boost for economy
Exports increased 1.5% in dollar terms from a year earlier, reversing a drop in March, while imports climbed 8.4%, the customs administration said Thursday.
MARKETS
JPMorgan inclusion of Indian bonds to aid private credit
The inclusion constitutes a watershed moment for the country’s $1.2 trillion government debt market, with spillovers to other asset classes. Once the change takes effect on June 28, it will be easier to compare the performance of an Indian credit fund with an investment in Singapore, Korea or the U.S., said the head of BPEA Credit.
WORLD
Arm shares fall after company gives tepid annual forecast
For fiscal 2025, which ends next March, revenue will be $3.8 billion to $4.1 billion, the company said Wednesday. Profit will be $1.45 to $1.65 a share. Analysts were predicting a total of $4.01 billion — representing a gain of 26% — and a profit of $1.53 a share.
WORLD
Airbnb sees growth slowing before summer travel uptick
Revenue for the current quarter ending in June will be $2.68 billion to $2.74 billion, the company said Wednesday in a letter to shareholders.
WORLD
Riksbank kicks off easing with first rate cut since 2016
The central bank in Stockholm lowered its policy rate by a quarter point to 3.75% and said it could be reduced twice more in the second half of the year, according to a statement on Wednesday.
WORLD
US to triple chipmaking capacity by 2032, Industry Group says
Semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the country will triple by 2032, an SIA-commissioned study by the Boston Consulting Group found. That will take the US share of the industry to 14%, up from 10% currently, according to the report, which was released Wednesday.
WORLD
Neuralink says implant had issues after first human surgery
In the weeks following the January surgery on patient Noland Arbaugh, some of the electrode-studded threads that sit in the brain tissue began to retract from that tissue, the company said, resulting in the device not working properly.
BUSINESS
India leads first Asia junk dollar bond sales rise in five years
Regional sales of such corporate notes, outside of Japan, touched $5.6 billion so far this year, already surpassing $4.4 billion in all of 2023, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Indian borrowers have topped the share of sales so far this year, with nearly 41% share.
WORLD
Elon Musk’s xAI nears funding at $18 billion value soon as this week
The size of the round hasn’t been finalized, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The maker of AI chatbot assistant Grok was set to raise $6 billion in the round, whose participants include Sequoia Capital, Bloomberg News has reported.
TECHNOLOGY
Google’s Sundar Pichai lays out his AI roadmap
In this episode of The Circuit with Emily Chang, the Alphabet CEO explains how he’s in it for the long haul—and won’t dance to anyone else’s tune.
BUSINESS
Luxury cruises pour $1.5 billion into private islands, beaches
Combined, they’ve amassed at least 15 islands and beaches spanning 5,200 acres across the Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Mexico
BUSINESS
Kotak plans to hire 400 engineers to ramp up tech transition
The lender, backed by Indian billionaire Uday Kotak, has already brought on board more than 500 engineers from scratch over the last two years, according to Milind Nagnur, the bank’s chief technology officer
BUSINESS
Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Hindalco said to mull seeking $1.2 billion in Novelis IPO
Hindalco may target a valuation of about $18 billion for Atlanta-based Novelis, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private
BUSINESS
Morgan Stanley sees momentum behind China stocks fading
Analysts at Morgan Stanley recommended pursuing single-stock and thematic opportunities given improved investor sentiment.
BUSINESS
Fitch sees Indian rupee rebounding to 82 per dollar on bond inflows
The rupee is expected to appreciate to 82 per dollar by the year-end, from about 83.50 currently, Jeremy Zook, a director at Fitch in Hong Kong, said in an interview last week.
BUSINESS
Siemens Energy to cut jobs, output in tough wind unit turnaround
The cuts target the onshore business, where Gamesa’s struggles have been most severe and compounded by high costs pushing the industry into the red.
BUSINESS
OpenAI is readying a search product to rival Google, Perplexity
The feature would allow users to ask ChatGPT a question and receive answers that use details from the web with citations to sources
