WORLD
Stan Druckenmiller says US on brink of a recession, sees hard landing
The downturn will occur at some point during the current quarter — even earlier than he previously expected, the billionaire founder of Duquesne Family Office said Tuesday during the 2023 Sohn Investment Conference.
WORLD
Police raid consulting firm as China starts anti-spy campaign
On orders from China’s central government, authorities carried out synchronized operations in cities including the financial powerhouses of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Suzhou, a provincial TV channel in Jiangsu province reported Monday night. The state broadcaster didn’t say where it got the information or provide a timeframe for the raids.
ECONOMY
China's slacking imports, slowing exports peril global economic recovery
The recovery so far has mainly been driven by consumer spending, rather than infrastructure and property investment and that has reduced demand for commodities such as crude oil, iron ore and copper
BUSINESS
Three Adani firms lose endorsement of UN-backed climate group
Adani Green, Adani Transmission Ltd. and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. were removed in late April from the list of “companies taking action” published by the Science Based Targets initiative. The UN-backed group helps companies establish concrete plans to reduce emissions consistent with the Paris Agreement’s target on limiting global warming.
WORLD
Pakistan could default without IMF bailout loans, Moody’s warns
“We consider that Pakistan will meet its external payments for the remainder of this fiscal year ending in June,” said Grace Lim, a sovereign analyst with the ratings company in Singapore. “However, Pakistan’s financing options beyond June are highly uncertain. Without an IMF program, Pakistan could default given its very weak reserves.”
WORLD
Singapore Wealth Fund sees more growth in fintech after downturn
Chris Emanuel, head of GIC Pte’s technology investment group, said the fund is excited about innovation in financial product distribution that brings opportunities to scale across the world. It also sees opportunities in enterprise software as digital transformation efforts “increase across sectors in both momentum and urgency,” he said.
WORLD
Europe's Gas outlook looks much rosier this year due to winter luck
Mild temperatures, which significantly curbed consumption, and China’s zero-Covid policy, helped Europe stock up on LNG last year. There's enough time to replenish gas storage and avert a crisis in the coming winter but no room for complacency
WORLD
Trudeau minister sees progress on early-stage India trade deal
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in Ottawa on Monday for ministerial talks and the two countries are making steady progress toward a deal, Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
WORLD
Japan’s secret to $230 winter mangoes: A farmer tricks the fruit
Nakagawa has been growing mangoes in the snowy Tokachi region of Japan’s northernmost island since 2011. He sells them for as much as $230 each. He never thought an experiment in sustainable farming would one day yield the world’s most expensive mangoes.
WORLD
Goldman shells out $215 million to end case on underpaying women
The New York-based bank struck the deal with lawyers representing about 2,800 women, who claimed the firm discriminated against them in pay and promotions, a person with knowledge of the accord said, asking not to be named discussing the confidential talks. About a third of the settlement is expected to be set aside for attorney fees.
WORLD
Bill Gross advises buying T-Bills to bet debt-ceiling issues will be resolved
Rates on short-dated bills have soared ahead of the so-called ‘X-date’ early next month, after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned last week that the government could run out of cash as soon as June 1.
BUSINESS
GPTZero App seeks to thwart AI plagiarism in schools, online media
Edward Tian, a 22-year-old Princeton University student studying computer science and journalism, developed an app called GPTZero to deter the misuse of the viral chatbot ChatGPT in classrooms. The app has racked up 1.2 million registered users since January.
WORLD
Apple sells $5.25 billion in five-part Dollar Bond sale
The longest portion, a 30-year bond, will yield 108 basis points over comparable Treasuries, less than the roughly 135 basis points initially discussed.
BUSINESS
Brookfield weighing stake sale in Indian tower business, sources say
The Canadian investment firm is working with an adviser to sell a stake of more than 10% in the infrastructure investment trust that holds Summit DigiTel
BUSINESS
MakeMyTrip adds AI voice chat to lure more travellers
MakeMyTrip Ltd. will use Microsoft Corp.’s Azure Open AI technology for the chat, initially available in English and Hindi, the Indian company said in a statement Monday.
BUSINESS
Adani units may drop out of MSCI index on review, analyst says
MSCI is revising the amount of shares considered freely tradable in the public market for the two companies, with the results to be announced later this week.
WORLD
China’s high turnover stock market is punishing liquidity trades
Modeling a long-short strategy that favors the CSI 300 Index’s most liquid shares would have lost traders almost 11% in April.
WORLD
Brutal heat continues to grip Asia in warning for rest of world
In an ominous sign ahead of the northern hemisphere summer, an emerging El Nino weather pattern is pushing the mercury to unprecedented levels in southern parts of the continent.
BUSINESS
General Atlantic to deploy up to $1 billion a year in India
The planned investment compares with the $500 million to $1.2 billion that General Atlantic has invested per annum in recent years in Southeast Asia and India, Rastogi said.
WORLD
Singapore’s soaring rents are becoming a political problem
The pain is trickling down to young singles like Sonam who are largely shut out of the nation’s subsidized housing program and starting to question the government’s resolve to tackle the problem.
BUSINESS
Grounded Go Air can fly in a week if planes not seized, CEO says
The airline, controlled by billionaire Nusli Wadia’s group, has enough funds to sustain operations on a cash-and-carry model for about 10 days, Chief Executive Officer Kaushik Khona said in an interview Saturday.
BUSINESS
Why airlines keep folding in India’s booming aviation market
Buoyed by an emerging middle class hankering to fly, Indian airlines ordered billions of dollars worth of planes in the past few years, creating a cauldron of competition in what is now the world’s most populous nation.
BUSINESS
India's booming bond rally may be over with sales deluge on the cards
India’s 10-year yield dropped below 7 percent on Thursday, the first time since April 2022 due to falling crude prices and the prospect of a Federal Reserve rate pause
WORLD
China’s belt and road to enter Afghanistan in Taliban’s victory
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met in Islamabad on Saturday and pledged to work together on Afghanistan’s reconstruction process including taking the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to the Taliban-ruled nation.
