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
BUSINESS
Alibaba’s grocery arm ‘Freshippo’ gears up for Hong Kong IPO
The company is working with banks including China International Capital Corp. and Morgan Stanley to help prepare for the first-time share sale of the unit, known in Chinese as Hema, sources told Bloomberg
BUSINESS
Alcoa sees output costs easing as aluminium demand stays steady
Earnings will get a boost in the second quarter from “favourable raw materials, volume and lower production costs,” Alcoa said
COMPANIES
Microsoft removes Twitter from ad program; Elon Musk threatens suit
The billionaire, who bought Twitter last year, is changing the company’s policy to charge businesses for access to its stream of data.
ECONOMY
India races to get richer before it gets older as Indians outnumber Chinese
India needs to advance on four broad fronts — urbanisation, infrastructure, up-skilling and broadening its labour force, and boosting manufacturing — to fully cash in on its demographic dividend and reshape the global economy in the process
WORLD
Smaller watches are the biggest timepiece trend of 2023
Like hemlines, watch proportions wax and wane in cycles. For men they started out big, since the first ones were pocket watches with straps attached to them.
WORLD
First major bank’s AT1 bond offer since Credit Suisse wipeout
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. sold 140 billion yen ($1 billion) of AT1 debt, becoming the first major global bank to issue such notes since the finance-sector crisis erupted last month. It’s another sign that the turmoil first triggered by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank is easing.
WORLD
Ray Dalio set to open branch of family office in Abu Dhabi
The Bridgewater Associates founder has cultivated a close relationship with the United Arab Emirates leadership over several decades and the new setup in the country’s capital builds upon the Dalio Family Office’s existing hubs in the US and Singapore, according to people familiar with the matter.
WORLD
Heineken boosted by Europe beer drinkers as Asia lags
Shares in the world’s second largest brewer rose nearly 4% in early trading Wednesday after it said consumers in Europe were still largely accepting higher prices for its beers, which include its namesake brand and more premium offerings such as Birra Moretti, Beavertown and El Aguila.
