In the Green

XBP Europe Holdings, Inc. (XBP) is up over 133% at $13.25.
Hanryu Holdings, Inc. (HRYU) is up over 31% at $1.43.
Ekso Bionics Holdings, Inc. (EKSO) is up over 15% at $1.34.
Evotec SE (EVO) is up over 13% at $11.24.
Codexis, Inc. (CDXS) is up over 13% at $2.38.
SEALSQ Corp (LAES) is up over 13% at $1.19.
Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (ESPR) is up over 12% at $1.70.
Alector, Inc. (ALEC) is up over 11% at $7.66.
Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) is up over 10% at $86.59.
ECD Automotive Design Inc (ECDA) is up over 10% at $2.10.
BIMI International Medical, Inc. (BIMI) is up over 9% at $2.24.
Millennium Group International Holdings Limited (MGIH) is up over 9% at $1.71.
Gaotu Techedu Inc. (GOTU) is up over 7% at $3.98.
Ucommune International Ltd (UK) is up over 6% at $3.60.
Carisma Therapeutics, Inc. (CARM) is up over 5% at $2.91.

In the Red

Amtech Systems, Inc. (ASYS) is down over 31% at $4.12.
Jet.AI Inc. (JTAIZ) is down over 27% at $1.41.
Cepton, Inc. (CPTN) is down over 24% at $3.00.
Regis Corporation (RGS) is down over 21% at $7.27.
NextCure, Inc. (NXTC) is down over 19% at $1.17.
Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (OCUL) is down over 16% at $3.30.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (APLS) is down over 14% at $54.02.
NextPlay Technologies, Inc. (NXTP) is down over 9% at $1.42.
AerSale Corporation (ASLE) is down over 8% at $13.50.
Shattuck Labs, Inc. (STTK) is down over 8% at $4.47.
Aditxt, Inc. (ADTX) is down over 7% at $5.81.
Jet.AI Inc. (JTAI) is down over 7% at $2.58
SciSparc Ltd. (SPRC) is down over 6% at $6.38.

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WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition, or TAG-CO-VAC, issued the recommendation after making a thorough evaluation of the current virus evolution and the demonstrated immune responses by the vaccines against circulating variants.

TAG-CO-VAC is an independent and multidisciplinary group of experts. It meets regularly to assess the implications of the evolving virus variants for Covid-19 vaccine antigen composition and advise its parent body on whether changes are needed to the antigen composition of future vaccines for immunization.

In its last meeting in May, the TAG-CO-VAC recommended the use of a monovalent XBB.1 descendent lineage, such as XBB.1.5, as the vaccine antigen. WHO noted that several manufacturers using mRNA and protein-based and viral vector vaccine platforms have updated Covid-19 vaccine antigen composition to monovalent XBB.1.5 formulations which have been approved for use by regulatory authorities.

The latest meeting of TAG-CO-VAC last week reviewed the genetic and antigenic evolution of SARS-CoV-2, the performance of currently approved vaccines against its circulating variants, and the implications for Covid vaccine antigen composition. The twice-yearly evidence review by the TAG-CO-VAC is based on the need for continued monitoring of the evolution of the deadly virus and the kinetics of vaccine-derived immunity.

“Other formulations and/or platforms that achieve robust neutralizing antibody responses against currently circulating variants, including XBB- and BA.2.86 descendent lineages, can also be considered,” the UN health agency said in a statement. In accordance with WHO SAGE policy, vaccination programs can continue to use any of the WHO emergency-use listed or prequalified Covid vaccines.

The WHO Technical Advisory Group called for strengthened epidemiological and virological surveillance to determine if emerging variants are antigenically distinct and able to displace circulating variants.

The panel also recommended clinical evaluation of new vaccine antigens, particularly those emerging from XBB and BA.2.86 descendant lineages.

It also encouraged the further development of vaccines that may improve protection against infection and reduce transmission of the virus.

As the pandemic approaches its fourth anniversary, index virus-based vaccines across different platforms continue to provide high levels of protection against severe disease caused by all variants of SARS-CoV-2, including Omicron 2. However, the emerging variants of the virus are posing challenges to the public health systems in many countries, including ensuring the efficiency of vaccines to provide protection against infection.

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In January, Mohalla Tech Pvt Ltd, the parent company of platforms ShareChat and Moj, fired 500 employees, 20 per cent of its workforce.

The same month, company co-founders Bhanu Pratap Singh and Farid Ahsan also stepped down from executive roles.

“ShareChat, today undertook a strategic restructuring as part of its annual planning for the year 2024.

“The decision reflects the company’s commitment to streamlining its cost base and achieving profitability within the next 4-6 quarters,” said the company on December 20.

In alignment with its strategic vision, the company said, it undertook a comprehensive restructuring effort to streamline operations, enhance productivity, and position the firm for sustainable growth.

As a result, the organisation has moved to a flatter organisation structure and prioritised product initiatives.

These resulted in a reduction in team sizes by roughly 15 per cent.

“ShareChat remains committed to its core values and the well-being of its employees throughout this process,” said the company.

Last year, it achieved a valuation of $5 billion, when it closed a multi-tranche funding round to raise a total of $520 million.

But the firm is now reportedly in the process of securing about $50 million in new funding that reduces the startup’s valuation to about $1.5 billion, according to the media reports.

The firm is now reportedly in the process of securing about $50 million in new funding that reduces the startup’s valuation to about $1.5 billion, according to the media reports.

ShareChat’s revenue from operations increased 59.4 per cent to Rs 533 crore in FY23 from Rs 347 crore in FY22, according to media platform Entrackr.

It recorded a nominal 8.4 per cent increase in its losses at Rs 3,241 crore in FY23 as compared to Rs 2,989 crore in FY22, according to Entrackr.

The firm shut down its fantasy gaming platform Jeet11 in early December last year. It laid off 5 per cent of its workforce.

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PSR, which published the interim report for its market review into cross-border interchange fees, said it has set out its provisional concerns that Mastercard and Visa have likely raised these fees to an unduly high level in online retail payments between the UK and the European Economic Area or EEA.

An interchange fee is what acquirers pay to issuers each time a card is used to buy goods or services. According to the regulator, UK businesses pay cross-border interchange fees each time a Mastercard or Visa debit or credit cards issued in the EEA, is used for online retail transactions with UK businesses.

Visa and Mastercard have increased the interchange fees on online purchases made by EEA consumers at UK businesses and vice versa fivefold. For debit cards, this has been raised to 1.15% from 0.2%, and for credit cards to 1.5% from 0.3%.

At present, Mastercard and Visa cards account for 9 out of 10 online transactions at UK businesses using EEA-issued cards, and UK businesses have little choice but to pay the increased costs.

Regarding its proposal to introduce a price cap on fees, PSR said it could be done in two stages, subject to its final report and further consultation on remedies.

This includes an initial time-limited cap of 0.2% for UK-European Economic Area or EEA consumer debit transactions and 0.3% for consumer credit transactions -where the transactions are made online at UK businesses.

Further, there could be a lasting cap on these interchange fees in the future, once further analysis has been carried out to establish an appropriate level.

PSR said it has been examining the level of these fees after Mastercard and Visa significantly raised some of these fees in 2021 and 2022, to understand whether they, or other factors, indicate the market is not working well.

In 2022 alone, the PSR estimates that UK businesses paid an extra 150 million pounds to 200 million pounds due to the fee increases.

The agency is now seeking views on its provisional findings and proposed approach to remedies to help inform the final report.

The window for giving feedback is open until January 31, 2024.

The PSR intends to publish its final report on cross-border interchange fees in the first quarter of fiscal 2024.

If the PSR concludes the market is not working well and it warrants intervention, this report will be followed by a consultation on the remedy package, it said.

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According to data compiled by Prime Database, Indian companies have raised Rs 53,070 crore in 2023 so far, of which seven banks – Union Bank of India, Indian Bank, Bank of India, Federal Bank, IDFC First Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and J&K Bank – account for Rs 21,290 crore, or about 40 per cent.

If other financial institutions are included, the figure surges to Rs 26,690 crore.

In 2017 and 2020, banks had garnered more funds via QIPs than this year.

Listed companies use the QIP route to raise capital by issuing shares or other equity-convertible instruments to qualified institutional buyers.

After cleaning up their balance sheets over the past few years, banks are reporting healthy growth with a rise in net profit and improvement in asset quality, which has attracted investors’ attention.

“Banks have stabilised over the past two or three years, especially PSU banks.

“They have cleaned their balance sheets, are attractively valued, and are a large part of the index.

“There is growth in assets, and lending is increasing, which requires banks to raise Tier 1 capital.

“With the availability of funds, which is there at the right price, they are going ahead and raising funds,” said Pranjal Srivastava, partner-investment banking, Centrum Capital.

Interest rates have also stabilised this year, as the Reserve Bank of India has kept the policy repo rate unchanged since February.

Between May 2022 and February 2023, the repo rate was raised by 250 basis points to 6.5 per cent.

“Last year, we had a rising interest scenario, and there was net interest margin (NIM) compression.

“When NIM compression happens, stocks do not move, and it is hard to raise capital.

“This year, since March, interest rates have not gone up, so all the bank and NBFC stocks have revived, and it has become easier to raise capital.

“In a growing economy, BFSI will need capital continuously,” said Ajay Garg, managing director of Equirus.

The Bank Nifty has gained 11.4 per cent in 2023 so far, as against 18.5 per cent gains posted by the Nifty50 index in this period.

“When the economy is doing well, the credit cycle will move up. And banks will be required to raise capital because of the credit growth we are witnessing. Companies are putting large capex, especially manufacturers.

“So, we will see more QIPs happening from manufacturing companies and financials,” said Dharmesh Mehta, managing director and chief executive officer of DAM Capital.

The good run of QIPs is also expected to spill into the next year, particularly in the run-up to the general elections in April-May.

Investment bankers estimate $5-7 billion of QIPs next year, and banks and financial institutions are likely to constitute 70 per cent of the fundraising.

“QIP is the fastest mode of fundraising for a listed entity. More are expected next year.

“The outlook is positive, and the upbeat investor sentiment is expected to continue.

“The pre-election rally is likely to happen. Banks will dominate the QIP pipeline next year because of the nature of their business.

“Capital is the raw material for banks.

“They need to raise capital after a gap and whenever there is growth in balance sheets,” said Srivastava of Centrum Capital.

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Judge Edgar Ramos reportedly allowed Milton to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction.

The sentence follows a verdict in October 2022, in which Milton, the former Executive Chairman and CEO of Nikola, was found guilty on two counts of wire fraud and one count of securities fraud. Under federal sentencing guidelines for such crimes, he had faced a recommended sentence of 60 years in prison.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, stated that Milton engaged in securities and wire fraud in connection with his scheme to defraud and mislead investors about the development of products and technology by the company he founded. Milton was previously convicted after a one-month trial before Judge Ramos.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, “Trevor Milton lied to investors again and again — on social media, on television, on podcasts, and in print. But today’s sentence should be a warning to start-up founders and corporate executives everywhere — ‘fake it till you make it’ is not an excuse for fraud, and if you mislead your investors, you will pay a stiff price.”

In the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, prosecutors reportedly were demanding 11 years sentence, asking the judge to take into account Milton’s profound denial of accountability and insistence on blaming others.

Meanwhile, Milton’s attorneys were seeking a non-jail sentence of probation. Milton reportedly told judge before being sentenced that he did not intend to harm anyone and that he did not commit those crimes levied against.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, restitution will be determined at a future proceeding.

It was in June 2020 that the electric and hydrogen-powered truck maker went public through a deal with a special purpose acquisition company. In 2021, the company agreed to pay $125 million to settle civil charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Following the news, Nikola shares fell nearly 10 percent on Monday’s regular trading on Nasdaq. However, the shares are gaining around 2.5 percent in the pre-market activity.

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The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and Opec+ agreed to a further voluntary production cut in January-March 2024 to try and support global crude prices.

The best guess here is that crude prices (currently at $75/barrel, or bbl) will not likely cross significantly above $80, and gas prices are also likely to remain subdued unless there’s a further escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Demand growth could be moderate in calendar year 2024 due to the rise in penetration of electric vehicles, efficiency gains, and continued global macro weakness.

This is likely to limit the sharp rise in oil prices unless Opec+ institutes another deeper round of production cuts.

Singapore’s gross refining margins (GRMs) recovered to $5.3/bbl in November 2023 after dipping to $3.9/bbl in October.

Refining margins may remain strong over the next two quarters due to strong seasonal demand coupled with scheduled refinery maintenance across multiple refineries.

India appears to have a competitive advantage in diesel exports since it has access to Russian crude at a significant discount to Brent.

This implies that oil-marketing companies (OMCs), which were under pressure as crude and gas prices spiked, could get unexpected good news with moderating feedstock prices and decent GRMs.

The recent Assembly election results should also mean some degree of confidence that OMCs will not be asked to reduce retail prices and may be allowed to pass on any feedstock price increases that occur.

Petrochemical (petchem) spreads may also improve. However, the potential for some price cuts in retail prices does remain at least until April-May.

There was a positive rerating of OMCs over the past six weeks as crude prices normalised.

Diesel marketing margins improved to a negative 70 paise/litre in November from a negative Rs 7.5/litre in October, while petrol margins increased to Rs 8.5/litre from Rs 7.1/litre.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation is up over 15 per cent since mid-November, and IndianOil and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation are up 12-13 per cent. Chennai Petroleum Corporation and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals are also up considerably in the same time frame.

Reliance Industries (RIL) should also ideally feature in this analysis since it is a big player across the whole energy and petchem space, and it will be a beneficiary.

However, RIL’s exposures in telecommunications and retail make it hard to assess how much of the valuation should be assigned to which vertical.

The strong price uptrend in OMCs over the past six weeks does, however, place a question as to the remaining upside.

The market is optimistic and expects this benign cycle to continue through the next two quarters at the least.

In that case, better-than-expected 2023-24 operating profit would help OMCs to pay down debt. But any breakdown in the assum­ptions listed above — crude prices within a narrow range, strong GRM and strong petchem margins, and pricing freedom at the retail stage — would make the valuations look stretched.

Disclaimer: This article is meant for information purposes only. This article and information do not constitute a distribution, an endorsement, an investment advice, an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities/schemes or any other financial products/investment products mentioned in this article to influence the opinion or behaviour of the investors/recipients.

Any use of the information/any investment and investment related decisions of the investors/recipients are at their sole discretion and risk. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

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Rahul Dravid blamed the poor and slow track at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad for India’s defeat in the World Cup 2023 final against Australia last month.

Dravid said the track did not offer the turn that the team management expected and that’s why they could not spin a web around the Australian batters.

When it comes to batting, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das knows how to play on different pitches.

In the October policy, Das, a cricket aficionado, had said, ‘It is a turning pitch and we will play our shots carefully.’

The policy he unravelled was hawkish and cautious. When the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the rate-setting body of the Indian central bank, held its meeting on December 8, the pitch was far better but Das didn’t lower his guard.

There’s no change in the policy rate as well as its stance. For the fifth meeting in a row, the repo rate remains unchanged at 6.5 per cent and, the stance, ‘withdrawal of accommodation’.

The policy raised the estimate of real GDP growth for the current year.

The raise itself was not a surprise but the margin is — to 7 per cent, half a percentage point more than what the central bank had been saying since April.

This means after growing at 7.8 per cent in the first quarter and 7.6 per cent in the second, GDP has to grow on an average 6.3 per cent in the next two quarters against the earlier RBI estimate of 6 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively.

The RBI has raised real GDP growth for the first quarter of FY25 too marginally, from 6.6 per cent to 6.7 per cent (and gradual decline in the second and third quarters — 6.5 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively).

This is far higher than all estimates by different agencies.

For instance, the International Monetary Fund projects India’s growth at 6.3 per cent in the current year, the same as estimated by the World Bank.

Ditto the projections of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Asian Development Bank and Fitch Ratings.

Standard & Poor’s, in its Global Credit Outlook 2024, pegs India’s GDP growth rate marginally higher at 6.4 per cent for the financial year ending March 2024.

The growth rate will remain at 6.4 per cent in the next fiscal (2024-2025) before climbing to 6.9 per cent in the next and 7 per cent in 2026-2027, the rating agency says.

Another global rating agency, Moody’s, pegs India’s 2023 calendar year growth forecast at 6.7 per cent.

Most of them have revised the forecast in the past few months but none expects 7 per cent growth.

When it comes to inflation, there is no change in the RBI projection.

It remains 5.4 per cent for FY24 — 5.6 per cent in the third quarter and 5.2 per cent in the fourth.

Retail inflation softened to its four-month low of 4.87 per cent year-on-year in October, from 5.02 per cent in September, driven by a broad-based decline in the so-called core or non-food, non-oil inflation as well as fuel inflation while food inflation did not show any sign of decline.

Clearly, the figure will be much higher in November and December.

The next year’s retail inflation projection is 5.2 per cent in the first quarter, 4 per cent in the second and 4.7 per cent in the third. The risks are evenly balanced.

Since the RBI targets 4 per cent inflation with a 2-percentage point band on either side, the earliest it will be within the RBI target is in the second quarter of the next financial year — that too just for that quarter.

This is why the RBI is in no hurry to take a look at cutting the policy rate and even changing the stance to neutral.

The liquidity management continues to remain key to the policy. However, the tone sounds a bit less hawkish.

Liquidity in the banking system, as measured by the net position under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) or the difference between how much the commercial banks are borrowing from the central bank’s different windows and how much they are parking with it, turned into deficit mode for the first time in September 2023 after a gap of four and a half years since May 2019.

This is the result of a rise in the quantum of currency with the public during the festival season, government’s cash balances kept with the RBI and the central bank’s market operations.

In fact, the liquidity tightening in the recent past has been significantly higher than what the MPC’s October meeting had envisaged.

This is why the RBI has not undertaken any government bond sale through auctions in the so-called open market operations (OMO), outlined in the last policy.

Das has not repeated the ‘threat’ of OMO sales but said the RBI would remain nimble in liquidity management as the liquidity pressure will ease with government spending.

To come back to the cricket analogy, in the five years at the helm of the RBI, Das has played on different and difficult pitches.

First, he had to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and recession.

He did that by following an ultra-loose monetary policy, offering a moratorium on loan repayment, and bringing the policy rate down to its historic low (4 per cent).

He even introduced helicopter shots in the form of LTRO and TLTRO (long term repo operations and targeted long term repo operations) to give comfort to the system.

The next fight was against inflation and depreciation of the local currency.

Retail inflation soared beyond the upper limit of the RBI’s target for 10 months in a row in 2022, after breaching it for eight successive months in 2020.

The RBI had to explain the reasons to the government (higher inflation for three successive quarters calls for such an explanation).

Until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Das’s objective was to remain accommodative as long as necessary to secure growth.

But sensing that the ball was turning, he first hiked the rate in May 2022, off-cycle, a month ahead of the MPC meeting.

This was 12 hours before the US Federal Reserve raised its policy rate by half a percentage point, the highest in 22 years, to tackle the worst inflation the US has seen in four decades.

The rate hike cycle ended in February this year, raising India’s policy rate to 6.5 per cent.

Since then, it has been a long pause. While the economy seems to be on a firm growth path, the fight against inflation is not over yet.

It has not even entered the last round. As I have already written, according to RBI estimates, it will drop to 4 per cent in the second quarter of FY25, before rising again in the third quarter.

Provided all other parameters remain the same, we may see the RBI changing its stance in the September quarter next year and follow it up with the first rate cut.

Das seems to be in no hurry. After playing well through a five-year test match, he doesn’t want to get out hit wicket.

At the Business Standard BFSI Summit on October 31, Das advised the bankers to play long term, like Dravid.

He himself bats like Dravid and the pitch doesn’t affect his batting.

Tamal Bandyopadhyay, author of Roller Coaster: An Affair with Banking, is a senior advisor to the Jana Small Finance Bank Ltd.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com

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The major averages closed just off their highs of the session. The Dow climbed 157.06 points or 0.4 percent to 36,404.93, the Nasdaq edged up 28.51 points or 0.2 percent to 14,432.49 and the S&P 500 rose 18.07 points or 0.4 percent to 4,622.44.

Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, although stocks continued to benefit from the optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

With the Fed widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders are likely to focus more closely on the central bank’s accompanying statement and projections.

Reports on consumer and producer price inflation are also likely to attract attention in the coming days along with reports on retail sales and industrial production.

Optimism the Fed could pivot to cutting interest rates as soon as March 2024 has contributed to recent strength on Wall Street, although last Friday’s strong than expected jobs data has led to speculation the Fed could wait until May to begin lowering rates.

“Markets are very bullish in pricing in four interest rate cuts next year, the first likely coming in May, something the FOMC is unlikely to line up behind,” said Craig Erlam, OANDA Senior Market Analyst, UK & EMEA.

He added, “The question is how much of a change we’ll see from the September projections and to what extent the committee will push back against the markets.”

Among individual stocks, chares of Macy’s (M) moved sharply higher following reports an investor group consisting of Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital has offered to acquire the department store chain for $5.8 billion.

Health insurer Cigna (CI) also surged after reportedly abandoning efforts to acquire rival Humana (HUM) and announcing a $10 billion increase in its share repurchase authorization.

Sector News

Semiconductor stocks moved sharply higher on the day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 3.4 percent to its best closing level in almost two years.

Considerable strength was also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.

Transportation stocks also showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the session, with the Dow Jones Transportation Average climbing by 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, gold stocks moved lower along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1.1 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.5 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.7 percent, although Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index bucked the uptrend and slid by 0.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index crept up by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries regained ground after coming under pressure in early trading, ending the day roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 4.239 percent after reaching a high of 4.293 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Tuesday is likely to be driven by reaction to a report on consumer price inflation in the month of November, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

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With the vote, the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee, which represents about 5,000 Teamsters in the company, could call a strike if the beer giant fails to come to terms on a new deal after its current agreement expires on February 29, 2024.

The union is seeking an agreement for improved wages, job protection, and secured health care and retirement benefits for its members across the company’s 12 U.S. breweries.

As of now, no dates are set for negotiations. Anheuser-Busch Teamsters recently rallied in New Hampshire, California, and Florida, and they are planning more actions across the country.

The company last month had reached tentative deals to end tiered health care and restore retiree health benefits, under pressure from the Teamsters. However, the union noted that Anheuser-Busch delayed negotiating on important job security issues since mid-November, despite repeated requests by the union.

The company, which recently announced $1 billion in stock buybacks, had recorded revenues of $58 billion in 2022.

Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said, “Teamsters stand firm in our fight for the best contract at Anheuser-Busch, and this powerful strike vote proves it. Our members’ labor, talent, and sacrifice are what put Anheuser-Busch products on the shelf, and we are committed to getting a contract that rewards and recognizes their hard work. If Anheuser-Busch’s executives can’t get their act together to negotiate an agreement that respects workers, we will see them out on the streets.”

In July, Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, had announced its plans to lay off around 350 employees, majority of them in corporate roles.

In its recent third quarter, Anheuser-Busch had reported a slightly higher profit of $1.472 billion or $0.73 per share and revenue growth of 5% to $15.574 billion.

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The report titled ‘AIdea of India: Generative AI’s potential to accelerate India’s digital transformation’ says that in 2029-30 alone, GenAI can contribute an additional $359-438 billion to India’s GDP.

The report said that around 69 per cent of the overall impact of GenAI on India’s GDP is expected to be derived from sectors such as business services (including IT, legal, consulting, rental of machinery and equipment, and others), financial services, education, retail, and healthcare.

“Organisations are swiftly adopting an AI-first approach to digital transformation, aiming to enhance customer engagement, increase productivity, and achieve greater agility in delivering digital capabilities,” said Mahesh Makhija, technology consulting leader, EY India.

“Although in the early stages, there is a tremendous sense of optimism in AI to realise its full potential, India must significantly elevate its efforts in terms of increased government role in its development and deployment,” he added.

The study highlights that around 75 per cent of the businesses in India express a low to moderate level of readiness to harness the benefits of GenAI.

While 52 per cent organisations surveyed believe skills-gap as a challenge in harnessing the potential of GenAI for businesses, around 42 per cent found the availability of unclear use cases as another hurdle, the report said.

“Implementing measures like enabling access to training data and marketplaces, deployment of GenAI systems as Public Goods, securing critical digital infrastructure and access to talent and public funding of R&D will help foster Gen AI innovation,” it said.

On the data privacy front, the report highlights that 36 per cent organisations see data privacy as the single most important risk of GenAI, followed by hallucination or fabricated answers (24 per cent), biased responses (21 per cent) and cybersecurity (16 per cent).

Further, 75 per cent of organisations said customer engagement was a segment that was most influenced by generative AI.

Additionally, 73 per cent organisations prefer partnering with external tech providers for GenAI implementation, the report adds.

“Considering GenAI’s immense potential to act as an economic growth catalyst, Governments worldwide are actively pursuing measures to promote and regulate AI.

“Implementing measures like enabling access to training data and marketplaces, deployment of Gen AI systems as Public Goods, securing critical digital infrastructure (through the roll-out of 5G, data centers, access to specialised chips and AI-specific compute infrastructure), and access to talent and public funding of R&D will help foster Gen AI innovation,” it said.

Further experts in the report say that the extent of GenAI’s influence in each sector will depend on factors such as feasibility, rates of adoption, and the respective contribution of each industry segment to India’s economic activity.

“Adopting a ‘light touch’ approach can create a responsive regulatory environment, balancing innovation and risk management.

“Clarity on regulatory framework, establishing regulatory sandboxes, watermarking GenAI content, and setting standards for accountability and liability to build trust in the AI systems will be critical,” according to the report.

The survey was conducted on 200 C-suite participants from sectors, including technology, media and entertainment, financial services, government, health, retail, and manufacturing.

Around 60 per cent of these organisations surveyed acknowledged that GenAI had an impact on their businesses.

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Food prices for 2024 are expected to rise, though in slower rates. In Canada, the prices have been growing and certain food items showed up to 50 percent increase. Energy costs are also expected to increase.

Investors are looking ahead to the U.S. Labor Department’s jobs report which might have an impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week.

In a shift to its current immigration regulations, Canada has doubled its financial requirements for foreign students who seek visas for Canada. This will be effective from January 1, 2024 and will be raised to C$20,635 from C$10,000.

Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the Aussie edged up to 0.6621 and 0.8987 from yesterday’s closing quotes of 0.6601 and 0.8975, respectively.

In the corporate sector, CWB Financial Group Friday reported a fourth-quarter profit of C$77 million, down 7 percent from the prior year. On a per-share basis, earnings declined 7 percent to C$0.80, while adjusted earnings per share were up 7 percent at C$0.94.

Gold futures are slightly down, while silver futures are gaining. Copper futures also is slightly up.

European shares are trading higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is progressing 151.53 points or 2.07 percent. The German DAX is adding 20.22 points or 0.12 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is gaining 12.53 points or 0.17 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is climbing 27.61 points or 0.25 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.54 percent.

Asian stocks were mixed at Friday’s close. Chinese shares edged up.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.11 percent to 2,969.56 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended marginally lower at 16,334.37 after a choppy session.

The U.S. Employment Situation for November will be released at 8.30 am ET. The non-farm payrolls consensus is 180,000, while it was up 150,000. The unemployment rate is expected to increase 3.9 percent, while it was up 3.9 percent in October.

The Consumer Sentiment for December will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is up 61.9, while in November it was up 61.3 percent.

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