17th May 2024 – 24th May 2024 | Another week in the markets
| S&P 500 | Nasdaq | VIX | DJIA | Russell 1000 | NYSE |
| 5,304.72 | 16,685.97 | 11.93 | 39,069.59 | 2,899.87 | 18,110.60 |
| 0.03% | 2.11% | -0.50% | -2.33% | -0.12% | -1.51% |
| Nifty 50 | Gold | Silver | Brent crude | USD-INR | EUR-INR |
| 22,957.10 | $2,335.20 | $30.54 | $81.85 | 83.06 | 90.07 |
| 2.19% | -3.50% | -3.89% | -2.56% | -0.30% | 0.53% |
Source: MarketWatch
Hello Saturday,
This week, Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes show an unspecified number of officials open to hiking interest rates if inflation fears don’t subside, Chinese artificial intelligence companies forced to train chatbots on socialist party lines and Indian movie shows and series were viewed over 1 billion times on Netflix in 2023.
- Markets declined on Thursday as Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes indicated that officials could “tighten policy further should risks to inflation materialize”.
- China released a chatbot on Monday trained on Xi Jinping’s 14-point theory, which brings out China’s socialist values in sharp relief.
- Biocon signs an exclusive deal with South Korean company Handok to market weight loss drug. Stock rises by nearly 5%.
- Netflix’s a hit with Indian audience as the streaming platform surpasses the 1 billion views threshold
Taking stock | The devil is in the details minutes! | Chat GPT the Chinese way! | Biocon breakthrough! | India goes Netflix crazy | Invest wisely | Another week in the markets
Taking stock
The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose for the fifth straight week. The Dow has been on a winning streak on a weekly basis since mid-April. On Friday, the S&P 500 gained 0.7%, while the Nasdaq hit new records leaping by 1.1%. The Dow moved up by only 4 points. The Dow crossed the momentous 40000 bar for the first time last week. The S&P 500 is up 11% in 2024.
The devil is in the details minutes!
Policy doves were in for a rude shock this Thursday as the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes disclosed the intention of an unspecified number of officials to resort to rate hikes, in case inflationary pressures don’t subside.
At the recently held Federal Reserve meeting, Federal Reserve officials had opted for the higher-for-longer strategy, with the Fed Chief Jerome Powell remarking that inflation was well on its way to achieving the 2% target, even if a few statistical bumps might materialise on the pathway to the goal.
The minutes spotlight the uncertainty, the Federal Reserve officials feel regarding the efficacy of the currently 23-year high interest rates. While they stressed that the current benchmark rates in the range of 5.25%-5.5% should retard economic growth and bring down inflation, they were unsure about the degree to which the current rates would slow down price pressures.
Officials “mentioned a willingness to tighten policy further should risks to inflation materialise in a way that such action became appropriate,”.
The Federal Reserve pushed the benchmark federal funds rate to over a two-decade high of 5.25%-5.5% last July and has held it steady at the rate to combat inflation that had vaulted over a 40-year high in 2021.
Ratcheting interest rates yielded robust results in the second half of the last year as inflation started contracting. A positive tamping down of the inflation numbers led the Fed in March to suggest that it might consider rate cuts, provided an additional month or two of mild inflation data turns up.
That, however, was not to be. The first quarter of inflation data revealed hotter-than-anticipated inflation figures that refused to cool down, effectively putting a spanner in the works for the Fed.
Chat GPT the Chinese way!
Chinese authorities on Monday released a chatbot that has been trained on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 14-point theory, a doctrine that emphasises the importance of socialist values and the party’s ownership of the nation’s resources.
Officially, the chatbot is supposed to furnish information on cybersecurity measures and information technology issues. Designed by China’s cyberspace academy, the model has been trained on seven sources. Six of these sources are professional databases holding information on technology. It is the seventh database that is the joker in the pack. Formally known as, “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism With Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, it is meant to leave a unique Chinese government imprint on the AI.
Over the years, China and the US have been locked in an intense rivalry over who controls, and more importantly, leads the AI space. Capturing t is essens domain is of prime importance to both the nations given the growth dividends that can accrue to their respective economies. But, China seems to be working with a disadvantage: Beijing is censoring the database from which the models can be trained, not to mention the fact that their output is also being monitored and controlled to match Chinese government norms and outlook.
As of now, the chatbot is being tried out internally by the Chinese authorities, and there are looming doubts over whether the chatbot will be released publicly. China’s cyberspace regulator disclosed that the chatbot can give answers in English as well as Chinese, and can summarise the current stage of progress of AI development or make a distinction between different forms of economic & technological growth
Biocon breakthrough!
Bengaluru-based biopharmaceutical company Biocon has entered into an exclusive licensing and supply agreement with Handok, a South Korean company to market the weight loss drug Synthetic Liraglutide.
Liraglutide – administered via a pre-filled pen injection – is useful for weight loss and obesity management. Biocon will be responsible for handling the drug’s development, manufacturing and supply whereas Handok will concern itself with acquiring regulatory approvals and commercialisation in the South Korean market.
As per market estimates, Liraglutide’s total addressable market share is a whopping $47 million. Handok is amongst Korea’s leading companies in the management of diabetes, offering a host of solutions from diagnosis to treatment and care. The company’s diabetic portfolio includes products such as Amaryl, Tenelia and the recently launched Barozen Fit, a real-time glucose monitoring device.
Biocon has delivered strong returns of 36% and 32.8% in the last 6 months and 1 year respectively to its investors. Over ten years, it has delivered absolute returns of 329.83% rivalling the stellar gains made by public sector units and public sector banks.
Source: Google Finance
India goes Netflix crazy!
Streaming platform Netflix bagged over 1 billion views in India in 2023, as per the second engagement report released by the company. The report titled, “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report,” presented the viewership data of the streaming platform for the period between July and December 2023.
All in all, Netflix’s subscribers across the world watched over 90 billion hours of content on the platform. Leading the list of the most-watched movies from India was Sujoy Ghosh’s “Jaane Jaan” followed by Shah Rukh’s “Jawan” and Vishal Bhardwaj’s “Khufiya”.
Other popular titles like “OMG 2” grabbed over 11.5 million views, “Lust Stories 2” delivered a neat performance grabbing 9.2 million views and the true-crime documentary “Curry and Cyanide” was seen 8.2 million times.
In the series list, Kay Kay Menon starrer, “The Railway Men” was the most seen grabbing 10.6 million views.
There was a marked demand for global shows and movies as well. Korean content commanded a respectable 9% share of the total views, whereas Spanish and Japanese content accounted for 7% and 5% of views respectively. The report also said that “Leave the World Behind” with Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts in leading roles, was the most-watched movie generating 121 million views. This movie was followed by Adam Sandler’s animated film “Leo”, which gathered 96 million views.
Invest wisely
Investing, first and foremost, is a mind game. It was market guru Warren Buffett who once told investors “To be fearful when the market is greedy, and to be greedy when the market is fearful.” Since it was first spoken, it has gone from being a rule of thumb to indisputable market wisdom. In investing, it is important to be patient for the right price and to not keep buying at unrealistic highs. At the same time, it is important to book profits when the market is overvalued. This is where the Appreciate app can be of great help to you. With our deep troves of market intelligence and tested academic rigour, we can help you navigate the ups and downs of the global markets with ease and quiet confidence.
Warm regards,
Another week
in the markets
