Good morning! It’s been seven weeks since the container ship Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, resulting in six casualties and the collapse of the once-iconic local landmark. And it’s been seven weeks since the 21-member crew has been marooned on the vessel without contact with the outside world. The BBC reports that the crew, comprising 20 Indians and one Sri Lankan, had their phones confiscated by the FBI due to ongoing investigations into the disaster. It also took a controlled explosion to get bridge debris off the Dali — while the crew were in the hull. As concerns mounted over the crew’s well-being, some good Samaritans donated care packages, handmade quilts, and Indian snacks. The ship may now be re-floated this week. Some sad stories do have silver linings after all. 

🎧 The government is working on a quality control regime to tackle fake product reviews on e-commerce platforms. Also in today’s episode: The Canadian dream is now losing its appeal for Indian students.Tune in to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Zinal Dedhia, Soumya Gupta, and Roshni Nair also contributed to today’s edition.

The Market Signal*

Stocks & Economy: The International Monetary Fund has lashed out at US President Joe Biden for harsh sanctions on China. It said US policies will hurt global trade and economic growth. 

The comments came even as Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is on a rare foreign visit to Beijing, and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping vowed to counter US attempts at “containment” of their respective countries. The two leaders termed it Washington’s “destructive and hostile” course. 

Meanwhile, JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon sees many inflationary forces going ahead. Dimon warned that inflation may not go away as many are expecting it to. That reiterates the Federal Reserve’s resolve to keep interest rates higher for longer. Some bets on rate cuts are already unwinding. 

Asian markets opened mixed with Japanese stocks in retreat while Hong Kong equities climbed. The GIFT Nifty indicates a flat opening for Indian shares.

LOGISTICS

Indian Exporters Pump the Brakes on Freight Contracts

"Ship, Ship, Hooray?” Not so fast. Indian exporters, especially those who ship high-volume cargo, have kept their contract renewals with shipping lines on hold for a month now. Japanese tyre maker Yokohama Rubber Company’s India arm has yet not renewed its contract. 

According to the April DHL Ocean Freight Market Report, rate negotiations on the Transpacific routes for May 2024 have remained unsettled for a month due to a significant discrepancy between asking prices and what shippers are prepared to pay. 

Global shipping has been buffeted by a series of crises in the past few years, beginning with the pandemic in 2020 to the continuing Red Sea attacks by Houthi rebels. Freight rates have stayed abnormally high, making it difficult for exporters to gauge future pricing and demand. Head to The Core to understand why exporters are holding off signing new contracts.

PODCAST

Tune in every Monday to Friday as financial journalist and host Govindraj Ethiraj gives you the most important take on the latest in business and economy.

In today’s episode, he speaks to Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of SS Wealthstreet, which specialises in commodities research, on what’s going on in silver.

RETAIL

Walmart Runs Into A Wall

Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, is slowly losing ground to Amazon, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Despite serving nearly every American shopper, Walmart is unable to keep pace with Amazon’s growth. That’s because Walmart makes most of its money from its (offline and online) stores. But retail is merely a side gig for Amazon. It is raking in cash from cloud computing to invest in retail. Besides, its online ads business is growing fast enough to threaten Google and Meta. 

Fighting back: It’s not over yet. Earlier this year, Walmart acquired smart TV maker Vizio to build a connected TV ads business. It is also trying to woo richer shoppers with premium food and better quality basic clothing. 

The fight is playing out in India too. Walmart-owned Flipkart may shift domicile back to India from Singapore even as Amazon invested Rs 1,660 crore in its India retail business. 

EDUCATION

No More The Same Canada

Until recently, Canada was the country to go to for a large number of Indian immigrants. A number of them headed there in search of quality education, stayed on to work and eventually became citizens of that country. 

That pipeline is drying up. Indian student applications to Canadian universities fell by more than 40% in 2024 after the country limited the international students’ quota by 35%. That’s not the only reason. A shortage of accommodation and a doubling of the guaranteed investment certificate, which is obtained from Canadian banks, to Rs 12 lakh (C$20,635) are dampeners too. The banks usually issue the certificate against a deposit of a like amount. It is meant to ensure that the students have the means to sustain themselves for the duration of their course. 

Canadian universities are holding clarificatory events in Indian cities to assuage parents’ and students’ concerns. 

The Signal

Visa uncertainty is not limited to Canada. Students headed to the US, UK and Australia are also facing tighter entry norms. Last week, Australia steeply hiked the financial capacity requirement to ~Rs 16.3 lakh (A$29,710). That followed a hike from ~Rs 11.5 lakh to ~Rs 13.4 lakh in October 2023. Two people familiar with student visa processes told The Signal that these countries are also using tighter norms to filter genuine students from job-seekers masquerading as students. Many individuals took advantage of liberal norms to migrate to those countries as dependents.

FYI

SaaSy bet: Indian software-as-a-service giant Zoho is planning to enter chipmaking with a $700 million investment and is also seeking production-linked incentives for the same, Reuters reports.

Stop the car: Ola Cabs CFO Karthik Gupta has resigned from his post just six months after joining the ride-hailing company. His departure comes a month after chief executive Hemant Bakshi stepped down.

Funds please: Vedanta is raising Rs 8,500 crore either through equity or debt and has announced a dividend of Rs 4,089 crore.

Move it: Microsoft is asking up to 800 employees in its China-based AI and cloud divisions to consider moving to other countries as US-China tensions escalate, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Pink slips: Toshiba is laying off up to 4,000 staffers as part of a restructuring exercise following its delisting in December 2023.

THE DAILY DIGIT

$16 billion+

The minimum cost that will be incurred by South Korea each year on “baby bonuses”, an incentive to increase the country’s fertility rate — the lowest in the world — if the government greenlights the plan. (Bloomberg)

FWIW

Startup garnish: Free dhaniya (coriander) and free kadipatta (curry leaves) are de rigueur while vegetable shopping from local vendors or markets. This very Indian tradition hasn’t made it to delivery apps… until now. After a Twitter post by a user who said his “mom got a mini heart attack” after having to order for and pay separately for dhaniya on Blinkit, company CEO Albinder Dhindsa sprang into action. Thanks to the poster who suggested that coriander be bundled for free with vegetable orders, Dhindsa announced that the Indianism was now live on Blinkit. The feature “will be polished”, though we wonder when kadipatta, which has our heart, will get the same treatment.