Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 02 December 2021

Thu Dec 2 10:57:13 CAT 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 02 December 2021 

 <https://www.nedbank.co.zw/> 

ü  Cryptocurrency executives to be questioned in Congress

ü  Disney elects woman as chairman for first time in 98-year history

ü  Biden says economy 'in strong shape' ahead of holidays

ü  Rising energy bills: 'My teenager covers himself in coats to keep warm'

ü  Asian shares tick up, U.S. and European futures diverge on Omicron
jitters

ü  Kellogg, union reach tentative deal after two months of strike

ü  Investors flee U.S. corporate junk debt on inflation, Omicron concerns

ü  OPEC+ weighs output policy as Omicron fears hammer prices

ü  Apple tells suppliers demand for iPhone 13 lineup has weakened -
Bloomberg News

ü  Aston Martin finance chief to leave for personal reasons

ü  Grab's $40 bln Nasdaq debut to set tone for Southeast Asian tech listings

ü  India's Jet Airways in talks with Boeing, Airbus for $12 bln order -
BloombergQuint

ü  Uber to allow users to book rides via WhatsApp in India

ü  With inflation risks rising, Fed's Powell prepares for possible pivot

ü  Malawi: Govt Starts Issuing Maize Export Licenses

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Cryptocurrency executives to be questioned in Congress

Executives of eight major cryptocurrency firms have been called to testify
before a US congressional committee on 8 December.

Witnesses called to appear include Coinbase's Alesia Haas, Circle's Jeremy
Allaire and Bitfury's Brian Brooks.

It will be the first time companies representing the controversial sector
have been questioned in this way.

US politicians across the political spectrum have called for more scrutiny
of crypto-currencies.

Elizabeth Warren on the left of the Democratic Party has called for tougher
regulation of the sector and Donald Trump has described crypto-currencies as
"a scam".

Mr Brooks of Bitfury previously served as a top banking regulator under the
Trump administration and had a role in policy-making around
crypto-currencies.

Crypto-currencies are not currencies in the traditional sense, although they
can sometimes be used to make payments. They are stored online in a "digital
wallet" and act more like investment vehicles or securities, often with a
high degree of volatility.

The anonymity of paying using crypto-currencies means they have been
favoured for criminal activities such as drug dealing and ransomware
attacks. However their supporters say the view that they are predominantly
for circumventing the law is outdated and that innovation in this area
offers huge potential.

Countries around the world have taken radically different approaches to
crypto-currencies.

China has declared crypto-currency transactions illegal, a move India looks
set to follow. Many other central banks are eyeing the sector warily and
discussing regulation.

However El Salvador recently declared Bitcoin - the most widely established
crypto-currency - to be legal tender and its president plans to build a
Bitcoin city at the base of a volcano, with the cryptocurrency used to fund
the project.

Across the US, as well as many private citizens holding crypto-currencies,
states and municipalities have begun toying with plans to integrate them
into their operations.

The mayor of Miami and mayor elect of New York have ambitions to make their
cities centres for cryptocurrency business.

The hearing before the US House Financial Services Committee will focus on
"the challenges and benefits of financial innovation", according to the
committee announcement.

The other chief executives who have been asked to appear are Sam
Bankman-Fried of FTX Trading, Chad Cascarilla of Paxos and Dennelle Dixon of
the Stellar Development Foundation.-BBC

Disney elects woman as chairman for first time in 98-year history

Walt Disney has elected a woman to become its chairman for the first time in
the entertainment giant's 98-year history.

Susan Arnold, who has been a Disney board member for 14 years, will succeed
Bob Iger at the end of this year.

She was formerly an executive at global investment firm Carlyle.

Mr Iger, who stepped down as Disney's chief executive in 2020 after 15 years
in the role, will leave the company by the end of this month.

"As I step into this new role as chairman of the board, I look forward to
continuing to serve the long-term interests of Disney's shareholders and
working closely with CEO Bob Chapek as he builds upon the company's
century-long legacy of creative excellence and innovation," Ms Arnold said
in a statement.

She has also served in senior roles at some of America's biggest companies.

For the last eight years Ms Arnold has been an executive at Carlyle Group,
having previously held roles at consumer goods giant Procter and Gamble and
fast food chain McDonald's.

"Susan is an incredibly esteemed executive whose wealth of experience,
unwavering integrity, and expert judgment have been invaluable to the
company since she first joined the Board in 2007," Mr Iger said.

Her appointment comes as large companies are moving away from management
structures where the chief executive and chairperson roles are held by the
same person after pressure from corporate governance experts, investors and,
in some cases, regulators to separate the two key positions.

Mr Iger's exit marks the end of an era for Disney, who has been in a senior
role at the company since 1996.

In his time as chief executive Disney made a number of major acquisitions,
including the takeovers of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox. In
2016, the firm opened its first theme park and resort in mainland China.

Several other Disney executives have announced plans to leave by the end of
this year, including studios head Alan Horn, president and chief creative
officer of Disney Branded Television Gary Marsh and company general counsel
Alan Braverman.-BBC

Biden says economy 'in strong shape' ahead of holidays

The US economy is in a strong position, President Joe Biden has said, thanks
to action taken by the government to free up supply chain blockages and
tackle the rising cost of living.

He predicted that prices, which have been rising sharply, would ease.

The president said policies to tackle bottlenecks at ports and lower the
price of fuel were working.

"We're heading into a holiday season on very strong shape," he said. "It's
not because of luck,"

Asked how supply chains would weather disruption from the new variant of
coronavirus, President Biden said he was an "optimist", but that it was too
soon to know what the impact might be.

As a result of the economic recovery a typical American family was now
better off than before the pandemic struck, the president said, describing a
40% reduction in child poverty as "a moral victory".

"Americans on average have about $100 (£75.33) more in their pockets every
month than they did last year [and] about $350 more each month than they did
before the pandemic, even after accounting for inflation," the president
said.

Since taking office, the Biden administration has pumped billions of dollars
of stimulus into the US economy, including direct cheques to households and
tax breaks.

Economic growth has rebounded as the impact of the pandemic began to ease,
and after shrinking 30% in the first six months of 2020, the economy is now
back at the size it was pre-pandemic.

However, higher demand for goods, and on-going disruptions to the supply and
delivery of those goods, has helped push inflation up to 6.2% - the highest
it has been for 31 years.

"I've used every tool available to address the price increases," President
Biden said.

Releasing part of the US's oil reserves last month, in an action coordinated
with several other nations, to try to bring down the price of fuel had been
"making a difference", he added.

Independent economic analysis indicated his Build Back Better bill would
reduce inflationary pressures, he stressed.

The bill was fully paid for, and would contribute to deficit reduction, by
"making the largest corporations and the richest Americans pay a little more
in taxes".

A change in mindset

The $1.9tn (£1.4tn) Build Back Better bill, which includes social and
climate spending, still needs to be voted on in the US Senate.

Asked why he believed he would be able to bring down inflation when previous
administrations in the 1970s and 1980s failed, the president said: "This is
the first time I've seen labour and business so ready to cooperate.

"People are in a different state of mind than in the Carter and Nixon
years."

Earlier this week, President Biden hosted the chief executives of several of
the countries' largest manufacturers and retailers, including Walmart and
CVS Health, Mattel and Best Buy.

The executives reported that their inventories were up and shelves
well-stocked, ready to meet the consumer demand for the holidays, he said.

Biden said the administration had "broken up log jams" in the supply chain
through various methods, such as by encouraging port operators to work
longer hours.

President Biden said retail executives told him their shelves were
well-stocked for the Christmas rush

He also pointed to the easing of rules over truck drivers' hours. The
measures were working, he said, with the number of containers left sitting
on docks for over eight days down by 40%.

Michael Pearce, US economist at Capital Economics, thinks the president was
right to suggest that some of the stresses on the economy were starting to
ease, but that all the problems wouldn't go away overnight.

"It's still the case that there are very severe supply problems. Even if
they're starting to fade, it'll take some time for that to work its way
through, especially now that inventory for a lot of goods is so lean," he
told the BBC.

Inflation which remained would therefore persist well into next year, he
said, in part thanks to the trillions of dollars pumped into the economy
through the pandemic.

The Omicron variant, and expectations that it will hurt economic growth,
were probably having a greater impact on the price of fuel, than the move to
release oil reserves, Mr Pearce added.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, thinks Mr Biden's Build Back
Better bill could have a pro-inflationary impact in the short term unless it
was tweaked further by lawmakers.

She felt Omicron, the easing of supply chain problems, and a reduction in
government stimulus over the coming months would "take the steam out of
inflation but it won't cool it down enough".

"The risk is until we can really wrestle the virus to its knees we'll
continue to see disruption, even as demand starts to slow again," said Ms
Swonk.

"We're starting to see more broader based inflation that likely will linger
longer."-BBC

Rising energy bills: 'My teenager covers himself in coats to keep warm'

When she goes in to check on him at night, Sandy Birtles says she can hardly
see her teenage son for all the coats on his bed.

The single mother of two says that the family do all they can to keep warm
as the bills continue to rise.

"I do not have the heating on when the kids are at school," she said.

"If I'm not running around and clearing up, then I'm wrapping up in a coat."

She said that financial pressures mean she had been "penny-pinching all the
time", but she said rising energy bills have added to the strain.

They have to be careful not to use too much hot water, she said, and her
15-year-old son adds to his bedding with coats.

She is worried that these bills will continue to rise, and a charity has
predicted that she - and millions of others - will face a particularly
difficult bill shock early next year.

National Energy Action has predicted that when domestic energy prices rise
in April, it will mean that the typical domestic gas bill will have doubled
in 18 months.

The charity, which campaigns for warm, dry homes, used industry data and
forecasts to predict that the typical gas bill, for those on standard
tariffs, is likely to have gone up from £466 a year in October 2020, to £944
in April 2022.

Most households pay for their gas and electricity together in a dual fuel
deal. Those who pay a standard tariff are protected by the industry
regulator Ofgem's price cap.

This was set at its lowest level in October 2020, owing to relatively low
wholesale prices faced by suppliers.

It meant the typical annual domestic energy bill for millions of households
was no higher than £1,042 a year.

However, it has increased twice since then, most recently its biggest ever
increase this October, which meant those on standard tariffs, with typical
household levels of energy use, saw an increase of £139 to £1,277 a year.

There is widespread expectation that owing to soaring wholesale gas prices
in recent months the next price cap in April will be set at a much higher
level than now.

'Budgetary knife-edge'

National Energy Action has predicted that this is likely to be a £550 a year
increase for a typical standard tariff dual fuel customer.

"The cost of living in the UK is at its highest level in a decade with
household energy bills the biggest driver. When the costs of essential
services go up, those on lowest incomes get hit hardest," said Adam Scorer,
the charity's chief executive.

"For people already on a budgetary knife-edge, the cost of keeping a family
warm has exploded while budgets have collapsed. No amount of useful tips or
savvy shopping can cope with that."

The existence of the price cap has delayed the impact of surging wholesale
prices on household bills.

However, it has also been blamed as creating an unmanageable market by some
of the smaller energy firms which have collapsed during the current crisis.

Their customers have been moved onto tariffs with other suppliers, in line
with the price cap.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of people who might have expected to be
protected from price rises as they were on a fixed rate will now also be hit
by the April price rise.

In October, Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley told the BBC that the
price cap was there to stop firms making unfair profits, but "legitimate
costs have to be passed through".

He said it was too early to say how much the rise in April would be or
whether Ofgem would have to review the price cap more frequently in future.

Energy UK, which represents the industry, has said that anyone who is
struggling to pay for their energy bill should call their supplier for
support.

"Suppliers have put forward more support for customers who might be
struggling with their bills this year, and we are currently working with
consumer groups to help raise awareness of the help that is available," said
Emma Pinchbeck, Energy UK's chief executive.-BBC

Asian shares tick up, U.S. and European futures diverge on Omicron jitters

(Reuters) - Asian stocks and major currencies paused for breath on Thursday
as markets struggled to find direction in the absence of solid information
about the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus, which led to divergent
trade in U.S. and European share futures.

Also weighing on traders' minds were remarks from Federal Reserve Chair
Jerome Powell, reiterating that he would consider a faster wind-down to the
bond-buying programme, which could open the door to earlier interest rates
hikes.

With markets betting this would eventually keep inflation in check, the
result was also a flattening in the U.S. yield curve.

Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 1.3% in early trading on Thursday, indicating
Wednesday's 1.7% gain in the EUROSTOXX (.STOXX), its best day since May,
would be reversed, and FTSE futures were down 1.13%

In contrast, S&P 500 futures rose 0.56% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.49%.
Both underlying indexes closed down over 1% on Wednesday.

"All that anyone can do at the moment is wait for each headline as it
breaks, as there are a series of outstanding questions about the new variant
that remain largely unanswered and will remain unanswered for days or
weeks," said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at Melbourne brokerage IG markets.

He added that with the Fed reducing stimulus and building up to rate hikes,
markets were no longer using "a bad development as another excuse to buy
stocks expecting an increase in liquidity from the Fed."

Much remains unknown about the new variant, which was first found on Nov. 8
in South Africa and has spread to at least two dozen countries.

On Thursday, South Korea halted quarantine exemptions for fully vaccinated
inbound travellers for two weeks, while the Japanese central bank warned of
economic pain as countries respond with tighter curbs. read more

In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
(.MIAPJ0000PUS) advanced 0.35%, supported by a 1.21% rise in Korea's KOSPI
(.KS11) on the back of a mini tech rally, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) lost
0.27%.

Chinese real estate firms in Hong Kong and mainland markets
(.HSMPI)(.CSI000952) gained on news three Chinese developers are seeking to
raise a combined 18 billion yuan ($2.83 billion) by selling bonds onshore, a
sign Beijing is marginally easing liquidity strains on the cash-strapped
sector. read more

Also drawing investors' attention was the second day of Powell's testimony
to Congress in which he said the Fed needs to be ready to respond to the
possibility that inflation may not recede in the second half of next year.
read more

"We now expect the (Fed's policy committee) to finish asset purchases in
April 2022 and start hiking the Funds rate in June 2022," said analysts at
CBA in a morning note.

Investors seemed to think this would mean rates would eventually peak at a
lower level, and so looked to long-dated Treasury bonds, sending the yield
on 30-year bonds to their lowest since early January in late U.S. hours on
Wednesday.

Benchmark 10-year yields dropped to as low as 1.404% - a nine-week low - and
were last at 1.4426%

The dollar index was steady, though the greenback rose nearly 0.3% to 113.07
yen regaining some of its recent losses, thanks to Powell's hawkish tone.

Oil prices also rebounded, albeit after a strong sell-off in recent days
based on fears the new variant will hit travel.

Brent crude futures gained 0.8% to $69.45 a barrel, and U.S. crude futures
gained 0.93% to $66.18 a barrel though still in sight of Tuesday's over
three month low.

Spot gold slid 0.38% to $1,776 an ounce.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Kellogg, union reach tentative deal after two months of strike

(Reuters) - Kellogg Co (K.N) has reached an agreement with the union on a
new five-year contract for its employees at a few breakfast cereal plants in
the United States, it said on Thursday, almost two months after workers went
on a strike.

The tentative agreement, reached after multiple talks with the union,
includes wage increases and benefits for all employees and "defined path" to
legacy wages and benefits for temporary workers, the company said.

The union expects employees to vote on the latest tentative agreement on
Dec. 5, Kellogg said.

Employees at Kellogg's cereal plants went on strike on Oct. 5 after their
contracts expired, as negotiations over payment and benefits stalled due to
differences between the company and about 1,400 union members. read more

Kellogg had hired permanent replacements for some of its plant workers who
were on strike, after the union rejected a revised offer from the company
earlier last month. read more

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Investors flee U.S. corporate junk debt on inflation, Omicron concerns

(Reuters) - Worries over surging inflation and a new variant of the
coronavirus are roiling the U.S. corporate junk bond market, though some
believe the tumble could draw investors seeking higher yields.

November marked the worst month since the start of the pandemic for the
bonds of low-rated companies, with high-yield bonds notching an average
return of minus 1.03%, the lowest since March 2020, according to Morningstar
Direct data.

Spreads, which indicate the yield premium investors demand to hold
junk-rated debt over safer U.S. Treasuries, also widened the most since the
beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the factors driving the moves were fears that higher inflation will
force the Federal Reserve to normalize monetary policy faster than expected,
as well as a rush away from comparatively risky assets on worries over the
Omicron variant, analysts said. read more

"With most managers sitting on healthy returns for the year, there's a bit
of de-risking as well," said John McClain, portfolio manager at Brandywine
Global Investment Management.

But McClain said November's poor showing could aid the market in the coming
year, with the higher yields that have resulted from falling prices
potentially drawing investors.

"We're back to yields that look like the beginning of 2021 and spreads that
are reasonably attractive here," he said. "It sets the asset class up well
for investor demand going into 2022."

The option-adjusted yield spread of the ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Index
(.MERH0A0), a commonly used benchmark for the junk bond market, increased by
51 basis points in November, the biggest monthly jump since March 2020.

On Tuesday, the spread was at its widest since February at 367 basis points.

The funds also saw their biggest weekly net outflow since March in the week
ending Nov. 24, with investors pulling a net $3.3 billion from the category,
Refinitiv Lipper data showed.

Among the victims of last week’s Omicron-triggered rout was the iShares
iBoxx High-Yield Corporate Bond exchange-traded fund (HYG.P), which sank to
its lowest level since November 2020 in frenzied risk-off trading.

Inflation, which erodes bonds' interest payments over time, was a key worry:
BofA's November survey of U.S. credit investors found 73% citing inflation
as their biggest concern, up from 66% in September and the highest share
since 2012.

U.S. consumer prices accelerated in October as Americans paid more for
gasoline and food, leading to the biggest annual gain in 31 years.

Worries over supply chain bottlenecks were another factor that may have
weighed on junk-rated companies, according to Collin Martin, fixed income
strategist at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

“Anything that can negatively impact your cash flows poses a risk," he said.

Martin added that with three straight months of losses in high-yield bonds,
some investors may have decided to lock in profits after a good year.

Year-to-date total returns on the ICE BofA High-Yield Index, at 3.4%, were
higher than those for other ICE indices tracking investment-grade corporate,
as well as municipal bonds, according to ICE Data Services.

"Some investors said 'let me rush to the exits now and get out of here and
find a better opportunity to go back in' because prior to even the start of
November there was just very little upside in high yield," Martin said.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

OPEC+ weighs output policy as Omicron fears hammer prices

(Reuters) - OPEC and its allies will decide on Thursday whether to release
more oil into the market or restrain supply amid big gyrations in crude
prices, a U.S. release from oil reserves and fears over the new Omicron
coronavirus variant.

Brent oil prices tumbled to around $70 a barrel, down from October's
three-year highs above $86. Prices last month registered their biggest
monthly decline since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as the Omicron
variant raised fears of an oil glut.

Benchmark Brent crude was trading below $70 on Thursday.

The OPEC+ group of producers comprising the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies has been at odds with U.S.
requests for increased oil output to support the global economy. Producers
said they didn't want to hamper a fragile energy industry recovery with a
new supply glut.

Russia and Saudi Arabia, the biggest OPEC+ producers, said ahead of this
week's meetings that there was no need for a knee-jerk reaction to amend
policy. Iraq said that OPEC+ was expected to extend existing output policy
in the short term. read more

Since August the group has been adding an additional 400,000 barrels per day
(bpd) of output to global supply, gradually winding down record cuts agreed
in 2020 when demand crashed because of the pandemic.

On Wednesday OPEC+ experts said in a report seen by Reuters that the impact
from Omicron was not yet clear, even though many countries were introducing
lockdowns and other restrictions.

Even before concerns about Omicron emerged, OPEC+ had been weighing the
effects of last week's announcement by the United States and other major
consumers to release emergency crude reserves to temper energy prices.

OPEC+ forecast a 3 million bpd surplus in the first quarter of 2022 after
the release of reserves, up from 2.3 million bpd previously.

However, the report said that the impact of the release would be muted
because some countries made it voluntary and the duration was uncertain.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration could adjust the timing of the
release if prices drop substantially, U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary David
Turk told Reuters on Wednesday. read more

OPEC+ has been scaling back last year's record output cuts of 10 million
bpd, equivalent to about 10% of global supply. About 3.8 million bpd of cuts
are still in place.

However, OPEC's November oil output has again undershot the planned level,
with some OPEC producers struggling to raise production capacity. read more

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Apple tells suppliers demand for iPhone 13 lineup has weakened - Bloomberg
News

(Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has told its parts suppliers that demand for
the iPhone 13 lineup has slowed, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday,
citing people familiar with the matter, signaling that some consumers have
decided against trying to get the hard-to-find item.

The company had earlier cut production of iPhone 13 by as many as 10 million
units due to a global chip shortage, but now it has informed vendors that
those orders may not materialize, the report said.

Apple and some of its suppliers 3M Co (MMM.N), Broadcom Inc (AVGO.O) and
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) did not immediately respond to requests
for comments from Reuters.

A global chip crunch, initially due to high demand for smartphones and
personal gadgets during the coronavirus pandemic, has affected the auto
industry and disrupted production at companies ranging from Apple to GM
(GM.N).

In October, Apple's Chief Executive Tim Cook warned that the impact of
supply constraints, which cost the company $6 billion in sales in the fiscal
fourth quarter, will be worse during the holiday quarter and that chip
shortage was affecting most of the company's products. read more

Nikkei reported last month that Apple even cut back production of iPad
tablets to allocate more components to the iPhone 13. read more

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Aston Martin finance chief to leave for personal reasons

(Reuters) - Aston Martin (AML.L) Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Gregor will
step down due to personal reasons after about 18 months in the role, the
luxury carmaker said on Thursday.

Gregor will depart as finance chief and executive director no later than
June 30, 2022, and the board has initiated a process to appoint a
replacement, the British company said.

After a more than two-decade stint at Jaguar Land Rover, Gregor was
recruited in mid-2020 soon after Mercedes' Tobias Moers was appointed as
chief executive to help the more than century-old Aston Martin navigate a
slump in sales due the coronavirus outbreak.

"Over the last 18 months, Ken has played a significant role in rebuilding
Aston Martin Lagonda's financial position and setting the business on a
strong pathway for the future," Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll said.

In November, Aston Martin, whose shares have tumbled since its 2018 market
debut, posted a third-quarter pre-tax loss of 97.9 million pounds ($130.01
million), even as sales doubled to 1,349 cars — driven by demand for its
first sport utility vehicle, the DBX. read more

($1 = 0.7530 pounds)

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Grab's $40 bln Nasdaq debut to set tone for Southeast Asian tech listings

(Reuters) - Grab, Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and delivery firm,
makes its market debut on Thursday after a record $40 billion merger with a
special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in a listing that will set the
tone for other regional offerings.

The backdoor listing on Nasdaq marks the high point for the nine-year-old
Singapore company that began as a ride-hailing app and now operates across
465 cities in eight countries, offering food deliveries, payments, insurance
and investment products.

The biggest U.S. listing by a Southeast Asian company follows Grab's April
agreement to merge with U.S. tech investor Altimeter Capital Management's
SPAC, Altimeter Growth Corp (AGC.O) and raise $4.5 billion, including $750
million from Altimeter.

There is scope for many players in the fragmented food delivery and
financial services markets in Southeast Asia, a region of 650 million
people, but the road to profitability could be a long one, analysts say.

Grab's flotation "will provide a bigger cash buffer" to its "cash burn", S&P
Global Ratings said in a note. But the company's "credit quality continues
to be constrained by its loss-making operations, and free operating cash
flows could be negative over the next 12 months."

Southeast Asia's internet economy is forecast to double to $360 billion in
gross merchandise value by 2025, prompting Grab's rivals, including regional
internet firm Sea Ltd (SE.N) and Indonesia's GoTo Group, to bulk up.

GoTo plans a local IPO in 2022 after completing an expected $2 billion
private fundraising, sources have told Reuters. A U.S. listing will follow
the Jakarta offering.

"Longer term, we're really excited about Grab Financial Group," a unit of
the company, said Chris Conforti, partner at Altimeter Capital. "I think the
bell curve on that is much wider in terms of what the outcome could be, but
it could be extremely large."

BONANZA FOR BACKERS

Grab was founded by Anthony Tan, its chief executive, and Tan Hooi Ling, who
developed the firm from an idea for a Harvard Business School venture
competition in 2011. The two Tans are not related.

CEO Tan, 39, expanded Grab into a regional operation with a range of
services, after launching it as a taxi app in Malaysia in 2012. It later
moved its headquarters to Singapore.

"What we have shown to the world is that home grown tech companies can
develop great technology that can compete globally, even when international
players are in town," Tan told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. "We can
compete and win."

He will end up with 60.4% voting rights along with Grab's co-founder, and
president Ming Maa, but control only 3.3% stake with them.

To mark the New York listing, Grab and Nasdaq will hold a bell-ringing in a
luxury hotel in Singapore in the middle of the Asian night. About 250
people, including executives from the exchange, Grab's investors and other
partners are to attend.

Grab's listing brings a payday bonanza to early backers such as Japan's
SoftBank and Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, which invested as
early as 2014.

They were later joined by the likes of Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), Microsoft
Corp (MSFT.O) and Japanese megabank MUFG (8306.T). Uber became a Grab
shareholder in 2018 after selling its Southeast Asian business to Grab
following a five-year battle.

In September, Grab cut its full-year adjusted net sales forecasts, citing
renewed uncertainty over pandemic curbs on movement.

Third-quarter revenue fell 9% from a year earlier and its adjusted loss
before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) widened 66%
to $212 million. GMV in the quarter rose to a record $4 billion.

It aims to turn profitable on an EBITDA basis in 2023.

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley were the lead placement agents on the
fundraising, while Evercore and UBS were the co-placement agents.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

India's Jet Airways in talks with Boeing, Airbus for $12 bln order -
BloombergQuint

(Reuters) - India's Jet Airways (JET.NS) is in talks with planemakers Boeing
Co (BA.N) and Airbus SE (AIR.PA) for an order worth $12 billion,
BloombergQuint reported on Thursday, citing Bloomberg News.

The airline's new owners, UAE-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan and UK
investment firm Kalrock Capital, told Bloomberg News that Jet could buy at
least 100 narrowbody aircraft, BloombergQuint said on Twitter.

The group is set to invest about $200 million through equity and debt in Jet
over the next six months, BloombergQuint said.

Jet, Boeing and Airbus did not immediately respond to requests for comment
from Reuters.

The Jalan-Kalrock consortium's resolution plan for Jet was approved by
India's bankruptcy court in June, with the airline poised for takeoff by the
first quarter of 2022 as it gears up to resume domestic operations. read
more

The debt-laden airline, once India's biggest private carrier, stopped flying
in April 2019 after running out of cash, leaving thousands without jobs.

Shares of the airline jumped as much as 3.7% to 85 rupees on Thursday and
were trading 2.4% higher at 0740 GMT.

The news on Jet comes a month after billionaire investor Rakesh
Jhunjhunwala-backed low cost Indian carrier Akasa Air placed a $9 billion
order for 72 Boeing 737 MAX jets. read more

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Uber to allow users to book rides via WhatsApp in India

(Reuters) - U.S. ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Ltd (UBER.N) said on
Thursday it would roll out a feature that will allow users in India to book
rides via messaging service WhatsApp.

The move could help Uber tap into the more than 500 million user base of
Meta Platforms-owned (FB.O) WhatsApp in India.

"Starting this week, we are rolling out a new service that gives people the
option to book an Uber ride via an official Uber WhatsApp chatbot," Uber
said in a blog post.

Uber has been operating in the Asian country for the past eight years and is
now available in 70 cities.

"Riders will no longer need to download or use the Uber app. Everything from
user registration, booking a ride, and getting a trip receipt will be
managed within the WhatsApp chat interface," Uber added.

WhatsApp users can book a ride through either messaging to Uber's business
account number, scanning a barcode, or clicking a link directly to open an
Uber WhatsApp chat.

Riders will get the same safety features and insurance protections as those
who book trips via the Uber app directly, the company said. The WhatsApp
chat flow will inform the user about safety guidelines, including how to
contact Uber in case of emergencies.

The feature will initially be launched in Lucknow, the capital of India's
most populous state Uttar Pradesh, and then expanded to other locations by
next year.

The service will be available in English, Uber said, adding that Indian
languages will be included in the near future.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

With inflation risks rising, Fed's Powell prepares for possible pivot

(Reuters) - The U.S. central bank needs to be ready to respond to the
possibility that inflation may not recede in the second half of next year as
most forecasters currently expect, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said
on Wednesday.

In his second day of testimony in Congress, Powell reiterated that he and
fellow policymakers will consider at their upcoming meeting a faster
wind-down to the Fed's bond-buying program, a move widely seen as opening
the door to earlier interest rates hikes.

With very strong consumer demand colliding with persistent supply chain
problems, the Fed may be nearing the time when it must choose between aiming
for full employment and keeping inflation in check.

On Tuesday, Powell said he thinks it's likely that inflation will come down
"meaningfully" in the second half of next year as supply chains get fixed,
but "the risks of higher inflation have moved up."

"We have to use our policy to address the range of plausible outcomes, not
just the most likely one," he told the U.S. House of Representatives
Financial Services Committee.

As if to underscore those concerns, a survey published Wednesday by the
Federal Reserve showed firms across the country are increasingly grappling
with higher prices and scrambling to fill jobs amid labor shortages, though
they are able in many cases to pass on higher costs to customers, with
little resistance. "Nearly all Districts reported robust wage growth,"
according to the Fed's Beige Book, an anecdotal survey of businesses in the
Fed's 12 districts. read more

Soon after Powell's appearance in Congress alongside Treasury Secretary
Janet Yellen, public health officials announced the first known U.S. case of
a patient with the Omicron COVID-19 variant, suspected of being more
infectious than prior strains of the coronavirus.

Though lawmakers asked Powell no questions about how the new variant might
change the economic outlook or the Fed's policy response, New York Fed
President John Williams told the New York Times in an interview published
Wednesday that it could both slow economic activity and exacerbate
inflationary pressures.

That daunting combination could add to the challenges Fed policymakers face
as they calibrate their response to the good news from a strengthening
economy, the bad news of a possible new COVID-19 surge, and inflation that
is persisting longer and staying higher than expected.

Last month, the Fed began reducing its purchases of Treasuries and
mortgage-backed securities from $120 billion per month at a pace that would
put it on track to end purchases by mid-2022. The program was introduced in
early 2020 to help nurse the economy through the pandemic.

Powell repeated Tuesday that policymakers would discuss at their Dec. 14-15
meeting whether to end that program a few months earlier in light of the
strength of the economy.

TENSION

Powell said the U.S. recovery is stronger than those of other major
economies, thanks in part to more robust fiscal support. U.S. consumer
spending surged in October and first-time applications for unemployment
benefits are at a 52-year low, leading economists to raise their GDP growth
estimates for the fourth quarter.

Still, consumer confidence dropped to a nine-month low in November amid
worries about the rising cost of living and pandemic fatigue. The Omicron
variant is also creating more uncertainty for households and businesses.

Powell said Fed officials are monitoring the evolving economic landscape and
acknowledged they might face "tension" as they pursue the U.S. central
bank's dual mandate of achieving maximum employment and price stability.

"We have to balance those two goals when they are in tension, as they are
right now," Powell said. "But I assure you we will use our tools to make
sure that this high inflation we are experiencing does not become
entrenched."

Powell noted that wages have been rising, particularly for low-wage workers,
and said the Fed is tracking the increases.

"We have seen wages moving up significantly," Powell said. "We don’t see
them moving up at a troubling rate that would tend to spark higher
inflation, but that’s something we’re watching very carefully."

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Malawi: Govt Starts Issuing Maize Export Licenses

The Ministry of Trade has announced that it has started issuing Maize Export
Licences with immediate effect.

The ministry's Principal Secretary Christina Zakeyo, in a statement issued
on Wednesday, says the decision has been taken by the government following
an updated national food balance sheet as of 30th June, 2021.

The balance sheet indicates that the country is food sufficient with enough
stocks to last until the next harvest.

"The government has therefore, opened window for export of 500, 000 metric
tonnes of maize grain which is part of the surplus for 2020/2021
agricultural season harvest," reads the statement in part.

The statement further says licenses will only be issued to exporters with
proof of verifiable maize stocks from the previous agricultural season. The
licences to be granted will have a validity period of 3 Months from the date
of issue.

But an agricultural economist Tamani Nkhono Mvula has cautioned the
government against being over-excited with the surplus maize the country
has, stressing that the export has potential to create hunger in the
country, if the export is not handled carefully.

Among others, the exporter will be required to undertake a commitment to
inform the Ministry about the Export Proceeds received after 180 days from
the date of export. Furthermore, the public is, hereby, reminded that under
the Control of Goods Act (COGA), 2018, Maize is a controlled commodity, the
export of which requires a licence.

"Therefore, Traders intending to export maize are requested to submit their
applications for Maize Export Licence to the Ministry with the following
supporting information: Physical address of the business and warehouses
where the maize is stocked; Business Registration Certificate or Certificate
of Incorporation; Business Residence Permit or Permanent Resident Permit for
non-Malawians; Identification Document; and a letter of authority to export
from the Ministry of Agriculture stating source of maize, quantity, and
destination country.

"Government would like to assure the Nation that the exportation of Maize
would not affect the food security situation of the country due to bumper
Maize harvest for the 2020/2021 farming season following successful
implementation of the Affordable Input Programme (AIP)," concludes the
statement.-Nyasa Times.

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2021

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

National Unity Day

December 22

Christmas Day

December 25

Boxing Day

December 26

Public Holiday in lieu of Boxing Day falling on a Sunday

December 27

Companies under Cautionary

ART

PPC

Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent
investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

(c) 2021 Web: <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com>  www.bullszimbabwe.com Email:
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