Scare takes toll on global biz
MUMBAI: The hope for recovery in global growth this year after the US and China reached a temporary truce in their trade war was short-lived as the coronavirus took an impact on markets across the world.
The MSCI World index, which captures large- and mid-cap representation across 23 developed markets, has fallen 1.3% in the past 10 days. The sell-off has been sharper in MSCI Emerging Markets index, which shed 3.57%, while India’s benchmark Sensex lost nearly 2% in the period. On Tuesday, the Sensex fell 0.46% to 40,966.86 points. According to analysts, investors in India have reacted to concerns over the coronavirus as well as worries about fiscal slippage.
The demand for Asian jet fuel also took a beating from the outbreak. Jet fuel prices have dropped and refiners’ profits for the product have slumped to the lowest in over two years.
Apple Inc’s China-centric manufacturing base is at risk of disruption as virtually all of the world’s iphones are made in China.
NEW DELHI: Bengaluru-based ed-tech startup Interviewbit on Tuesday raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Sequoia India and Tiger Global. Part of Sequoia’s early-stage accelerator, Surge, Interviewbit will use the capital to scale up enrolment and launch its product in new markets, besides improving its curriculum and live teaching product to enhance the studentteacher experience. Founded in 2015 by Abhimanyu Saxena and Anshuman Singh, the startup runs an advanced online computer science programme for college graduates and young engineering professionals. “We are thrilled by the faith and support shown to us by our investors. A lot of young engineers don’t always have access and exposure to the relevant technical skills or recruitment processes of global companies. Our mission is to bridge that gap and help them grow in their careers. We are very pleased to be able to help young engineers expand their knowledge and coding skills and enable them to get top tier software engineers jobs at the best global tech companies,” said Singh.