A week of interest rate decisions

It’s a week of interest rate decisions and markets will be watching each and every meeting with baited breath, as further interest rate hikes clearly suggest that the inflation battle is far from over. The Federal Reserve in the USA will kick off proceedings on Wednesday, which will undoubtedly set the scene for many others. The UK, Hong Kong, Switzerland and South Africa will also announce their interest rate decisions in the week, adding to the overall inflation picture. 

Instacart raises expectations for IPO

Instacart (CART), the US based e-commerce company, raised its IPO pricing on Friday following a bumper IPO for the chip company Arm. Instacart had been hoping to raise around $26-$28 per share, but will now look for around $28-$30 per share. This takes the total company valuation to around $9.3 billion, aka hitting the coveted ‘unicorn’ status.  However, it’s still a third of what they were valued at just two years ago, demonstrating the drastic changes to the IPO and startup scene, owing to the market uncertainty and collapse of startup favourite, Silicon Valley Bank. 

Gender equality driving banking decisions in India

Citi India & South Asia hit the headlines last week after announcing that they would allow new mothers in India to work from home for up to a year after their paid maternity leave ends. But it’s not just Citi who’s making strides: the entire banking sector in India is waving the flag for some of the best maternity policies in the G20. HSBC in India has an onsite creche and also pays an allowance for nannies for up to 6 years after a child is born whilst Morgan Stanley has also offered up to 16 weeks paid paternity leave. The importance of retaining top female talent hasn’t been underestimated, let’s hope other major markets and sectors continue to follow suit. 

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Sources: Bloomberg, Financial Times, Reuters, Nasdaq