Happy weekend, Munchers! 🙏

Hope you had an awesome Friday night.

As always, here is your daily dose of the news that matters, from Wall Street to Dalal Street - in 4 minutes and 57 seconds.

Let’s dive in.

What’s hot, what’s not?

Market Commentary

• US stocks fell flat yesterday after some funny comments from US Fed chair.

• Powell said that "we must keep at it till the job is done" - referring to their job of tightening the economy.

• Fed's clear on one thing - there will be some foul weather in markets - but we need it.

Story Roundup

1 - Fed's field trip sinks US stocks. 🌊

American stocks took their worst beating in a while.

The S&P 500 tumbled 3.4% and the NASDAQ followed, falling 4.1%.

This drawdown came after the US Fed chair's speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium - an annual trip for central bankers.

Biggest takeaways from his speech were that -

• The US Central Bank is determined to "keep at it until the job is done".

• Powell is against the idea of raising rates, and cutting them quickly.

• There is a long way to go to tame red-hot inflation, but they're ready to do it.

2 - Sequoia ditches 1/3rd of it's Zomato stake. 🍅

Sequoia Capital - Zomato's earliest backers, sold 1/3rd of their stake in the open market.

While Zomato's business model may have some resilience, it's valuation does not.

Their shares have halved since IPO - and then some more.

A lot of Zomato's big-name investors have sold most if not all of their stakes recently -

• Uber sold 612 million shares for $394 million.

• Moore Strategic Ventures got rid of $70m worth of shares in the open market.

• Tiger Global sold a $116m stake - but they're still holding ~180m shares.

Pretty neat cash-grab. 💸

3 - EU hosts a much-needed meeting of energy officials. ⛽

Gas prices in Europe hit a record-high yesterday. Again.

To tame this vigorous price inflation, the European Union has called for a meeting of it's energy ministers.

About 70% of all production in Europe has been hindered or stopped.

Gas prices have soared almost 1/3rd in the last week as traders rush to secure supplies ahead of winter - when energy consumption tends to be 27% higher.

Pricey business. 🔥

4 - Total sells stake in a Russian gas field after some wild accusations. 💣

TotalEnergies announced the sale of a 49% stake in a Siberian gasfield.

Just a few weeks back, they were accused of using this very gasfield to supply jet fuel to the Russian military.

Most other major oil companies announced their exit from Russia the moment war broke out - but Total resisted that struggle.

They also said that the move was in line with their policy - and wouldn't harm energy security.

5 - Ambani puts some roots down in Dubai. ✈️

Mukesh Ambani - India's second richest man - is the mystery buyer of an $80m beachside villa in Dubai.

It's the city's most expensive residential property so far, and sits on the flagship Palm Jumeirah development.

People close to the transaction say it's for Ambani's youngest son - Anant.

The beachside mansion has almost everything you need - 10 bedrooms, a cinema, a private spa, indoor and outdoor pools and a helipad.

Dubai's property market shows no signs of stopping. 🚄

See you legends on Monday.

Hope you enjoyed this issue of the Market Munch. If you have any feedback, positive or negative, hit my line at [email protected] or +971 50 708 8469.

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Cheers.

- A