| Adani cancels his share sale. Stocks soar on Fed decision. Covid pill creates new mutations, study finds. Here's what you need to know today. The flagship company of beleaguered Indian tycoon Gautam Adani has abandoned its record 200 billion-rupee ($2.4 billion) share sale after a selloff triggered by a US short seller's report engulfed his group in turmoil. Adani Enterprises pulled the sale even though it was fully subscribed with backing from prominent Indian and Gulf investors. Bonds of firms related to Adani Enterprises plunged to distressed levels on the news. The decision came after a renewed slump in price for the company and its sister firms. The stock selloff has wiped more than $44 billion from Adani's personal wealth and given Asia a new richest man. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers expect to deliver a "couple" more interest-rate increases before putting their aggressive tightening campaign on hold. Powell and his colleagues lifted the Fed's target for its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%. While policymakers have had some success in reining in inflation — which slowed to a year-on-year rate of 5% in December from 7% in June — they have been loath to declare victory until they're confident price rises are on track to return to their 2% price target. So, what did traders make of it all? The more Powell spoke, the more stocks rallied.  | Asian stocks are poised to follow US shares higher after Powell's upbeat assessment in the battle against inflation. Futures for Australia and Japan gained while those in Hong Kong slipped. The S&P 500 jumped more than 1% and Treasuries surged after Powell said the "disinflation process has started." Meanwhile, in US after-hours trading Meta shares surged 18% after the company reported better-than-expected sales during the holiday quarter. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would cut some middle-management layers and non-performing projects. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government unveiled a pre-election India budget that cut personal income taxes to boost consumption while ramping up infrastructure spending to spur growth in an economy touted as a "bright star." By lowering taxes and still looking to rein in a budget shortfall, Modi is aiming to win over voters ahead of a national election next year, as well as ratings companies that would like to see government debt levels come down as a precondition for upgrading the nation's credit score. Here are the budget's winners and losers. Merck's Covid-19 pill is giving rise to new mutations of the virus in some patients, according to a new study. Some researchers fear the drug may create more contagious or health-threatening variations of Covid, which has killed more than 6.8 million people globally. Mutations linked to the use of Lagevrio have been identified in viral samples taken from dozens of patients, researchers say, although they haven't been shown to be more immune-evasive or lethal yet. The drug was last month cleared for use in China. The Federal Reserve's warning that it is not finished fighting inflation fell on deaf ears in markets, as did Chair Jerome Powell's statement that he doesn't see a case for 2023 rate cuts. Treasuries soared while traders priced in two rate reductions in the second half of the year. Equities also rallied, which is a curious response considering that the case for easier policy by year-end would have to be based on a savage economic slowdown. Speaking of causes for economic gloom, global property markets show signs of cracking under the strain of the steepest central bank tightening shift in a generation. House prices are dropping from the US to Australia, China, the UK and beyond. That's likely to bring a lot of economies shuddering to a halt and underscores the potential that we are indeed close to the end for rate hikes. If central banks do turn to easing policy soon after that, a series of property meltdowns could be a key driver. Garfield Reynolds is Chief Rates Correspondent for Bloomberg News in Asia, based in Sydney. | 
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