The US considers Indian a critical financial centre.
Who else will take on the might of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon if not the Adanis, Ambanis, Birlas, or Tatas?, asks R Jagannathan.
The Trump administration has announced a massive increase in H-1B visa fees, imposing a $100,000 annual charge that will fundamentally alter how American companies hire skilled foreign workers, particularly impacting Indian IT professionals who comprise the largest group of beneficiaries.
Communication channels between India and the US are open to resolve the ongoing tariff issues, and the glitch in trade ties is only temporary, given the long-term relationship between the two nations, government sources said on Wednesday. The US' 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports to America came into effect from August 27, barring a few sectors.
From the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries and Maruti were the biggest laggards. IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel and UltraTech Cement were the gainers.
'Trump does have a master plan in mind to put pressure on India with the additional tariff of 25 per cent to get Modi to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to freeze the Ukraine war.' 'It has not worked so far. By end-September only we'll know for sure the future trajectory of India's oil purchases from Russia,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The United States has imposed sanctions on at least half a dozen Indian companies accused of trading in Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals as part of broader action targeting 20 entities worldwide.
The other recent reforms initiative of the government include the decision to raise FDI cap in insurance from 26 to 49 per cent and allowing foreign investment in pension.
The United States and Ukraine have signed an 'economic partnership agreement,' giving Washington, DC access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals in return for creating an investment fund in the country, CNN reported.
In a significant gesture ahead of the high level Sino-US talks, China has increased its holdings of United States treasury debt by $17.7 billion, consolidating its position as the number one holder of US treasury securities with a total of $895.2 billion.
Goldman Sachs and American Express played a large role in boosting the US Treasury's coffers by agreeing to pay a favourable price for the warrants received in return for the aid, the Financial Times said citing a study by the consultancy SNL Financial.
India would neither succumb to the Americans on issues of national security, such as its defence ties with Russia, nor cede ground on its domestic interests in the agriculture and dairy sectors.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the spokesperson for the Pakistan Army, is the son of a nuclear scientist who was sanctioned by the United Nations and the US for providing information and expertise to al-Qaeda, according to Indian officials. Chaudhry's father, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, allegedly provided insights into nuclear weapons infrastructure and raised funds for a fundamentalist organization linked to the Taliban. Mahmood was arrested in 2001 after admitting to meeting Osama bin Laden but was later released.
Foreign brokerages remain cautious on the road ahead for the Indian equity markets. Though analysts at Nomura have revised their March 2026 Nifty target to 26,140 levels from the earlier 24,970, but the upside from the current levels is a modest 6 per cent. BofA Securities, on the other hand, has not made any change to its year-end Nifty target.
Reaffirming India's stand against terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged leaders of the G7 to galvanise global action against terrorism and underscored the need for strict action against those who 'promote and support' it.
In trying to portray a globally sanctioned terrorist as a 'common man', Pakistan was exposed when its top official publically outed crucial details about Hafiz Abdul Rauf, including his national identity number which matched details in the database of the United States sanction list of terrorists.
Foreign investment in bonds issued by Indian corporates touched a 10-year high in May at 20,996 crore, driven by $3.35 billion fundraise by the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) group, which saw infusion from Deutsche Bank, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Davidson Kempner, and Cerberus Capital, among others. The SP group sold three-year bonds, offering 19.75 per cent yield compounded annually and payable at maturity.
The rupee has held its ground against the US dollar in the 2025 calendar year so far, but depreciated significantly against the euro and pound. It fell by 6.83 per cent, and 5.44 per cent against the euro and pound respectively, as the two currencies strengthened significantly against the greenback during the period.
Aiming to further expand the bilateral economic engagement, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would travel to New Delhi and Mumbai later this month for the third annual meet of the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership.
'Increasingly, they treat gold as a financial asset in their portfolio rather than just as jewellery.'
Gold prices advanced Rs 700 to reach a new lifetime high of Rs 91,950 per 10 grams in the national capital on Wednesday on the back of continued buying by jewellers ahead of wedding season, according to the All India Sarafa Association. Besides, increased tensions in the Middle East and concerns about the US economic slowdown have kept the demand for safe-haven assets intact.
Amid the tumbling stock market in the United States, following the White House clarification of tariffs on China to be at least 145 per cent and an earlier announcement of a 90-day pause on tariffs for over 75 countries, President Donald Trump addressed the challenges associated with his tariff policy, stating that there would be 'transition problems'.
United States President Donald Trump has announced that Washington DC will stop minting pennies, citing their high production cost, which exceeds their face value and termed the practice "wasteful." President Trump said Sunday that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to "stop producing new pennies."
'The bull market cycle ran for five years. It's the end of that cycle.' 'The next cycle is a down cycle, and in that down cycle, you will see the Sensex falling from their highs of around 68,000 to maybe 40,000-50,000 at the bottom of the cycle.'
Apart from the emotional value attached to buying gold, the yellow metal offers protection against inflation, interest rate spikes, currency and geopolitical risks, says Anamika Pareek.
'Expect FPIs to continue selling for several months until the rupee stabilises.'
If Beijing succeeds in this multipronged effort to challenge the current dominant power, it will have not just economic but political and security consequences. There is no let-up in the South China Sea nor any de-escalation moves on the India-China border. This portends to ominous signalling from Beijing, observes China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
The Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) of the rupee moderated in December to 107.20 after hitting a peak of 108.14 in November, latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. The REER was 103.66 in January 2024. The rupee depreciated around 3 per cent against the dollar in 2024.
Dr Manmohan Singh first embossed himself on the national consciousness when as India's finance minister he flagged off economic reforms which changed this nation forever.
Net flows from domestic institutional investors crossed Rs 5 trillion for the first time during a calendar year.
Prospects of a bumper kharif harvest are expected to lower food inflation in the coming months, making the country's inflation outlook benign, the Union Ministry of Finance (FinMin) said in its monthly economic report for October released on Monday.
After a brutal selloff since October, foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows for the year-to-date (YTD) in 2024 have turned negative. In early September, YTD FPI investments peaked at a record Rs 22,000 crore ($2.6 billion). This wave of selling has also pulled down benchmark indices, with the Nifty's YTD returns declining to 11 per cent from their high of 21 per cent in September.
Foreign investors were net sellers of domestic debt in October for the first time since the official inclusion of Indian government bonds in the JP Morgan bond indices, with net outflow worth Rs 4,697 crore. This marked the second instance in the current calendar year where foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net sellers in a month.
'Market corrections are a natural part of investing, so it's essential to remain focused on long-term financial goals.'
After Bandhan MF's US Treasury Bond 0-1 year Fund of Fund (FoF), Aditya Birla Sun Life (ABSL) MF has come out with US Treasury 1-3 Year Bond ETFs FoF and 3-10 Year Bond ETFs FoF. US bonds, which generally offer low yields, have turned attractive post the 525-basis point hike in US interest rates. According to Bloomberg data, the 1-year and 2-year US treasury yields now stand at 5.4 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively. Although the yields remain lower than what Indian government bonds offer, the differential has come down steeply.
'Of the 20 trading days of January till January 28, FIIs have been selling for 19 trading days'. 'When did FIIs withdraw money with this kind of intensity?' 'It never happened. It's the first. It did not happen even during the 2008-2009 financial crisis when Lehman went under.' 'Even then you did not have like a 19-day selling spree from the FIIs.'
The Indian rupee is likely to depreciate further against the US dollar through the end of 2024. This is due to the continued strengthening of the greenback, combined with the weakening of the Chinese yuan, which is expected to keep pressure on the Indian currency.
Foreign investors have pulled out a massive Rs 22,000 crore from Indian equities so far this month, due to uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections and outperformance of Chinese markets.
Foreign portfolio investors' (FPIs') net investment in the domestic debt market in October was the third highest during the current calendar year as foreign investors rushed to lock in higher returns amid global uncertainty and geo-political tensions, market participants said. FPI inflows in debt stood at Rs 6, 322 crore in October against Rs 768 crore in September, according to data on the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). Market participants said that the majority of the inflows were channelled through corporate bonds.
The value of FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) holding in Indian equities reached $738 billion in the three months ended December 2023, marking a surge of 13 per cent from the preceding quarter, driven by the strong performance of the domestic stock market, according to a report by Morningstar. The value of FPIs investment was at $651 billion in the September quarter of the current fiscal. On a year-on-year basis, the value of such investments rose 26 per cent from $584 billion in December 2022.
