The meltdown in Dalal Street that wiped out investor wealth to the tune of 44 trillion in 2025 also seems to be having a ripple effect on the country's vibrant automobile retail sales.
The CPI, based on retail prices, stood at 113.9 points in December compared to 114.4 points in November, as per data released by the government on Wednesday.
Gold prices slumped for the second straight session by Rs 1,150 to Rs 78,350 per 10 grams in the national capital on Monday on frantic selling by stockists and retailers, the All India Sarafa Association said. The precious metal of 99.9 per cent purity closed at Rs 79,500 per 10 grams on Friday.
Industrial production re-entered the negative territory by contracting 1.6 per cent in January, mainly on account of the decline in output of capital goods, manufacturing and mining sectors. The output of the manufacturing sector -- which constitutes 77.6 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) -- shrank by 2 per cent in January, as against a growth of 1.8 per cent during the same month last fiscal, as per data released by the government on Friday. The worst performance was witnessed by the capital goods sector, which recorded a contraction of 9.6 per cent during the month under review, compared to a 4.4 per cent decline a year ago.
The 30-share Sensex ended down 12 points at 25,610.
Gold, a safe-haven bet, is likely to continue its record-smashing journey in the New Year, rising to Rs 85,000 per 10 grams and even Rs 90,000 level in domestic markets if geopolitical tensions and global economic uncertainties continue.
Retail inflation in pulses and products category rose to a staggering 42.20 per cent in October.
Economic think-tank, Institute of Economic Growth said on Wednesday it expected widely tracked wholesale prices-based inflation to hover above 6 per cent for the present quarter.
The RBI's rate-setting panel MPC on Monday began its three-day deliberation amid expectations of another round of hike in benchmark interest rates to contain inflation that continues to remain above the central bank's upper tolerance level. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee after deliberations on Wednesday. Das has already indicated that there may another hike in the repo rate, though he refrained from quantifying it.
HDFC, L&T, Hind Unilever, ICICI Bank among top Sensex losers
What's encouraging is that the process of unwinding some of the extraordinary steps taken in last July-August is continuing, so moreliberalisation is back on their agenda.
The consumer price index has been in double digits for much of the past year, and was 9.8 per cent in September.
The central bank will respond 'swiftly' and use monteary tools to contain runaway inflation, which could dampen the growth momentum, Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Rakesh Mohan said on Tuesday.
This would signal the third straight month of contraction.
Market reaction to the Union Budget was overall neutral. The income tax "gift" wasn't enough to move the needle. There was some apparent rationalisation of Customs duty structure as well as cuts on import duties of some key components for the telecom and IT industry and duty cuts on vehicle imports. Other proposals related to development of agriculture and rural economy and renewables seem to be generally positive.
The pace of retail price rise in January 2016 is the highest since 6.46 per cent in September 2014.
Growth in China's consumer inflation slowed than market expectation to 1.6 per cent in September, the lowest since January 2010, according to the official data released on Wednesday.
Raghuram Rajan said a six-member monetary policy committee will decide on interest rates.
Britannia Industries reported revenue growth of 4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q1FY25 and volume growth of 8 per cent implying price trends were adverse. Other operating income jumped 195 per cent, due to the incentive received for the Ranjangaon plant. The non-biscuit portfolio (rusk, cake, bread) remained key to growth and contributed 25 per cent of the total revenue.
'Pump prices of petrol and diesel have reached historical highs. An unwinding of taxes on petroleum products by both the Centre and the states could ease the cost-push pressures,' the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has said.
By taking the mutual fund route, investors can take exposure to gilts with small amounts. Over a decade or more, returns from these funds tend to be sound.
Declining vegetable prices brought down the retail inflation to a 15-month low of 4.59 per cent in December and within the comfort zone of the Reserve Bank, government data showed on Tuesday. It is for the first time during the current fiscal that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation print is below 6 per cent or in the RBI's target range of 2 to 6 per cent. The central bank factors in the CPI-based inflation while arriving at its monetary policy. The inflation in December 2020 came down from 6.93 per cent in November, mainly on account of 10.41 per cent decline in vegetable prices over the year-ago period.
Rajan said the central bank has used up all its "space available" to cut interest rates
The employment situation remains dire. Whatever can be done to promote greater low-skill employment should be pursued aggressively, advises former chief economic adviser Shankar Acharya.
Growth in India is expected to slow to 6.3 per cent in FY 2023/24 (April-March), a 0.3 percentage point downward revision from January, the World Bank said Tuesday but noted there is an unexpected resilience in private consumption and investment and robust growth in the services. The World Bank made these points in its latest edition of Global Economic Prospects according to which global growth is projected to decelerate from 3.1 per cent in 2022 to 2.1 per cent in 2023. In Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) other than China, growth is set to slow to 2.9 per cent this year from 4.1 per cent last year. These forecasts reflect broad-based downgrades.
Data suggests that households too are expecting inflation to subside, with the three-month-ahead and the one-year-ahead expectations declining by 40 basis points, reports Abhishek Waghmare.
Moody's Investors Service has warned that India, along with the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are highly vulnerable to volatile food and energy prices in the Asia-Pacific region as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to disrupt supplies and raise the cost of agricultural products, especially cereals and vegetable oils, as well as fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. This is so because these countries have a higher weighting of energy and food prices in their consumer price index (CPI) baskets, Moody's said in its report released on Tuesday. The weighting of energy and food in overall Indian CPI stands at over 55 per cent.
The Bharatiya Janata Party notes with dismay the fact that the consumer price inflation in India today is the highest among all the countries of Asia-Pacific.
IIP, inflation numbers bring cheer, but their sustainability is the key.
It is unlikely that the RBI will drop rates until the inflation rate drops below five per cent.
Wholesale fuel prices in May fell 10.51 per cent year-on-year.
'The shifts in US involvement in global conflicts and geopolitical alliances could introduce uncertainties.'
Markets ended lower as investors turned cautious ahead of the November consumer price inflation data due tomorrow.
In May, Satpal Singh, who runs a dairy business with three buffaloes in Jewar, near Noida, was worried about the steep spike in input costs. Singh said dry fodder rates, which cost Rs 1,500-2000 per tractor trolley last year, were quoting at Rs 4,500-5,000. The price of other cattle feed ingredients (that include mustard meal and similar mixes) had also gone up from Rs 2,000 per quintal to Rs 3,100-3,200 per quintal.
RBI retained the GDP growth for the financial year 2018-19 at 7.4 per cent.
It would not be surprising if India, the world's largest producer of milk, has to resort to imports to meet the elevated summer demand, states Surinder Sud.
Asserting that retail inflation excluding food and fuel is still at an elevated level, the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday said it would endeavour to curb price increases.
Crisil Research expects retail inflation to rise 60 basis points to 4 per cent this fiscal from 3.4 per cent in 2018-19.
Fruits, vegetables and eggs continued to witness deflationary trend during January this year, with their prices declining 4.18 per cent, 13.32 per cent and 2.44 per cent, respectively.
Markets end flat ahead as investors turned cautious and booked profits ahead of Jan IIP, Feb CPI data.
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