The headline HSBC Services Business Activity Index was at a 17-month peak of 54.4 in June rising from a modest 50.2 in May, HSBC said adding that 'the Modi wave has struck the service sector'.
As the Reserve Bank maintained a status quo on key policy rates, analysts said higher demand due to supply constraints will not allow inflation to ease as quickly as anticipated and the apex bank may be forced to increase rates once more by the year-end.
While the RBI, in the recent past, appeared keen to move to an inflation-targeting framework, industry and academia remain divided on this issue.
Festive demand for gold in India got off to a tepid start, with local prices still at a heavy discount to the global benchmark, a bad sign for a period when buying is typically strong.
Gold discounts in India, the world's second-biggest consumer, widened this week as dealers struggled to offload stocks amid sluggish demand.
Business houses expect rate cut in next RBI policy.
'Such big falls are quite frequent these days, so do not try to time this market.' 'Use big dips to accumulate quality stocks.'
'When there is a change in the wind speed or the stress exerted on the surface, it will change the ocean currents.'
Dr Shreekant Sambrani pays tribute to M S Swaminathan, renowned agricultural scientist and a lifelong crusader against hunger who passed away in Chennai recently.
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RBI is scheduled to announce monetary policy on Tuesday.
'I'm pitching India for the strengths we offer, including the English language, engineers, doctors, nurses, professionals, innovative talent of startups.'
Indian gold demand seen falling to 8-year low in festive quarter.
Monsoon rains are expected on time this year, hitting Kerala on June 1.
The challenge for the RBI in 2024 is likely to be less about containing elevated inflation and more about curbing excessive financial market exuberance and a 'problem of plenty', notes Sajjid Chinoy, Chief India Economist JP Morgan.
Till June 30, the southwest monsoon was 33 per cent lower than normal, which is among the worst in the last five years, with 28 of the 36 meteorological divisions recording deficient rain.
Ahead of the Economic Survey, industry body Ficci today lowered its GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal, pegging India's economic expansion rate at 5.3 per cent compared to its 5.5 per cent previous estimate.
The FAO's price index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of grains, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 207.8 points last month as compared with 214.6 points in May 2013, falling nearly 3.2 per cent.
Shortage of seeds, threat of El Nino expected to restrict sowing.
The year 2016 was officially the Earth's warmest since record-keeping began in the 1880s, the World Meteorological Organization announced on Wednesday.
'The food security along the coastal region will be severely affected.'
Chiekcn prices set to go up across cities in India.
Monsoon is critical for the country's 263 million farmers and their rice, cane, corn, cotton and soybean crops because nearly half of its farmland lacks irrigation.
Here's a collection of some of the best photos from around the world shot in the last 24 hours.
Officials said good rain in August - though it might not improve acreages much for most crops except urad, moong, and paddy - would help in improving yields in the crops already planted.
The southwest monsoon over the country is likely to be normal in July, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday in its forecast for the month.
'Already, the temperature has touched 39 degrees in some parts of Gujarat and now we are in the last week of February.' 'We need to activate the heat action plan from March 1.'
The monetary authority said it was worried on three fronts with regard to inflation as well as the economy.
'Each cyclone has its own identity and its own behaviour based on the environmental conditions in the ocean and in the atmosphere.'
Bold reforms and prudent monetary and fiscal policies by the incoming Narendra Modi government will help the economy to grow at 6.5-7 percent, says a report.
According to Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economic advisor of the State Bank of India group, a 50 bps rate cut is a possibility, but 25 bps is more likely.
Metal stocks also had a good session, with JSW Steel zooming by 7%, and Tata Steel and Nalco gaining about 3% each.
Markets closed in the red on domestic worries.
The 30-share Sensex ended up 214 points at 27,890 and the 50-share Nifty closed up 52 points at 8,430.
The heat wave that began a few weeks ago as well as the prediction of a possible El Nino weather phenomenon this year has beverage and ice-cream makers hope for a 15-20 per cent growth in sales in May
The opposition on Wednesday lambasted the government in the Lok Sabha for making "tall promises" which were "difficult to achieve" to garner votes and asked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led ruling dispensation to explain how they would fulfill the aspirations of the people.
'We have instructed all our officials to take complaints of water shortage seriously and attend to it immediately.'
'When you are travelling in Mumbai when the air quality is bad, you feel suffocated.' 'You may feel uncomfortable breathing Delhi air, but the level of discomfort is higher in Mumbai.'
Probably in August. We can argue whether RBI is dovishly neutral or neutrally dovish but the telltale signs of at least one more rate cut are strewn all over the policy statement, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Dilip Bhat, joint managing director of the Prabhudas Lilladher group, a financial products agency, talks to Business Standard about the market rally ahead of the elections.
'Urbanisation results in heavy rainfall events.'
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