Brokerages expect a further slowdown in Indian firms' revenue and earnings growth in Q4FY25, following low single-digit growth in the preceding three quarters, as factors like weak consumer demand and credit growth linger on.
The prospect of protracted uncertainties in the global economic landscape not only pose a risk for India's growth outlook in 2025-26, but are also likely to dent the private sector's capital raising and investment plans, the finance ministry averred on Tuesday, cautioning the country's corporates that the era of 'easy pickings' was over.
Benchmark 10-year bond yields hit a 13-month peak as bond traders priced in more aggressive monetary easing next year.
Gross GST collections remained above the Rs 2 trillion mark for the second month in a row, rising 16.4 per cent in May to over Rs 2.01 lakh crore. Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection had touched a record high of Rs 2.37 lakh crore in April. In May, 2024, the mop up was Rs 1,72,739 crore.
Banks have outperformed the broader market in the past six months and most of the leading lenders have given positive returns to investors compared to a negative return delivered by benchmark indices.
After falling 17 per cent since the start of the year to its March lows, the stock of the country's largest pharmaceutical (pharma) company, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, has clawed back nearly half of those losses. Recent acquisitions, a favourable court ruling in the case of the hair loss drug Leqselvi, an edge over peers owing to its specialty portfolio, and a diversified global presence have supported the recovery.
Acknowledging that the situation regarding prices of food items is serious, the government said on Friday it was taking long and short term measures and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will soon convene a meeting of chief ministers to address the problem.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Monday held Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar responsible for the unprecedented rise in food prices in India.
India's service sector activity accelerated slightly in April largely driven by a quicker increase in new order inflows, which also underpinned a faster expansion in employment, a monthly survey said on Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index reached 58.7 in April, up from 58.5 in March, indicating a sharp and stronger expansion in service sector output.
Retail inflation dipped marginally to a nearly six-year low of 3.34 per cent in March due to a decline in prices of vegetables and protein-rich items. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was 3.61 per cent in February and 4.85 per cent in March last year.
Average residential property prices in seven cities increased 10% to 34% due to new supplies in the luxury and ultra-luxury segments and overall demand.
Indian drugmakers supply 47 per cent of the generic medicine requirements in the US, and tariffs would have increased prices in the US domestic market for patients, who are already dealing with drug shortages.
The task of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to keep inflation under check, even when the country reeled under severe drought for two years in a row, and reduce the current account deficit, was made easier by low crude oil prices.
The RBI governor, D Subbarao had met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on December 18, fuelling speculation that the monetary policy would be tightened.
Various industry bodies have sought immediate government intervention through the imposition of anti-dumping duties, claiming India has seen a surge in imports of Chinese goods over the past two weeks.
A primary producer said that the prices would be raised in tranches this month and the total increase could be Rs 6,000 a tonne.
The government is likely to pay sugar mills Rs 4 per kg more for the sweetener it procures for distribution through ration shops, to offset the rise in prices of sugarcane over the last few years.
The January-March quarter (Q4) results for 2024-25 (FY25) from the country's largest passenger vehicle (PV) maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), were a mixed bag, with revenues broadly in line but operating profit missing Street expectations. Given cost pressures, margins at the operating level were the lowest in the past seven quarters.
Members of the four Left parties and the Samajwadi Party on Friday walked out of the Lok Sabha to protest the government's 'lack of response' to their demand for a white paper on the rise in prices of essential commodities, especially food articles.Raising the issue, Communist Party of India - Marxist's Basudeb Acharia sought a white paper on the price situation, saying the government had 'failed' to take any steps to curb the rising trend of prices.
'Investors' decisions should reflect their financial goals, risk tolerance, and the amount of gold already present in their portfolio.'
The Bhartiya Janata Party has questioned Finance minister P Chidambaram's comment that cartelisation by some politicians has led to increase in prices of essential commodities and other items like steel, iron and cement.
A survey of action taken by the state governments suggests that while most govts are under political pressure to control prices, few have actually taken proactive steps to do anything about them. Delhi & Maharashtra are the exceptions. Midnight raids on retailers in both the states have made hoarders wary. While the state govt was attempting to stave off the effect of food inflation, industry said it was steel prices that were going to affect the state's fortunes in long run.
Despite NMDC raising iron ore prices by 10%, major steel firms say they will follow suit if demand increases
CNG and piped cooking gas prices in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai may be hiked by 10-11 per cent next month as the government-dictated gas price is set to rise by about 76 per cent, ICICI Securities said in a report. The government, using rates prevalent in gas-surplus nations, fixes the price of natural gas produced by firms such as state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) from fields given to them on nomination basis, every six months. The next review is due on October 1.
The government has been stringent with pricing changes. Prices of 651 essential medicines came down from April 1, 2023 by 6.73 per cent with the government capping ceiling prices of these drugs.
Housing demand should improve nationwide after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the repo rate by a larger-than-expected 50 basis points (bps) on Friday, said real estate industry executives. The rate cut comes after housing sales in top Indian cities in the first quarter of 2025 dipped 28 per cent due to skyrocketing residential property prices and geopolitical headwinds, according to Anarock.
'In the past six months, capital markets have seen a dip, and realty is struggling. The stock-market investor will be cautious of putting that investment in real estate when there may be a slowdown coming.'
India on Monday imposed a 12 per cent provisional safeguard duty for 200 days on five steel product categories, including hot rolled coils, sheets and plates, to protect domestic players from surge in imports. The decision follows a recommendation for the same by the Commerce Ministry's investigation arm DGTR. Last month, the DGTR suggested to impose the duty.
Housing sales declined 19 per cent annually in January-March across eight major cities to 98,095 units on high prices and lower launches, according to PropTiger. Real estate consultant PropTiger, which is part of REA India that also owns Housing.com, on Wednesday noted that rising property prices and slowing growth forced buyers to exercise caution.
How effective are strikes to solve an issue as vexing as this? Aren't strikes a bane for a nation already reeling under a heavy dose of inflation?
Fada estimates that global supply chain headwinds like scarce availability of rare earth elements for electric vehicle components and geopolitical tensions may affect urban consumer sentiment in June as well.
The stock of India's largest listed pure-play retail company, Avenue Supermarts (DMart), has slipped over 10 per cent from its monthly highs. A weak operational performance in the fourth quarter (January-March) of financial year 2024-25 (Q4FY25) and muted near-term outlook due to intense competitive pressures and higher costs could lead to downward momentum on the stock. While the stock dipped by 3.44 per cent in early trade on Monday, it recovered a bit to close 1.07 per cent lower at 4,017.
While India today is vastly different from the India of 1975, the need for vigilance against authoritarianism remains the same, asserts Utkarsh Mishra.
Participating in the resumed discussion on the General Budget in the Rajya Sabha, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat said the government is linking food inflation to higher purchasing power among the poor resulting from employment programmes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Gold sales on Dhanteras are estimated to drop 10 per cent in volume terms year-on-year on sharp 33 per cent annual rise in rates of the yellow metal, according to industry players. Since Dhanteras -- the most auspicious day in the Hindu calendar for buying items ranging from precious metals to utensils -- is celebrated on two days till 1.11 pm on Wednesday, jewellers are expecting more footfalls in both online and offline stores.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday asked his economy A-team to make a concerted effort to tackle rising food prices.
The Rs 1-trillion Research Development and Innovation (RDI) fund, which was announced in the July budget for FY25, of which Rs 20,000 crore has already been allocated, will be operationalised in the next two to three months, a top official said.
Mhatre, Raghuvanshi, Kotian star attractions as 280 players go under the hammer
The party says it has trained over 1,00,000 workers in the last one year.
Wouldn't it be better to reach 45 with a backup engine of passive income that helps you glide through these years instead of grinding, asks Ramalingam Kalirajan