Indian equity benchmarks rose nearly 2 per cent on Thursday, capping a truncated trading week with their strongest weekly performance in over four years. The rally was sparked by renewed risk-on sentiment following progress in trade negotiations and expanded tariff exemptions.
The resilience of the economy and strength of domestic demand will continue to make India an engine of growth amid the rapidly evolving global trade landscape as a result of US tariffs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in London on Tuesday.
India and New Zealand have signed a pact to institutionalize their defence ties and vowed to boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised concerns about anti-India activities by some illegal elements in New Zealand with his Kiwi counterpart Christopher Luxon. The two sides also signed six agreements to enhance cooperation in areas including education, sports, agriculture, and climate change. They also agreed to prepare a roadmap for cooperation in the defence industry sector and explore early implementation of cooperation in the digital payments sector.
Brendan Lynch, the assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia, will pay a five-day visit to India beginning Tuesday, days before US President Donald Trump's tit-for-tat tariff kicks in. The senior US trade official is expected to hold talks with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal besides meeting a number of senior Indian officials.
An inconclusive end to this war will pose high risk for Netanyahu of a cascading demand for a regime change in Israel, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India's major imports from the US include crude oil and petroleum products, gold and jewellery, plastics, aircraft, and electrical machinery and components. The key exports to the US comprise pharmaceuticals and biologicals, telecom equipment, precious and semi-precious stones, petroleum products, gold and precious metal jewellery, and ready-made garments.
Global trends, macroeconomic announcements and US tariff developments are expected to drive stock markets in a holiday-shortened week, analysts said. Market participants will also closely track foreign investor activity, geopolitical tensions, and their impact on the US dollar and crude oil prices, they added.
At the PMO, policies are framed by factoring in analytical perspectives, implications, sustainability, and other dimensions.
With the new government taking charge in Britain, senior officials of India and the UK will hold the next round of talks this month for the proposed free trade agreement to resolve the pending issues and close the negotiations, an official said. The India-UK talks for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled as the two nations stepped into their general election cycles.
The Trump trade shock is a chance to push long-overdue reforms, rather than tinker with tariffs to appease the US, suggests M Govinda Rao.
The father of a BSF jawan detained by Pakistan Rangers after inadvertently crossing the international border in Punjab has said that the family is anxiously waiting for his return. The jawan, P K Sahu, was taken into custody on Wednesday after he reportedly walked ahead to rest under a tree and inadvertently crossed over into Pakistan territory. The commanding officer of the jawan's battalion has said a flag meeting is being held to secure his release.
'Currently, it takes between two and three years to formulate the request for proposal for procuring specific military equipment for the armed forces. It should not be this way.'
Auto parts exports from India may see a slight slowdown as US President Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariff could increase car prices for buyers by 8-25 per cent, thereby affecting demand, experts believe.
India and the US will sit together in the next couple of weeks to decide on the nature of the proposed trade agreement and finalise its broad contours, a senior official said on Monday. During the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, India and the US announced to more than double the two-way commerce to $500 billion by 2030 and negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025.
'We believe that in the new world order FTAs or bilateral trade agreements (BTAs) are the way forward.' 'They are enablers for our participation in global value chains. Today, around 70 per cent of global trade is tied to these chains.'
From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Adani Ports dropped over 4 per cent. UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, NTPC and Tata Steel were also the among the laggards. Nestle, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Tech were among the gainers.
European Union (EU) companies operating in India want New Delhi to streamline or remove non-tariff barriers such as Quality Control Orders (QCOs), complex Customs procedures; simplify labelling, testing, and import procedures; and facilitate cross-border digital transactions without data localisation constraints. These are results of a Business Sentiment Survey, 2025 conducted by the Federation of European Business in India (FEBI) ahead of resumption of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between both the sides scheduled to be concluded by year-end.
'Netanyahu lured Trump into a trap by enticing him with a seductive scenario of massive lucrative business in Gaza's reconstruction.' 'Trump's imagination is running riot, completely disconnected from ground realities,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'But I don't think the government is in a great hurry to sign the BTA.'
American President Donald Trump has announced imposing reciprocal tariffs on its major trading partners including China that levy higher import duties on goods shipped from the United States. He has already announced a 25 per cent duty on steel and aluminium imports, which will come into effect from March 12.
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
Here is a list of Q & As to explain these issues and implications of the US move.
'Consider 40% to 50% in equities, 10% in gold as a hedge, and the remaining 30% to 40% split between multi-asset funds and hybrid funds.'
The wide-ranging sanctions imposed by the US on the Russian oil sector have started to dent near-term oil flows to India with state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) saying not enough cargoes are available for March.
'A crucial role in bolstering the Indian Army's firepower by enabling precise and long-range strikes.'
According to a senior commerce department official, talks between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) - the 10-country trading bloc - have hit a roadblock, with some of the advanced developing countries demanding greater flexibilities from India.
With Donald Trump all set to become US president, Indian exporters may face high customs duties for goods like automobiles, textiles and pharmaceuticals if the new US administration decides to pursue the 'America First' agenda, opined trade experts. Experts also said that Trump could also tighten H-1B visa rules, impacting costs and growth for Indian IT firms. Over 80 per cent of India's IT export earnings come from the US, making it vulnerable to changes in visa policies.
The country could be a major beneficiary from greater market access in services unlike other developing nations, said the working paper authored by H A C Prasad, senior economic advisor in the ministry. India is Asia's third largest economy with a size of nearly $1 trillion. Services contribute about 61 per cent of GDP and the sector is growing at double-digit rates.
A Collection of Services Trade Statistics Act is being thought of.
Why did the political system in the country react to these two decisions of the Modi government in a diametrically opposite manner? asks A K Bhattacharya.
India and Russia on Tuesday set a target of $100 billion in annual trade volume by 2030 and vowed to develop a robust bilateral payment settlement mechanism using national currencies. The two sides also inked a total of nine agreements to further broadbase cooperation in a range of areas including in the economic domain following summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
'We can hope to see a lot of creation of jobs in the days to come.'
The employees are demanding salary parity with state government employees, seeking a pay scale adjustment to match that of their counterparts in the state sector.
Although the company has shown willingness to talk to its workers and accept their key demands, it is CITU that is causing a roadblock to a solution.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said people are finding current interest rates "very stressful" and urged banks to make them affordable. Speaking at an event organised by State Bank of India, the finance minister said that at present, India requires industry to ramp up and invest in new facilities, and added that lowering lending rates can help achieve the "Viksit Bharat" aspiration.
It would be a challenge to India's policy makers how to deal with Trump so that mutual economic growth remains sustained and mutual understanding on global issues are not hampered, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Assuming we still have a Modi-led majority government after May 2024, there is no guarantee that reforms will move at anything more than a snail's pace, though we must be thankful even for that, notes R Jagannathan.
Panagariya also stressed that India must continue the liberalisation of its top tariff rates and the country should not revert back to import substitution.
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.
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