S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday cut India's GDP growth projections to 6.5 per cent for the next fiscal as it expects that economies in the APAC region will feel the strain of rising US tariffs and pushback on globalisation. In its Economic Outlook for Asia-Pacific (APAC), S&P said despite these external strains, it expects domestic demand momentum to remain solid in most emerging-market economies.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, retail firms, and producers of consumer durables are witnessing stable urban demand. However, people in the trade are waiting for clearer signs of revival closer to the festival season, starting in September.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has travelled to Russia to hold crucial talks on bilateral energy and defence ties and to prepare ground for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India later this year.
Russia has a "special mechanism" to confront any challenge arising out of the US slapping punitive measures against India for its procurement of Russian crude oil, Russian charge d'affaires Roman Babushkin said on Wednesday.
Industry leaders urge India to pursue diplomatic talks with the US, strengthen manufacturing, and consider China ties to gain leverage against tariff pressures.
IMD data shows in the 24 hours between September 1 and 2, Haryana received 806 per cent more rainfall than normal, Punjab 759 per cent, Himachal Pradesh 510 per cent, Delhi 740 per cent, Chandigarh a staggering 1,638 per cent, and Rajasthan 193 per cent.
'While the President has been critical of India, he has gone out of his way to compliment PM Modi. They have an incredible relationship.'
'India's fundamentals are a lot better (than those of other emerging market economies).' 'India will suffer (witness a fall in its stock market) what I call the second order effect.' 'And the second order will happen when these funds (belonging to macro and hedge fund investors and which have leveraged Japanese yen-carry trades), because they lose money elsewhere as lot of their positions were financed by borrowing Japanese yen, will have to book profits in investment destinations where they are making money, including in markets like India.' 'They (these investors) will have to effectively sell in countries like India and which is the consequence (the crash in equity markets) that Indian markets might see.'
'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.'
Foreign investors have pulled out Rs 44,396 crore from Indian equities this month, driven by strength of the dollar, rising bond yields in the US, and expectations of a weak earnings season. This came following an investment of Rs 15,446 crore in the month of December, data with the depositories showed.
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'Growth for some companies has been hard to come by and this is a smart way to get there.'
Quite a few films didn't do well, but particularly disappointing were the films that came from the south.
What if Sholay were produced now, in our technologically advanced era, with AI vying for our attention?, asks Atanu Biswas.
The restructuring of tariffs by the US has led to a shift in the list of key product suppliers to the American market, with India emerging as one of the beneficiaries at the expense of China and Canada, an official said on Monday. As per an analysis, India's share in the USA's electronics exports has increased to 7.2 per cent to 3.5 per cent year-on-year in May, while China's share dipped to 11 per cent from 22 per cent during the same period.
From the Sensex constituents, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Eternal, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Axis Bank were among the major gainers. In contrast, Trent, State Bank of India, Tech Mahindra, Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the laggards.
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He added that India sells to the US, its biggest "client", "massive" amounts of goods, "but we sell them very little - Until now a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that his "vocal for local" campaign is bearing fruit as Indian products are going global and making their presence felt across the world. He said that India was becoming the land of infinite innovations, finding affordable solutions and offering them to the world. The prime minister also highlighted the country's rising defense products, electronics, automobile sector, and the success of superfoods, Ayush products, and yoga. He said India should be presented to the world as it is, without any bias. Modi said that the country was now emerging as a manufacturing hub and a "factory of the world." He added that India was creating solutions that were affordable, accessible, and adaptable, and offering them to the world without gatekeeping.
'Even if India is attractive, FPIs currently lack the funds to invest, as money is being redirected to the US.'
The ratio of market capitalisation to gross domestic product (GDP) in India remains elevated despite the recent correction in the equities markets. It was 147.5 per cent on December 3, 56 per cent higher than the 10-year average of 94 per cent. The current ratio is slightly lower than the all-time high ratio of 154 per cent at the end of September this year.
With demand for information-technology (IT) services in North America still sluggish, Europe has become a source of optimism for Indian companies because it is delivering steady gains over the past two years and continuing to outperform in the latest quarter. Yet analysts caution a full-scale revival will require a rebound in the United States (US), particularly in manufacturing, retail, and BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance), because Europe contributes only about a third of the revenues.
The share of foreign investors was lower than domestic institutions across key sectors, including commodities, consumer discretionary, financial services and industrials.
The representatives of youth-led Gen Z, which spearheaded the anti-government protests, held meetings with the top military brass to finalise a transitional government, but the talks hit a roadblock on the issue of who will head it.
'There is a shift in what customers are thinking about in the long term and better planned structures are going to emerge as winners.'
'The problem is that the bubble may not only be in valuations, but also in investors' minds.'
NSA Ajit Doval has indicated that dates for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India are being worked out during his meetings in Moscow. Discussions also covered bilateral energy and defence cooperation, amidst ongoing concerns over India's procurement of Russian crude oil.
'Expect FPIs to continue selling for several months until the rupee stabilises.'
One culprit behind the poor recent performance of emerging markets is growing bond market volatility and the knock-on effect that that may be having on so-called carry trades, under which investors borrow money cheaply in one currency and then invest it for what they hope will be higher returns elsewhere.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started winding down its short position in the dollar forward book, after a gap of seven months, on the back of a softening dollar, while infusing funds via open market operations (OMOs) to counter the resulting liquidity drain.
'One Chinese interlocutor said India should realise that "China can do without India, but India could not do without China", pointing to its inability to do without Chinese intermediates and components,' former foreign secretary Shyam Saran discovers on a visit to China.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's sudden resignation after only a year in office has thrown Japan into political turmoil, raising doubts about how the country will handle economic and regional challenges, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
From the Sensex firms, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank were among the major laggards. However, Trent, State Bank of India, Bharat Electronics, Titan and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.
ITC, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies and IndusInd Bank were the other big laggards. NTPC, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the gainers.
'What the US appears to be doing is to force India to be "the buyer of last resort", on whom their products can be dumped, 1.4 billion people have to eat something, so why not eat American corn?' 'What is exercising the Trump lot is the fact that most of the farms are in solidly Republican Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
However, the world's largest non-alcoholic drinks company said that it remained well-placed to face any slowing in US consumer demand, as it reported results supported by strong international growth.
Pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories delivered a muted operational performance in the fourth quarter of financial year 2024-25 (Q4FY25), even as revenue growth remained healthy. Lower gross margin performance and muted domestic growth are key concerns. Most brokerages have a "Sell" or "Reduce" rating as there are uncertainties related to the development of a new product portfolio and the launch timelines.
Stock markets snapped the four-day falling streak on Tuesday with the benchmark Sensex rebounding by 317 points on buying in auto and pharma shares amid a decline in retail inflation to a more than six-year low, nearing the RBI's comfort zone. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 317.45 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 82,570.91. During the day, it jumped 490.16 points or 0.59 per cent to 82,743.62. The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 113.50 points or 0.45 per cent to 25,195.80.
The attack occurred when a car deliberately rammed into a crowd of people at the market, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries.
'While investors need to be prepared for making some losses, they should not lose big money chasing euphoria amid fear of missing out.'