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.
The large current account deficit and the growing vulnerability on the external front have largely contributed towards the secular decline and the current volatility of the rupee.
A majority of economists predicted RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan would leave policy rates unchanged on Tuesday and expected a dovish commentary, as crude oil prices and inflation cool off.
Rajan said that central banks should not ignore global responsibilities.
The main losers on the Sensex were Tata Steel, Hero Moto, BHEL, ONGC & Maruti Suzuki.
'The recent US jobs report has eased fears of a hike in the Fed meeting.'
A small percentage of asset allocation to bitcoin seems like a reasonable gamble, as it could be a major gainer in an uncertain global environment, says Devangshu Datta.
Market players said the sell-off was triggered by pessimism that the government may not be able to balance growth with macro-stability.
Foreign brokerage HSBC has said it expects the rupee to trade at 60-levels by December against the dollar even though risks on the domestic unit from both external and domestic fronts have increased.
Rajan, as expected, furthered his predecessors' agenda and continued with the same resolution to make India's financial system safer, and direct the economy towards further liberalisation
India's record current account deficit has been a key reason behind why Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings cut their outlooks on the country's sovereign rating to 'negative' last year.
The corporate sector does not care from where the money is coming.
The second half of June could be driven more or less by technical factors triggered by news flow from Greece, the US Federal Reserve and the monsoon. The technical picture seems bearish as of now, says Devangshu Datta.
55% of cultivable land still doesn't come under irrigation.
The government should now focus on governance and monitoring the supply side to manage inflation, says M V Subramanian.
'There is a bleak business outlook for trade and industry as government struggles to rev up economic growth and labour market.'
Park only savings that need not be touched for many years, says Devangshu Datta.
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Gold has risen sharply due to rising risk aversion
The immediate concern for the rupee is the sharp spike in oil prices
Contrary to some predictions, rainfall is adequate so far.
Sensex closed over 118 points down on Thursday.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das tells Anup Roy, Raghu Mohan and Niraj Bhatt that it is time for banks to lower interest rates and start lending to cash-starved finance companies after due credit appraisal and proper risk assessment.
Budget announcements will come right before five states, with population of around 250 million, go to polls.
'The quick fixes have failed; there is now no alternative to deeper reforms,' says Ajay Shah.
Mining out fresh ammunition for a prospective slugfest, Congress on Thursday released a three-year-old video clip in which senior party leader Uma Bharti has purportedly described Narendra Modi as an agent of destruction and his development claims of Gujarat as a "sham".
The Budget may see new rural schemes and stepping up of funding towards existing programmes like MNREGA, rural housing, irrigation projects and crop insurance.
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'Alas, in this scheme there is nothing to stop the black money flows of the future.' 'On the contrary Modi has sown the seeds of more, through the issue of Rs 2,000 notes.' 'But have you heard one politician decrying this aspect of the scheme?' 'They must be secretly rejoicing that while Modi is taking away their past, he has not shut the door on their future,' says banker S Muralidharan.
Markets could slide again owing to conditions in Europe and the US.
Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC were the top losers along with ICICI Bank and SBI
The nomination would put Yellen on course to be the first woman to lead the institution.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the currency will find its level as steps being taken by the government to contain fiscal and current account deficits will improve investor sentiments.
GST will yield 'better value for money' for car buyers, increasing automobile industry demand, says Sandip Neogi.
Noting that oil prices had gone down after the BJP-led government came to power in May 2014, before they went up, Prasad said it is a problem whose solution is not in its hands.
Market breadth was weak with 1,260 advances and 1,597 losers on the BSE.
Global brokerage firm CLSA is positive on India's growth stroy.
Direct investors should stagger their investments over 1-2 months.
The principal challenge for Rajan's successor is to work with the Bank Board Bureau and the finance ministry to complete these processes of banking reform.
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