External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday left for Iraq on a two-day visit aimed at deepening India's ties with the oil-rich Arab country.Khurshid, the first Indian external affairs minister to visit Iraq in last 23 years, will hold talks with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshiyar Zebari and discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The Reserve Bank is working with the government to thrash out a payment settlement solution for Indo-Russian trade, which is hit by the economic sanctions imposed on Moscow after it invaded Ukraine, but asserted that any such solution will be 'sensitive' to the prevailing economic blockade, the central bank said. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das was quick to add that it is a matter that the government has to deal with first, and as far as the central bank is concerned, obviously, we will not do anything which goes against the sanctions. RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said since the Ukraine war has disrupted trade and payments, we are discussing with all stakeholders, and at the same time, we are sensitive to the economic sanctions.
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Market benchmark Sensex tumbled over 323 points after an intense last-hour sell-off on Wednesday, triggered by losses mainly in index heavyweights Infosys, Reliance and HDFC.
With the international markets facing uncertainty after Russia invaded Ukraine and Western nations retaliated with sanctions, Indian companies are putting their international fundraising plans on hold as they wait for the markets to recover. Bankers said apart from the geopolitical crisis, international rates are hardening in anticipation of interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve to control rising prices in the US. The Ukraine situation has implications for the market. In such a situation, international investors try to shift to safe haven assets by exiting from emerging markets.
Sliding for the fourth straight day, the BSE Sensex shed 152 points in choppy trade on Wednesday amid mixed global cues ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision.
Equity benchmarks fell sharply on Thursday in line with an extremely weak trend in the global markets, with the Sensex plunging 1,154.78 points in early trade. Persistent foreign fund outflows and a spurt in crude oil prices also dampened sentiment. The 30-share BSE benchmark was trading 1,154.78 points lower at 53,053.75. The broader NSE Nifty tumbled 335.65 points to 15,904.65.
ITC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding nearly 3 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries. Nifty fell 43.35 points to 17,324.90.
The trade deficit makes up an important part of the current account deficit, which had touched an all-time high of 4.8 per cent in 2012-13.
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Prices of food items like cereals, pulses, and edible oils rose or remained steady in May, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report said, indicating there could be another higher inflation print. However, it observed that the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC's) surprise move to increase interest rates bodes well for its credibility. The RBI's monthly State of the Economy report, released on Tuesday, citing high frequency food price data from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs for the period May 1-12, said the increase in the prices of cereals was primarily because of the surge in wheat prices.
Continuing its heavy selling spree for the eighth consecutive month, foreign investors pulled out nearly Rs 40,000 crore from the Indian equity market in May on fears of an aggressive rate hike by US Federal Reserve that dented investor sentiments. With this, net outflow by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from equities reached at Rs 1.69 lakh crore so far in 2022, data with depositories showed. Going ahead, FPI flows will remain volatile in the emerging markets on account of rising geo-political risk, rising inflation, tightening of monetary policy by central banks, among others, Shrikant Chouhan, Head - Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities said.
Benchmark indices continued their downtrend for the fifth session on the trot on Thursday, with the Sensex tumbling nearly 817 points in early trade, tracking weak global trends and selling in index majors Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank. Unabated selling by foreign institutional investors also weighed on the sentiment. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 816.78 points lower at 53,271.61. The NSE Nifty declined 234.05 points to 15,933.05.
The rupee plunged 20 paise to close at an all-time low of 78.13 against the US dollar on Monday, as a lacklustre trend in domestic equities and stronger greenback overseas weighed on investor sentiments. Forex traders said weak Asian currencies and persistent foreign capital outflows were the other major factors that dragged the local unit down. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 78.20 and witnessed an intra-day high of 78.02 and a low of 78.29 against the US dollar.
In a double delight, retail inflation eased to a one-year low of 5.72 per cent - staying below the upper tolerance limit for two months in a row, while factory output rose sharply to 7.2 per cent on the back of healthy growth in manufacturing. The retail inflation numbers based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) will provide some room for the Reserve Bank to further moderate the quantum of hike in key interest rate or even press a pause button. The RBI has been on a rate hiking spree since May 2022 in its bid to tame inflation, having raised the repo rate by a cumulative 225 basis points (bps).
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'It is building the country's infrastructure, and delivering it very efficiently.'
The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation is now projected to be at 5.3 per cent for 2021-22 with risks evenly balanced. In its August policy, the central bank had estimated inflation to be at 5.7 per cent due to supply side constraints, high crude oil and raw materials cost.
'To simply let the rupee depreciate to any level according to market forces will not be in the country's interests.'
'India seems to be on a relatively better wicket compared to other emerging markets.'
'Returns can be very variable in equity markets.' 'That is why I tell small investors don't put 100 per cent of your money in equities, even if you are young.'
After turning net buyers last month, foreign investors have become aggressive shoppers of Indian equities and have invested Rs 22,452 crore in the first two weeks of August amid softening inflation concerns. This was way higher than a net investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in the entire month of July, data with depositories showed. FPIs had turned net buyers for the first time in July, after nine straight months of massive net outflows, which started in October last year.
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Benchmark BSE Sensex gave up its early gains to settle lower by 115 points on the last day of 2021-22 fiscal on Thursday, dragged down by profit-taking in Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC Bank after a three-day rally. The 30-share barometer declined by 115.48 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 58,568.51 in choppy trade due to the expiry of monthly derivatives contracts. During the day, it touched a high of 58,890.92 and a low of 58,485.79.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com After a brief respite at the year's start, FPIs have dumped shares worth more than $5.7 billion (Rs 42,596 crore), taking the cumulative net outflows since October to $10.5 billion (Rs 78,466 crore), and adding to the volatility on the bourses. The figure would have been a lot worse had it not been for net purchases to the tune of $5.7 billion in the primary market from October to date.
Investors' wealth on Thursday tumbled over Rs 2.81 lakh crore as stocks declined in line with selloff in global equities. The 30-share BSE benchmark index tanked 581.21 points or 1 per cent to settle at 57,276.94. During the day, it cracked 1,418.79 points to 56,439.36. In tandem with weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms tanked Rs 2,81,147.38 crore to Rs 2,59,97,419.48 crore.