Bajaj Finance, Bharat Electronics, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, NTPC, Trent, Asian Paints and Axis Bank were the major laggards among Sensex stocks. However, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Industries were among the gainers.
As in-person negotiations between India and the US kickstarted on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected India to strike the first bilateral trade deal to avert President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs.
The US Department of the Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in an effort to pressure the Kremlin to end its war in Ukraine.
Sanctioning Russian oil would have led to a sharp surge in oil prices to above $80 per barrel levels, which would impact pump prices in the US ahead of midterm elections next year.
New investors should not allow themselves to fall prey to FOMO and rush headlong into gold.
Whether Trump will actually press ahead with the oil sanctions remains unclear, since keeping Russian oil out of the world market risks high oil prices which could boomerang on the US economy and be damaging politically for Trump, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Yes, the entry of private bankers, particularly with global experience will add value to PSBs, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Describing the India-United States relationship as 'very complicated', US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday hoped that 'at the end of the day, we will come together.'
Trump's post on Truth Social comes a day after the US asked G7 countries to impose tariffs on countries purchasing oil from Russia.
As the rally in precious metals takes centre stage in 2025, most analysts recommend a larger allocation to gold over silver despite the latter's outperformance this year. In the current calendar year (CY25), spot gold prices in dollar terms rallied
Gold prices on Tuesday surged Rs 723 to touch an all-time high of Rs 110,312 per 10 grams in the domestic futures market, tracking strong global cues amid growing expectations of a US Federal Reserve interest rate cut next week. Traders said weak US labour market data has strengthened the case for monetary policy easing, putting pressure on the dollar and boosting demand for the safe-haven asset.
Gold and silver prices are expected to maintain their upward trajectory this week, but may see late profit-booking amid the release of a series of crucial global economic indicators, analysts said. On the economic front, traders will closely monitor the manufacturing/ services PMI data from across regions and the US non-farm payrolls/ employment data along with consumer confidence for the month of September and speeches from several Federal Reserve officials, they added.
Foreign investors have pulled out nearly Rs 18,000 crore from Indian equities so far this month, weighed down by escalating US-India trade tensions, disappointing first-quarter corporate earnings, and a weakening Indian rupee. With this, the total outflow by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in equities has reached Rs 1.13 lakh crore so far in 2025, according to data from the depositories.
Sullivan remarks come amid the rising friction between Washington and New Delhi due to the 50 percent tariffs imposed on Indian goods, which include a 25 percent penalty for buying Russian oil.
The Trump administration has launched a premium immigration programme targeting wealthy individuals worldwide, offering permanent residency in the United States through expensive 'Gold Cards' that could generate billions in revenue for the American Treasury.
The statement did not name any country. But the US has often blamed India and China for purchasing Russian oil even when there are no tariffs on Beijing for it.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday once again claimed that United States President Donald Trump has ended the military conflict between India and Pakistan.
United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned that the secondary tariffs on India could go up if 'things don't go well' during talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
There were apprehensions that additional secondary tariffs would have hit India in case the US decided to enforce them.
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats stated that imposing tariffs on India will not deter Russian President Vladimir Putin or address Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar defends India's purchase of Russian oil, stating it is not the largest purchaser and that the US had previously supported such actions to stabilize energy markets. He also addresses concerns about tariffs and trade relations with the US.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday expressed hope that India will conclude the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US by the fall or November this year. He said that "a little bit" of geopolitical issues overtook the trade matters in the negotiations for the pact between the two countries.
'Things may get much worse before they get better,' predicts Ajay Chhibber.
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.
The Trump administration has announced a massive increase in H-1B visa fees, imposing a $100,000 annual charge that will fundamentally alter how American companies hire skilled foreign workers, particularly impacting Indian IT professionals who comprise the largest group of beneficiaries.
Who else will take on the might of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon if not the Adanis, Ambanis, Birlas, or Tatas?, asks R Jagannathan.
'Trump does have a master plan in mind to put pressure on India with the additional tariff of 25 per cent to get Modi to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to freeze the Ukraine war.' 'It has not worked so far. By end-September only we'll know for sure the future trajectory of India's oil purchases from Russia,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Communication channels between India and the US are open to resolve the ongoing tariff issues, and the glitch in trade ties is only temporary, given the long-term relationship between the two nations, government sources said on Wednesday. The US' 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports to America came into effect from August 27, barring a few sectors.
The United States has imposed sanctions on at least half a dozen Indian companies accused of trading in Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals as part of broader action targeting 20 entities worldwide.
From the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries and Maruti were the biggest laggards. IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel and UltraTech Cement were the gainers.
India would neither succumb to the Americans on issues of national security, such as its defence ties with Russia, nor cede ground on its domestic interests in the agriculture and dairy sectors.
The United States and Ukraine have signed an 'economic partnership agreement,' giving Washington, DC access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals in return for creating an investment fund in the country, CNN reported.
Reaffirming India's stand against terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged leaders of the G7 to galvanise global action against terrorism and underscored the need for strict action against those who 'promote and support' it.
Foreign brokerages remain cautious on the road ahead for the Indian equity markets. Though analysts at Nomura have revised their March 2026 Nifty target to 26,140 levels from the earlier 24,970, but the upside from the current levels is a modest 6 per cent. BofA Securities, on the other hand, has not made any change to its year-end Nifty target.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the spokesperson for the Pakistan Army, is the son of a nuclear scientist who was sanctioned by the United Nations and the US for providing information and expertise to al-Qaeda, according to Indian officials. Chaudhry's father, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, allegedly provided insights into nuclear weapons infrastructure and raised funds for a fundamentalist organization linked to the Taliban. Mahmood was arrested in 2001 after admitting to meeting Osama bin Laden but was later released.
Foreign investment in bonds issued by Indian corporates touched a 10-year high in May at 20,996 crore, driven by $3.35 billion fundraise by the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) group, which saw infusion from Deutsche Bank, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Davidson Kempner, and Cerberus Capital, among others. The SP group sold three-year bonds, offering 19.75 per cent yield compounded annually and payable at maturity.
In trying to portray a globally sanctioned terrorist as a 'common man', Pakistan was exposed when its top official publically outed crucial details about Hafiz Abdul Rauf, including his national identity number which matched details in the database of the United States sanction list of terrorists.
The rupee has held its ground against the US dollar in the 2025 calendar year so far, but depreciated significantly against the euro and pound. It fell by 6.83 per cent, and 5.44 per cent against the euro and pound respectively, as the two currencies strengthened significantly against the greenback during the period.
China sits on a mountain of United States treasury debt, reinforcing its position as the world's number one holder of US treasury securities with a total of $895.2 billion. China's foreign exchange reserves too stood at a mammoth $2.45 trillion at the end of March 2010.
'Increasingly, they treat gold as a financial asset in their portfolio rather than just as jewellery.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances