COST Financial News

The Bank of Canada is now less concerned about home prices spiking as it lowers its benchmark interest rate, minutes from the governing council’s latest meeting show.

With the start to the upcoming school year about a month away, many university students might be looking at how to make their summer savings last the year.

Recession fears led to a sharp stock-market selloff in recent days, with the S&P 500 index posting a 3% loss Monday, its worst in almost two years.

A key measure of home-purchase applications surged last week as mortgage rates dropped to the lowest level in more than a year.

₹52,300 per tonne in July, the lowest since December 2020, according to data from market research and consulting firm BigMint. The prices continue to fall and are trading at around ₹51,000 per tonne currently, the analysts said. “A significant slowdown in China's economy has led to a correction in global steel prices, with Chinese export prices hitting a four-year low," according to Dhruv Goel, the chief executive of BigMint.

Americans who want to tap the rising equity of their homes without giving up their low mortgage rates are increasingly turning to home equity lines of credit.

Read this | A guide to capital gains tax on property sales: Navigating pre-, post-2001 rules Mayank Mohanka, founder of TaxAaram India and partner at S.M. Mohanka & Associates, agreed. "The Notice of Amendments specifically states that the revised provision is to be inserted after line 37 of page 39 in the Finance Bill, 2024, right after the clause for resident individuals and HUFs.

What's Sustainable Jewellery? Sustainable jewellery refers to pieces made from ethically lab-grown materials, crafted with minimal environmental impact. «Consumers today are increasingly conscious of the origins and production methods of the items they buy. This awareness extends to jewelry, where the demand for transparency and ethical practices is rising. Brands are responding by ensuring that their sourcing methods are eco-friendly and their production processes reduce waste and pollution,» said Nimesh Jain, founder of Evol Jewels, a sustainable and personalized jewelry brand.

The mayhem that swept across world markets this week was partly caused by a market strategy known as the “carry trade.”

WK Kellogg Co. is closing one U.S. cereal plant and downsizing another as part of a plan to consolidate its operations in newer facilities

Egypt's local currency is sliding against the U.S. dollar after recent increases in fuel prices and subway fares

A federal judge has branded Google as a ruthless monopolist bent on suffocating it competitors

Nitin Gadkari highlighted in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that within the next five years, India's aviation industry will use 20 per cent of Bio-aviation fuel. «Within five years our aviation industry will use 20 per cent of bio-aviation fuel, sustainable aviation fuel and that is to be starting it from parali (Stubble) and the farmer will get the rate of Rs 2500 per ton for it» said Gadkari during a reply in Rajya Sabha. The minister also highlighted that now the highway ministry is using bio-bitumen in the construction of roads which is helping India in reducing the imports of the Bitumen. Bio-bitumen is a bio-based binder derived from renewable sources like crop stubble and is used to bind the surfaces of paved roads.

Sony on Wednesday booked a 10% rise in operating profit in the April-June quarter, beating analyst estimates, boosted by the strength of its industry-leading image sensor business. Profit at the Japanese tech and entertainment conglomerate was 279 billion yen ($1.90 billion), compared with an average estimate of 275 billion yen from seven analysts polled by LSEG.

GST of 18% on life or health insurance policies pinches policyholders and discourages citizens from taking a new or higher insurance cover. The pain of policyholders gets amplified as insurance is a product where most beneficiaries will get the benefit only when they face an eventuality like death or hospitalisation. What this means is that in some cases, they would pay the premium and high tax but not get the benefit. While the insurance industry has been raising its voice against this, the issue of 18% goods and services tax (GST) on life and health insurance premiums has again come to the forefront now. The political parties of the INDIA bloc have recently protested the high tax outside the Parliament building and demanded that the central government withdraw this GST. At least one person in the government has also aired similar views. A few days ago, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging her to roll back the 18% GST on such financial products. After Gadkari's letter, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also urged Sitharaman to remove GST on insurance premiums. So will the central government remove the 18% GST and bring down your life and health insurance premium? As the Centre looks into the issue, let us understand why everyone wants the government to remove GST from insurance premiums and how it can lower your insurance premiums.

Mint. Tata Steel will explore legal options regarding any dues that may arise if the Supreme Court rules that its judgment will be applicable retrospectively, while Hindustan Zinc (HZL) will also knock on the doors of the courts if any immoderate demands are raised. On 25 July, a nine-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court upheld the rights of states to collect tax on mining activities and held that royalty paid to states on minerals does not qualify as tax.

Indian expats, including those at the CXO level ,looking to relocate to India primarily from the US, UK and Canada over the last year, recruitment agency Randstad India told ET. However, Randstand did not quantify the size of the surge of Indian expat applicants. The manufacturing industry is expected to double in size over the next five years from employing around 2.5 to 3 million people to around 5 million by around 2030, Yeshab Giri, Chief Commercial Officer, Operational Talent Solutions at Randstad India, told ET. Government emphasis with big ticket incentives in addition to benefiting from the China plus one strategy has seen the electronics manufacturing sector in particular opening up more opportunities for these expats. The government boosters are seen aiding local manufacturing to get stronger.

Mumbai: Seven years after losing the tax edge that had made it India's second-biggest source of capital, Mauritius is eyeing a comeback, this time through the GIFT City route. The island nation's International Financial Centre (IFC) is considering opening an office in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), a top Mauritius minister said. A large Mauritius delegation currently visiting India will meet officials of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to discuss areas of collaboration, including equivalence between the two.

₹1.5 lakh per house for the economically weaker section (EWS) category. Currently, people with an annual income of ₹6-12 lakh are considered to be in the MIG-1 category and those with ₹12-18 lakh annual income are under MIG-2 category, under the housing scheme.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams found themselves stranded in orbit. Technical issues with Boeing's Starliner spaceship have caused an indefinite delay in their return, despite the fact that their mission was only scheduled to last two weeks. There isn't a new return date announced by NASA, as per the reports of Yahoo news. NASA is currently thinking of returning the Starliner spaceship to Earth without the astronauts on board. According to CNBC, there hasn't been much consensus on this proposal yet. To return the astronauts home, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule would be sent. Although it was developed at a lower cost than Starliner, the Crew Dragon is a part of the same Commercial Crew program and has not encountered any problems of the same nature.