COST Financial News

The head of upcoming climate negotiations is telling world leaders that a new financial aid package for poor and disaster-struck nations is the urgent and make-or-break goal of United Nations talks this fall

Chair Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve is becoming more convinced that inflation is headed back to its 2% target and said the Fed would cut rates before the pace of price increases actually reached that point

UnitedHealth topped second-quarter forecasts but remains cautious about the year as it continues to eat costs from a massive cyberattack and deal with rising medical expenses

The pet rail project of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador could wind up costing as much as $30 billion

Britain’s new Labour Party government campaigned on a promise to bring bold change at modest cost

IT services company Infosys Ltd is expected to post strong sequential revenue growth in the first quarter ended June 2024, driven mainly by ramp up of large deals. The company will announce its results on July 18. Revenues for the first quarter are seen rising 2.5% quarter-on-quarter, according to an average estimate of four brokerages. Meanwhile, the same is likely to jump 2% year-on-year. The constant currency revenue growth is estimated to be up to 3% quarter-on-quarter.

Rasipuram has been ordered by the Namakkal district consumer disputes redressal commission (NCDRC) to compensate a patient with Rs 12 lakh within four weeks for a botched hernia surgery. This ruling was made on Tuesday regarding a case filed by M Raja, a 52-year-old resident of Rasipuram, detailing the negligence he faced during a surgery conducted in August 2021 by Dr. Ramesh at a private hospital in Rasipuram. In August 2021, M Raja consulted Dr. Ramesh at a private hospital after being diagnosed with a hernia. Dr. Ramesh recommended immediate surgery, which was estimated to cost Rs 60,000. However, complications arose during the surgery due to a shortage of carbon dioxide gas necessary for the procedure, causing it to be halted midway. When the required gas was acquired, the surgery resumed, but complications persisted as Raja regained consciousness due to the waning effect of anesthesia during the delay. «I felt great pain during the surgery but the nurses pinned me down to complete the surgery even though I asked them to stop,» Raja recounted.

Unit-Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) combine insurance and investment. In ULIPs, a portion of your premium goes towards providing insurance coverage and the remaining is invested in market-linked funds.Non-insurance savings options include bank deposits, post office schemes, mutual funds, and stocks. Bank deposits are safe and offer fixed returns.

Sheldon Kimber sees a lucrative opportunity in bottling sunshine. The 46-year-old entrepreneur is installing hundreds of giant batteries the size of shipping containers around sun-soaked Texas and California. The batteries charge up during the day when solar power is abundant.

Budget Expectations: Things seem to be falling comfortably into place for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yes, he lost seats in India’s recent general election — but he was, nevertheless, re-elected for a third term. Yes, he is dependent upon smaller allied parties for the first time in his political career. But those allies have been complaisant so far, and he has kept them out of major ministerial roles without any blowback. That period of calm may be coming to an end, however. Next week, India will unveil its tax-and-spending plans for the ongoing financial year, which ends in March 2025 — and, according to Reuters, the allies’ bills will come due. Also Read: Ally Naidu again seeks funds from Modi-govt before Budget

Logistics disruptions such as lack of container availability, irregular shipping schedule and ships skipping Indian ports impacted the country's exports growth during June, apex exporters' body FIEO said on Monday. After recording 12.8 per cent growth in May, India's merchandise exports rose by just 2.56 per cent to USD 35.2 billion in June. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwani Kumar said the third consecutive increase in merchandise exports shows the resilience of the sector. «Had it not been for the logistics disruptions such as lack of container availability, shipping space, irregular shipping schedule and ships skipping Indian ports, the exports would have recorded close to double-digit growth in June 2024,» he said in a statement.

Oil prices were steady on Wednesday, with global benchmark Brent hovering near the one-month low it hit in the prior session, as signs of weakening demand growth in China clashed with the prospect of declining U.S. oil stockpiles. Brent crude oil futures was down by 4 cents to $83.69 a barrel by 0315 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures also eased 4 cents to $80.72.

Ola Electric is expected to launch its public offering for subscription in the next few weeks at a discounted valuation of around $4 billion, a decrease of about a fourth from its last private funding round, multiple people aware of the details said. In September 2023, Ola Electric had snagged a value of $5.4 billion when it raised $140 million in a round led by Singapore's Temasek. The proposed listing will be among the largest new-economy IPOs this year, signalling a revival of public market debuts by technology-first companies. Ecommerce firm FirstCry is gearing up to launch its IPO soon while Swiggy has confidentially filed its draft papers with the markets regulator.

Tata Steel protect local jobs at its Port Talbot plant, before it approves the 500-million ($635 million) lifeline offered by the previous administration for building a low-carbon facility. «Decarbonisation does not mean deindustrialisation,» new UK business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told ET in a response to email queries. «I will be working to safeguard jobs as part of negotiations, securing the future of steel-making communities for generations to come.» In September 2023, Tata Steel announced plans for a new low-carbon electric arc furnace (EAF) at its Wales factory, to be commissioned in 2027. The project entails investment of 1.25 billion jointly with the UK government, and thus hinges upon final approval of the grant.

Even as the wealth management operations of the wirehouses benefit from a record breaking stock market, a stumbling block in the way of higher profits is emerging: the amount they are paying clients in interest for certain cash advisory accounts.

Go First airline are set to move towards liquidation of the airline after finding no headway between banks and the two prospective bidders, five months after bids were formally received for the Wadia Group-owned carrier, said people familiar with the matter. Lenders are putting final touches to a voting proposal seeking liquidation of the airline after both the bids — from a consortium of EaseMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti and SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh, and from Sharjah-based Sky One Aviation — were below their expectations. The voting proposal may be put up before the committee of creditors this week, the people said. «Some processes like selection of proposed liquidator, calculating the cost of liquidation and funding of liquidation are being done, after which the proposal will be put to vote this week,» said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified.

Canada’s annual inflation rate slowed to 2.7 per cent in June from 2.9 per cent a month earlier, a softening that removes at least one obstacle to another potential Bank of Canada interest rate cut next week.

Last week was a busy one for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Leaks undermining his finance minister surfaced, as did reports that he was courting former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. But the biggest splash was in the New York Post, which reported that Canada quietly spent US$6.63 million (C$9 million) to buy a lavish condo overlooking Central Park on Billionaires’ Row in Manhattan, which we later learned is meant to house our consul general, former broadcaster Tom Clark.

Canada’s large pensions are facing rising losses from real estate investments, according to a sector report by Fitch Ratings Inc., which concluded that fund titans are nevertheless well-positioned to absorb near-term market swings.

₹5,500-crore initial public offering.“Some of the weaker players have already fallen off over the last year, last few months, and the larger players - the top five- six people - are contributing to 80% plus of the industry... So, in one sense the consolidation has happened," Rakesh Sharma, executive director, Bajaj Auto, said at a post-earnings press conference.He emphasized that as Baja Auto and other electric two-wheeler makers widen their distribution networks and expand their product portfolios, Ola Electric will feel the heat.

A fresh wave of tariffs could revive inflation and pressure central banks to keep their key interest rates high, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday. In its latest report on the outlook for the global economy, the Fund said borrowing costs could also be pushed higher by a series of elections that may lead to a surge in already high levels of government borrowing. The Fund left its forecast for world economic growth this year unchanged at 3.2%, and raised its forecast for next year to 3.3% from 3.2%.