COST Financial News

Jerome Powell repeated that the US central bank isn't in any rush to cut interest rates. «We don't need to be in a hurry to cut,» Powell said Friday at an event at the San Francisco Fed. Fresh inflation data released earlier is «pretty much in line with our expectations,» he said. But Powell reiterated it won't be appropriate to lower rates until officials are confident inflation is on track toward their 2% goal.

YES Bank has revised certain features of all its credit cards except the 'private' credit card variant. For some variants of the bank's credit cards, the changes are limited to the fuel surcharge category. For all other variants except 'private', these changes are related to the calculation of the spend threshold for waiver of the annual fee and joining fee. There is also a change in terms of an additional charge for utility transactions. All of these revised changes are applicable from May 1, 2024. «These changes shall adversely affect all YES Bank credit card holders except those with the super-premium Private credit card variant,» says Ankur Mittal, CTO and co-founder, of Card Insider, a credit card comparison website. Also read: Axis Bank stops redemption of credit card reward points earned by these customers.

AI-augmented web search is at our fingertips already The Information reported that Microsoft would likely finance the project, which is expected to be 100 times more costly than some of the biggest existing data centers, citing people involved in private conversations about the proposal. The proposed U.S.-based supercomputer would be the biggest in a series the companies are looking to build over the next six years, the report added. The Information attributed the tentative cost of $100 billion to a person who spoke to Altman about it and a person who has viewed some of Microsoft's initial cost estimates.

₹15.14 trillion at the end of February. During the six-month period between August and January, bank loans to NBFCs grew at an average of around 21%, a CareEdge Ratings report said on Thursday, against 28-30% in the 12 months earlier. Costlier bank loans also prompted many NBFCs to turn to the bond market.

Kalyan Jewellers, Tanishq, Malabar Gold & Diamonds, Joyalukkas and Senco Gold are staying away from lab-grown diamonds (LGDs) citing low demand and an aversion to mixing them with natural stones at counters. Nonetheless, the buzz over such stones — much cheaper than natural diamonds and indistinguishable from them — is getting louder, with higher sales in markets such as the US and government stimulus budgeted in India. Top retailers still feel the local market is not yet ready to accept LGDs like the US, as artificial diamonds are popularly considered fashion jewellery and not an asset with resale value.

Anchorage Daily News reported. The transportation department released a video of the robot climbing rocks, going up stairs and doing something akin to dancing while flashing green lights. Those dancing skills will be put to use this fall during the migratory bird season when Aurora imitates predator-like movements to keep birds and other wildlife from settling near plane infields.

slammed into the bridge in the predawn darkness Tuesday, toppling the span and killing six construction workers. Whether those tugs could have averted the disaster with the Dali already out of control is debatable.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) has terminated 50% of its Technology & Innovation Centre (TIC) staff in Bengaluru to optimise costs and boost its operating margin, the company said in a statement. ZEE has also restructured the TIC and streamlined its scope of work following the board's guidance. The ZEE board had recently asked the management team to reduce TIC expenditure by 50% from ₹600 crore for FY25. Under the new structure, the TIC plans to enhance its content creation, distribution, and monetisation processes by utilising technology-driven tools to gain deeper consumer preferences.

Easter baskets this year. Chocolate eggs and bunnies are more expensive than ever as changing climate patterns eat into global cocoa supplies and the earnings of farmers in West Africa. About three-quarters of the world's cocoa — the main ingredient in chocolate — are produced on cacao trees in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon. But dusty seasonal winds from the Sahara were severe in recent months, blocking out the sunlight needed for bean pods to grow. The season prior, heavy rainfall spread a rotting disease. With exports from the Ivory Coast, the world's top producer, down by a third in recent months, the global price of cocoa has risen sharply. Cocoa futures have already doubled this year, trading at a record high of more than $10,000 per metric ton in New York on Tuesday after rising more than 60% the previous year. Farmers who harvest cacao beans say the increases aren't enough to cover their lower yields and higher production costs.

Also Read: Fed need not be in hurry to cut rates, inflation data within expectations: Jerome Powell In the 12 months through February, PCE inflation --which strips out the volatile food and energy components, advanced 2.5 per cent after increasing 2.4 per cent in January. The data for January was revised higher to show the PCE price index climbing 0.4 per cent instead of 0.3 per cent as previously reported. Goods prices rose 0.5 per cent last month, boosted by a 3.4 per cent jump in the cost of gasoline and other energy products.

Bitcoin’s highly anticipated halving event is just weeks away and the crypto market is abuzz with renewed optimism. This halving event reduces the Bitcoin mining rewards by half.  Historically, slashing events have preceded massive bull runs as scarcity takes hold.

Ahmedabad turning her celebratory mood into a frustrating mess. The Vadodara District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission recently imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the boutique, La Vichitra, for causing «mental trauma» to the woman. The incident unfolded when the complainant, Deepika Dave of Ahmedabad, visited the boutique in October 2017 to have three matching blouse pieces stitched for saris she had purchased elsewhere. Additionally, she provided two dresses for her daughter's stitching, paying a total of Rs 5,000 for the job. Upon trying on the garments in November 2017, Dave discovered that all three blouses and her daughter's dresses were improperly stitched. Despite her request for the boutique to rectify the issue at no extra cost, the owner refused.

The Biden administration has restored rules to protect imperiled plants and animals that had been rolled back under former President Donald Trump

NEW DELHI : Chocolates could get more expensive, smaller (although perhaps not noticeably, a typical shrinkflation trait), or simply have less cocoa in them in a few months if cocoa prices aren’t tamed by then. These are the primary options chocolate and candy makers as well as those selling cookies and ice creams are weighing after global cocoa prices touched record highs earlier this week. India imports a significant volume of the primary ingredient that goes into making chocolates.

insurance policies in electronic format. Very similar to how investors hold shares in a demat account. In a notification «Protection of Policyholders’ Interests, Operations and Allied Matters of Insurers Regulations, 2024» dated March 20, 2024, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said, «Every insurer shall have in place a Board approved policy for insurance policies issued in electronic form...» «Irrespective of whether the proposal is received in electronic form or otherwise, every insurer shall issue insurance policies only in the electronic form,» the regulator said. To issue policies in the electronic format, the insurers must fulfill two conditions: a) Provided that the authority, on being satisfied that it is in the interest of policyholders and for orderly growth of the insurance industry, allow such exemptions to this requirement; b) Provided further that the insurer shall mandatorily seek the choice of the prospect in the proposal form for availing physical policy document, IRDAI said.

Securing a personal loan at the best interest rates doesn’t necessarily require advanced negotiation skills. Since personal loan interest rates vary, it’s essential to shop around to determine which financial institution aligns best with your needs. To start, obtain quotes from various lenders, including banks, credit unions, and online lenders. Below are some suggestions for negotiating improved terms on your personal loan. 

Bollywood Life, “will name the bungalow", a ₹250 crore property, in their daughter Raha Kapoor's name, making her the youngest and wealthiest child in Bollywood. Late veteran actor Raj Kapoor and his wife Krishna Raj owned the bungalow. Ranbir Kapoor will inherit this ancestral property being the only grandson in the Kapoor family.

revenue generation is weighing on digital payments startups, offsetting surging business volume due to the widespread adoption of digital payments in the country. Payment processing charges, which fintech firms need to pass on to technology providers, banking partners or payment networks like the National Payments Corporation of India, Visa or Mastercard, have skyrocketed in recent times for most of the fast-growing players.

Gen AI) use cases by this year end, SAP's first chief AI officer Philipp Herzig told ET, helping boost sales in a revenue stream that's expected to garner a disproportionate share of the future P&L at the enterprise software major. Creating a new AI-focused unit under Herzig’s leadership, SAP currently has almost 30 different use cases or tasks in the customer experience, HR and documentation, sales and services domains are accomplished via Gen AI.

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison and an $11.02 billion fine, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled in Manhattan federal courthouse Thursday morning.

With the future of the Labor Department’s proposed retirement security rule currently underreview, advisors remain focused on their clients’ rollovers from 401(k) plans.