Country Financial News

Right around the start of November, two words suddenly disappeared from the chatter in the bond market: debt supply. As bond prices surged across the developed world day after day, sending yields tumbling and handing investors some much-needed profits, the angst about soaring budget deficits melted away.

will be infused into the group entity SMFG India Credit Co. The amount mopped up through the external commercial borrowing route would help to bolster the tier-I capital base of SMFG India Credit Co, formerly known as Fullerton India Credit, according to a statement on Wednesday.

International Labour Organisations has projected the global unemployment rate a tad higher at 5.2% in 2024 compared to 5.1% in 2023 and said that working poverty will persist while the income inequality will widen, suggesting a need for greater social justice for a sustainable recovery. In its World Employment and Social Outlook Trends: 2024 report, released on Wednesday, the ILO said labour markets have shown surprising resilience despite deteriorating economic conditions, but recovery from the pandemic remains uneven as new vulnerabilities and multiple crises are eroding prospects for greater social justice. According to the report, both the unemployment rate and the jobs gap rate, which is the number of persons without employment who are interested in finding a job, have fallen below pre-pandemic levels with the unemployment rate at 5.1% last year compared to 5.3% in 2022. “However, beneath these numbers fragility is starting to emerge,” it said, projecting that both the labour market outlook and global unemployment will worsen. “In 2024 an extra two million workers are expected to be looking for jobs, raising the global unemployment rate from 5.1% in 2023 to 5.2%.” As per the report, disposable incomes have declined in the majority of G20 countries and, generally, the erosion of living standards resulting from inflation is, “unlikely to be compensated quickly”. Pointing towards the differences between higher and lower income countries, ILO said the jobs gap rate in 2023 was 8.2%t in high-income countries while it stood at 20.5% in the low-income group.

Xi Jinping upgraded diplomatic ties with a record number of countries last year as he seeks to rally the Global South to help reshape the US-led world order. Beijing elevated the way it described ties with 17 countries and territories, most of them from the developing world, according to a Bloomberg analysis of statements issued by the foreign ministry. That’s a pace not seen during Xi’s first decade in office.

Dolly Khanna raised a stake in textile maker Deepak Spinners in the December quarter. The Chennai-based investor bought a 0.18% stake or 13,000 shares in the third quarter, according to exchange data. With the additional stake, Khanna's stake in the company increased to 1.83% at the end of December 2023 from about 1.65% at the end of September 2023. The company is majority-owned by public shareholders at 54.33%, while promoters own the rest of 45.67%, according to the latest shareholding data available with the exchanges. In the public holding, there is no significant stake by mutual funds and foreign investors, but retail investors own 25%. Deepak Spinners, one of the leading textile players, makes dyed synthetic yarn.

IPL 2024 Dates and Venue: Despite the upcoming general elections in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to host the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 in the country, an ANI report said. As per the report, the much-awaited annual sporting event is likely to start on March 22, the tournament's dates align closely with the announcement of the election schedule. Addressing concerns, a BCCI source told ANI, «There is nothing like that, to shift the tournament outside the country, as the general election will also be at the same time.

INDIA bloc partners should speed up their seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections in states such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Punjab where their prospects are better, National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters here, he said such talks for the seats in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh have not started yet. «We are a part of the INDIA alliance.

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) was the panacea for all economic ills. Now there's hardly a murmur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated the 10th Edition of Vibrant Gujarat in state capital Gandhinagar. Several heads of states and top industry captains attended the inauguration ceremony.  Amid high-pitched investments, we spoke with Finland’s Ambassador to India Kimmo Lähdevirta. Since January 1 this year, those who are interested in travelling to Finland and requiring a Schengen visa, will now need to provide details of more funds to qualify. 

Japan’s transportation ministry says it has introduced improved emergency measures for the country’s airports, a week after a fatal collision between a Japan Airlines jetliner and a coast guard plane at Tokyo’s busy Haneda airport that is seen as a res...

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders have given exceptional returns to their investors in the last 3 years. The stock surged from ₹218 in January 2021 to around ₹2,300 currently, rallying almost 955 percent in 3 years. This implies that an investment of ₹10,000 in this penny stock in January 2021 would have turned into ₹1.05 lakh this year.

Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan addressed the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 on Wednesday. The President's speech signified UAE's strong ties with India and PM Modi. Following his speech, the Prime Minister in a post on social media platform X, lauded the UAE President and said that his statements were very encouraging.

The fintech industry saw more pain in 2023, with overall investment falling by half as higher interest rates and worsening macroeconomic conditions caused investors to tighten their belts, according to global investment figures shared exclusively with CNBC.

Indian Navy is proactively deploying its fleet to keep the pirates away and confine them in their waters, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Hari Kumar said on Wednesday. After unveiling the indigenously manufactured Drishti 10 Starliner Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) by Adani Defence and Aerospace for the Navy, Hari Kumar said there have been about 35 drone attacks on ships largely on Israel-owned or flagged or related vessels in the Red Sea, North and Central Arabian Sea during the last 40-42 days.

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has been nominated once again by President Joe Biden to serve as the US's representative on the executive board of the World Health Organisation. The 46-year-old physician's nomination was re-sent as his confirmation to the position had been pending in the Senate since October 2022. He was confirmed by the US Senate in March 2021 to serve as the 21st Surgeon General of the country. He previously served as the 19th Surgeon General under President Barack Obama.

India has recorded 605 new cases of Covid, while the number of active cases of the infection has declined to 3,643, the health ministry said on Wednesday. Four deaths — two each from Karnataka and Kerala — have been reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am. The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, 2023 but cases began to increase after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.

chana dal retailed under the 'Bharat' brand has emerged as the biggest selling brand among householders with 1/4th market share in less than four months of its launch due to the price advantage, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said on Wednesday. Launched in October 2023, the Bharat-branded 'chana dal' has an edge because it is priced lower at Rs 60 per kg compared to other brands at around Rs 80 per kg, he said.

Ukraine war have fallen to an 11-month low as the price tag on the discounted oil rises, figures show. Since the invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, India has bought hundreds of millions of barrels of cut-price Russian crude, saving itself billions of dollars while bolstering Moscow's war coffers. The purchases have catapulted it to second place among Russia's customers behind China, and Indian officials have made no secret of their decision to prioritise national interest over international sanctions against Moscow. But the price of Russian crude has risen in the face of OPEC+ production cuts and increased demand from China, analysts say, making it less attractive to Indian customers. Indian refiners bought 1.45 million barrels per day of Russian oil last month, their lowest amount since last January and down nearly 16 percent from November, according to global energy trade intelligence platform Kpler. The «interplay between India and China» was a key driver of the change, Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at Kpler told AFP, «as both countries now vie for the same barrels». The biggest beneficiary of the change is Moscow: Russian crude has been trading above $85 per barrel, reports say, even though a coalition of the G7, EU and Australia imposed a $60 price cap a year ago. New Delhi's reduced imports will be welcomed by some European policymakers who have raised concerns over how Indian refiners have processed Russian crude into fuel for the European market, effectively bypassing the EU's sanctions. New Delhi and Moscow have ties dating back to the Cold War, and Russia remains by far the biggest arms supplier to the world's most populous country. India has shied away from explicit condemnations of Russia

Ayodhya for its consecration ceremony scheduled for January 22. Talking to reporters, Singh also dismissed the speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Ayodhya. «The opposition, which created hurdles in the construction of the temple at every step, should not be invited to Ayodhya at all,» he told reporters on the sidelines of a programme at Rasauli in the Safdarganj area of this Uttar Pradesh district on Tuesday evening.

Maruti Suzuki India will be investing a cumulative Rs38,200 crore in Gujarat as part of a broader plan to double the output in India to 4 million units by FY31. In his address at the Summit's inaugural event, T Suzuki, representative director and president Suzuki Motor Corp said that the Indian automobile market has been expanding steadily. As a result, India has become the third largest automobile market in the world. «We, Suzuki, has also scaled-up production capacity substantially in India, Suzuki said at the Summit.

Mint that the Adani group is exploring business opportunities and investment in the Baltic country, with both sides set to take forward the conversations at the Vibrant Gujarat summit. “In Vibrant Gujarat, we're going to meet the Adani group. I understand they have taken notice of Estonia and we are trying to take this conversation forward right right.