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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Every month, Mint’s Plain Facts section brings out an update on key global data to thread together the biggest developments in the world that are worth paying attention to. The accompanying analysis and charts explain how each story is creating ripples on the global stage, where it is headed in the coming weeks, and whether it can impact India.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp. is seeking to diversify its portfolio to shield its core business from volatile oil prices, said Arunangshu Sarkar, director for strategy at the state-run giant. The company’s multi-pronged approach involves entering the refining and petrochemical sectors, trading liquefied natural gas and growing its renewable capacity. According to the International Energy Agency, the world is entering an era of cheaper energy prices, with growing electricity use leading to a surplus of oil and gas. ONGC is among the several oil majors looking to diversify their business strategies as the global economy moves away from fossil fuels.

technical indicators as it gains momentum. The NSE Nifty 50 Index has risen more than 7% this month. Its 14-day relative strength index — a measure of the magnitude of recent price changes — has taken just 14 sessions to move from oversold to overbought territory, its fastest pace on record. A score below 30 is considered oversold and above 70 overbought.

«India's GDP will grow 6.5 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, we expect. Our forecast is the same as the outcome for the previous fiscal year, but less than our earlier forecast of 6.7 per cent,» S&P said. The forecast assumes that the upcoming monsoon season will be normal and that commodity- especially crude-- prices will be soft. Cooling food inflation, the tax benefits announced in the country's budget for the fiscal year ending March 2026, and lower borrowing costs will support discretionary consumption in India, S&P said. The global credit rating agency expects central banks in the Asia Pacific region to continue cutting benchmark interest rates through this year.

shares rose on Tuesday as investors awaited a German survey that could indicate the recent historic debt deal was improving business morale in the region's largest economy. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.3% at 0815 GMT. Most sectors advanced, with banks and energy being among the top gainers.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Following the re-election of President Donald Trump last November, there was a growing sense of optimism regarding the outlook for the economy and financial markets in 2025.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India has levied anti-dumping duties on five Chinese products that were being imported below market prices, raising suspicion of their being “dumped" here.

bilateral trade agreement, people familiar with the matter said. Brendan Lynch, US assistant trade representative for South and Central Asia, and a team of officials will visit India from March 25-29 as part of ongoing trade discussions, the US embassy in New Delhi said in a statement Monday. Officials in New Delhi are expected to make the case for a reprieve from reciprocal tariffs, which are scheduled to take effect on April 2, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. The two sides are expected to discuss a framework for a bilateral trade deal, after which formal negotiations would start, they said. Aside from trade officials, Lynch is also likely to meet Vikram Misri, India’s foreign secretary, during the visit, one of the people said. “We look forward to productive and constructive discussions with the incoming US delegation to expand and deepen our bilateral trade and economic ties in a mutually beneficial manner,” India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

The odds of a U.S. recession have risen amid an escalating trade war. But most investors should ignore the impulse to flee for safety by exiting the market, financial experts say.

AI) is unlikely to have as much material impact on organised-sector headcount in India as in the West, a top government official said Monday, as far fewer white-collar jobs are potentially at risk here than in the advanced industrial economies. «The reason we don't see it as much of a threat in India is possibly because we don't have as many white-collar jobs at stake, and we don't see as many office jobs at stake,» S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), told delegates at the ETTelecom 5G Congress. «Today's generative AI mostly replaces manual, repetitive work.» Rather, Krishnan said, AI's assistance can enhance workforce productivity. «The application of AI into the real segments of the economy, like manufacturing and agriculture, is really possible when there's an interplay between sensors, IoT devices communicating along 5G and 6G networks, going into a central server, collecting the data and putting it all together, so that it can work,» Krishnan said.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines to other sectors to create a circular economy, a senior government official said Monday. «We have identified 10-11 sectors with the help of Niti Aayog and hope to implement these circular economy policies (part of EPR) in other sectors as well,» said Ved Prakash Mishra, Joint Secretary, ministry of environment, forest & climate change (MoEF&CC) at a FICCI event. «We cannot rely anymore on the take, make and dispose model.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, already under pressure due to increasing authoritarian measures, now faces mass boycotts involving more than 50 million people. The question is no longer whether a crisis is coming—but how fast it will hit.

Sunil Gupta, Co-Founder, Managing Director & CEO, Yotta Data Services

Adityanath recalled that before 2017, Uttar Pradesh was categorised among India's lagging regions, or the 'BIMARU' states. However, in the last eight years, it has emerged as the driving force of the nation's economy, leading across multiple sectors, he emphasised. The chief minister said that before 2017, agriculture was completely neglected in Uttar Pradesh. Farmers had been struggling, and the sector was on a decline. Reforms under the «double-engine government» changed the situation significantly, he said. The state's agricultural growth rate, which was around 5 per cent in 2016-17, has now risen to over 13.5 per cent, he said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The World Development Report 2024 by the World Bank highlights a critical issue: emerging economies like India risk being caught in the ‘middle-income trap’, where stagnant productivity and an inability to harness innovation hinder their transition to high-income status.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. There are five pillars of the creator economy. So far in this book, we have been talking from the point of view of the creator, but the remaining four pillars govern how the creator interacts with the other parts of the ecosystem—of how the creator is making money, where the brands are coming in and how the ecosystem functions for the tech that is enabling all of this, with the audience never leaving the centre stage.

growth story among emerging markets, according to Gustavo Medeiros, Head of Research at Ashmore Group, a global investment manager. While the firm had taken a cautious tactical approach over the past year, it is now gradually rebuilding exposure to Indian equities. Speaking in an interaction with ETNow, Medeiros said, “Absolutely, the world loves India. It is the most exciting structural story in emerging markets.” He added that India's appeal has grown significantly over the last decade thanks to “economic policies [that] have been much more pro-market.”

capital formation is expected to be driven by the expanding bond markets, currently valued at $2.69 trillion, according to analysts at IndiaBonds.com. Data compiled by IndiaBonds.com, sourced from the Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), reveals that the Indian Bond Market stood at US$2.69 trillion at the end of December 2024, with the corporate bond market surpassing US$602 billion.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was reinstated on Monday as South Korea's acting president, is a technocrat whose experience and reputation as a safe pair of hands transcended party lines and helped him serve in senior posts under five presidents. Known as a seasoned economic, trade and foreign affairs specialist, Han, 75, was serving the second stint as the head of cabinet, when he became acting president on December 14 after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by parliament for leading a short-lived martial law. Two weeks later, Han himself was impeached after being accused of aiding Yoon in the martial law declaration and his powers suspended. He denied this but accepted some responsibility for the ensuing crisis by failing to dissuade Yoon from making the surprise move. On Monday, the Constitutional Court overturned his impeachment, restoring his powers to serve as leader while the country awaits the same court's ruling on Yoon's impeachment. In a country sharply divided by partisan rhetoric, Han has been a rare example of an official who has sought to stay out of the political fray.

US stock-index futures climbed in early Asia trading on signs that the next round of President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs could be more measured than had previously been suggested. S&P 500 futures rose, Japanese shares fluctuated between gains and losses in early trade, while Australia’s market fell. The dollar was softer against major peers, while the 10-year US Treasury yield advanced.

DSP Small Cap Fund, one of the oldest in the small-cap category since its launch in June 2007, remains among the few funds in its segment with no exposure to large-cap stocks. It continues to allocate around 90% of its corpus to small cap stocks, with the rest split between cash holdings (slightly higher than usual) and mid-cap stocks. This is despite the Nifty Small Cap index falling 21%so far in 2025, and 24% from its peak in December 2024. Of course, Sambre has paid the price. So far this year, the scheme has delivered a negative return of 19.2%. Acknowledging the risks of small-cap investing, Sambre remains firm in his approach: if investors seek a small-cap fund, they should expect a true, small-cap experience. Previously the sole manager of the fund, he now oversees DSP’s equity funds, which have a combined corpus of approximately Rs.1.08 trillion. Additionally, he co-manages three schemes, including the mid-cap and small-cap funds, worth Rs.30,000 crore.