Economy Financial News

Indian economy is likely to grow 6.7% in FY24, according to a median forecast of 11 economists, staying resilient despite external headwinds as domestic demand and improving investments provide support. Prospects have improved from a month ago, when an ET poll pegged the current fiscal year's expansion at 6.3%. However, the median is still short of the recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) estimate.

tourism potential of the state. "We want to promote tourism in the state. We have opened eating joints, Dhaba, and restaurants that will function 24 hours a day, starting from December 20 to January 5.

₹10 trillion, which is almost three times the outlay of 2019-20. “India’s emphasis on sustainable solutions is expected to drive increased usage (of stainless steel) across traditional applications, process industries, and the household sector, as well as in emerging strategic sectors such as defence, aerospace, and the green and blue economies," Abhudhay Jindal, managing director of JSL said. Tata Steel sees growth in demand for steel to stay for the medium term.

Infosys share price impact: Infosys shares are anticipated to experience substantial volatility in Tuesday's trading session following the company's loss of a multi-year contract valued at USD 1.5 billion. Analysts expect shares of Infosys to open in the red in tomorrow's session.

Fed hiked interest rates by 5.5% — this, with “quantitative tightening program” of reduction in balance sheet, resulted in multi-decade high interest rates in the US and around the world. As a result, the foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows turned negative on emerging markets like India, leading to significant outflows and putting downward pressure on Indian equities at the start of the year. The year started with the persistence of inflation at elevated levels across economies, continuing geo-political uncertainties and tightening financial conditions.

The risk of escalating conflict in the Middle East is the latest in a string of unpredictable crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, that have landed like swipes of a bear claw on the global economy, smacking it off course and leaving scars.

crude oil purchased from the UAE is helping the world's third largest energy consumer push for taking the local currency global, as it looks for similar deals with other suppliers, officials said, adding internationalisation is a process and there are no targets. With the nation more than 85 per cent dependent on imports for meeting its oil needs, India has been pursuing a three-pronged strategy of buying from the cheapest available source, diversifying sources of supply and not breaching any international obligation like the price cap in case of Russian oil. While the strategy helped save billions of dollars, when it ramped up imports of Russian oil that was shunned by some in West post Ukraine war, it is looking to settle trade in rupees instead of dollars in a bid to cut transaction costs by eliminating dollar conversions. India in July signed an agreement with the UAE for rupee settlement and soon after Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) made payments for purchase of a million barrels of crude oil from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in Indian rupees. Some of the Russian oil imports too have been settled in rupee. Officials said the default payment currency for import of crude oil has been the US dollar for several decades and the currency traditionally has liquidity as well as lower hedging cost. But to boost the rupee's role in cross-border payments, the Reserve Bank of India allowed more than a dozen banks to settle trades in rupees with 18 countries since last year. Since then, India has been encouraging big oil exporters such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia to accept the Indian currency for trade settlements, officials said, adding the first success happened in August this year when IOC made the rupee

BANGKOK (Reuters) — Major Japanese auto manufacturers will invest 150 billion baht ($4.34 billion) in Thailand over the next five years, a Thai government spokesperson said on Monday, supporting the Southeast Asian country's transition to making electric vehicles.

The Indian real estate market witnessed an unprecedented surge in 2023, surpassing all expectations and setting new records. This dynamic market is now a beacon of opportunities for both domestic and international investors, propelling the economy to greater heights. Inflows into the Indian real estate sector soared to an impressive $5.1 billion in 2023, with land acquisitions accounting for a staggering 40 percent of this surge. Domestic developers took the lead, capturing 42 percent of overall investments, while international investment funds adopted a cautious approach. Despite projections of a tapering in capital inflow, strategic investments in residential and industrial sectors continue to drive the market forward.

– By Avikshit Moral and Mahek Chheda

As we approach the end of 2023, the Indian real estate market is experiencing robust growth and heightened sentiments, particularly in the residential segment. Investor and buyer preferences have undergone a paradigm shift, significantly shaping the trajectory of the realty market. The residential sector has been a beacon of stability, demonstrating substantial growth potential throughout 2023.

By Joydeep Sen

– By HDFC Asset Management Company Limited 

Investors are facing a myriad of uncertainties that pose substantial risks to the stability and performance of global markets – but as ever where there are risks, there are also significant opportunities.

As major economies of the world grappled with recession, Indian economy witnessed significant growth across sectors on the back of strong fundamentals, robust demand, and government-led investments. As per IMF’s World Economic Outlook Report in October 2023, Indian economy expanded by 7.2% in FY23, the highest amongst major economies of the world. Following the same trend, it is anticipated to grow by 6.3% in FY24 compared to 3% growth in the world economy. As a result, the real estate sector, which contributes significantly to India’s GDP and registered heightened real estate activities during the current year, is expected to maintain its growth momentum in 2024 as well.

Ajit Banerjee, Chief Investment Officer of Shriram Life Insurance Company says he is positive about the domestic market for 2024 and expects the foreign capital inflow to continue. Edited excerpts: Indian markets have undisputedly been one of the best-performing markets in the world in the calendar year 2023 (CY23).

Justin Trudeau says he knows young people are frustrated with him, and chief among those frustrations is the high cost of housing, which has left many young people feeling home ownership is out of reach.However, Trudeau denies critics who suggest the federal government only began taking the housing file seriously in the last few months.“We’ve actually made commitments that are adding up to about 300,000 new units over the coming decade. These are the kinds of things we need to accelerate, and there’s no one way of doing it.

The sources of their woes are very different, but similarly acute. Houthi militants, in a show of support of Hamas in its war with Israel, are attacking merchant ships as they sail past Yemen en route to — or from — Egypt’s Suez Canal.

wealth management race for leveraging the maximum out of UHNIs/family offices' investments, the entity that often loses the most is the investor. To understand this misaligned thesis better and identify the path towards a more investor-aligned process, it is imperative to observe the entire ecosystem and study its evolution over time. India, a developing economy, has only recently started witnessing a splurge in the population of the wealthy, and thus, the industry that manages this population’s wealth is also at its very nascent stage, hardly 30 years old. This implies that the value chain of wealth management is still far from reaching its most efficient state.

last Budget before general elections, Santosh Singh, fund manager of Motilal Oswal AMC, doesn't anticipate a multitude of significant announcements to be made. Apart from his expectations from the interim Budget and government's focus on manufacturing and development, he deconstructs the stupendous spike shown by the market and its likely reasons. Among many positive things likely to happen next year, the IT sector is expected to beat the expectations, says Santosh Singh in an email interview with Mint.

It matters when electricity is produced. A barrel of oil may be a barrel of oil whether it is pumped at midday or midnight, but a megawatt hour (mwh) of electricity is worth a great deal less when you are sleeping than during the middle of the day or, indeed, during moments when everyone decides to boil the kettle. The difficulty of bottling electricity makes its economics unusual: it is a question not just of “how much" but also “when".