Economy Financial News

BHP chief executive Mike Henry says an unprecedented era of government funding for “critical minerals” ventures risks distorting markets, and governments could achieve a broader benefit by speeding up project approvals rather than giving “sugar hits” to individual projects.

Fast food chain Guzman y Gomez will have two chief executives running the company as it prepares for an initial public offering which founder Steven Marks says could happen late next year.

NEW DELHI : Private investments are expected to pick up thanks to a rise in domestic demand and high capacity utilization, the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Business Confidence Index (CII-BCI) survey showed. Two-thirds of the survey’s respondents expect sales and new orders to increase in the second quarter of FY24 faster than in the previous quarter, while half the respondents (53%) feel that capacity utilization in their company would be 75-100% in the September quarter.

Mumbai: Until March, the market for initial share sales in India had been moribund this year and badly in need of stimulus to come back to life. It took a condom maker to revive the sagging market for initial public offerings (IPOs). Mankind Pharma Ltd, the New Delhi-based maker of the Manforce brand of male contraceptives, raised ₹4,326 crore in a blockbuster IPO in April, almost seven times the entire amount raised by three companies that went public in the first three months.

Foreign Portfolio investors (FPIs) have dumped Indian equities worth Rs 8,000 crore in the first week of October on the back of dollar appreciation and the steady rise in the US bond yields. This came after FPIs turned net sellers in September and pulled out Rs 14,767 crore. Before the outflow, FPIs were incessantly buying Indian equities in the last six months from March to August and brought in Rs 1.74 lakh crore during the period.

China’s investment in the Lithium battery industry is seemingly coming back to haunt the country’s smaller battery manufacturers who have invested billions to take advantage of the growing demands as well as the subsidies provided by the government. China’s battery manufacturers are expected to produce 4,800 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries by 2025 while the demand for such batteries is shrinking by the hour. This is not only quadruple of the demand sought by the country’s EV makers, but is also ultimately going to lead to the closure of battery manufacturers that operate in smaller sizes. As per reports from private companies operating in the lithium industry, the production capacity at China’s battery factories is estimated to reach more than twice the demand levels in the country, approximately for 22 million EVs. China, globally accounts for the largest share in processing some of the most essential materials required to produce batteries; such as 65% of the world’s lithium, 74% of cobalt, 100% of graphite and 42% of copper processing units.

Tata Consultancy Services. In the week gone by too, volatility saw benchmark indices swing between gains and losses, but eventually ended flat. The Nifty 50 settled at 19,653 points and Sensex at 65,995 points.

Treasury yields surged this week, sparking a broader selloff in global bond markets as investors brace for higher interest rates for longer. Longer-dated US government yields reached levels last seen in the financial crisis, fueled in part by strong job-market data. That culminated with a report at the end of the week showing employment unexpectedly surged last month, bolstering the case for another Federal Reserve rate hike. Governments took advantage of cheap borrowing costs during the pandemic to safeguard their economies.

Read more. Four more remains were discovered on October 7, and the death toll from the Sikkim flash flood reached 30. There are currently 81 persons missing, for whom search efforts are underway.

British Parliament that both sides had already closed the majority of chapters, but added that his country would accept only a “fair and reciprocal” trade deal. A year later, hard negotiations are still continuing. UK PM Rishi Sunak said last month that there was progress in talks but he “won’t rush” into a deal.

Tokyo is constantly recreating itself

An unforeseen burst of hiring last month has lifted hopes that the economy will prove durable once again, even as an array of threats lie ahead

Tourism in China has bounced back to pre-pandemic levels during a recent eight-day national holiday, giving a temporary boost to the nation’s flagging economy

Wall Street rallied in a whipsaw Friday and erased its morning losses after looking deeper into the nuances of a surprisingly strong report on the U.S. job market

Taiwan's economy minister has confirmed that regulators are investigating four Taiwanese companies suspected of helping China’s Huawei Technologies to build semiconductor facilities

Real estate consultants and developers welcomed the RBI MPC decision on Friday to keep the repo rate unchaged for the fourth consecutive time, which was much needed albeit the looming inflationary pressure arising from the rising crude prices and rupee depreciation.

How you manage your money decides how well you can utilise it for your own well-being as well as for your loved ones. If not managed well, money can become a source of stress for many people. It can take a personal toll on people, impacting their quality of sleep and even their mental health. However, not everyone can manage their money and future financial needs on their own. This is where professional financial planners come in to support people in taking control of their financial lives. However, are such planners really effective? A study commissioned by the Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB) suggests they do.

The recent upsurge in luxury housing sales can be attributed to various factors, including the pandemic. Lockdowns and the rise of the work-from-home concept underscored the importance of expansive, better homes and self-sufficient apartment complexes. These complexes offer residents a wide range of facilities, from shopping to entertainment, says Nayan Raheja of Raheja Developers Limited.

Startup India scheme. In 2022, Indian startups attracted a whopping $42 billion in funding, a substantial leap from the previous year's $16 billion which underscores their pivotal role in India's aspiration to achieve a $5 trillion economy goal. However, India's tech space has seen a huge decline in funding this year.

Luxembourg, renowned as the wealthiest European Union member per capita, finds itself grappling with a dire housing crisis, thrusting it into the spotlight as the nation's 660,000 residents prepare for the upcoming elections. Pascale Zaourou, a dedicated teacher and mother of three, sheds light on the hurdles of securing affordable housing, stating, «On the private market, renting a two-bedroom apartment costs a minimum of 2,000 euros, posing significant challenges for single-income households.» She underscores the acute scarcity of affordable housing, particularly impacting young individuals and single-parent families. Antoine Paccoud, a researcher at the Housing Observatory, substantiates these concerns by revealing that «an increasing number of Luxembourgers are seeking refuge across borders in countries like Germany, Belgium, or France, drawn by more reasonable rent and property prices.» Despite its robust financial services-driven economy, Luxembourg grapples with a stark contrast in housing affordability. The average net earnings for a single worker in Luxembourg in 2022 reached a staggering 47,000 euros, ranking as the highest within the EU. In the capital city, newly constructed apartments command prices of 13,000 euros per square meter, while older units fetch approximately 10,700 euros.

₹70,000 crore in foreign investment, with an additional ₹25,000 crore expected soon. “The unstable and erratic tax environment will impact not only online gaming sector, but the entire start-up sector," the minister said. Last month, Mint reported that the government is in process of sending out retrospective GST claims as high as ₹1.5 trillion across the entire gaming industry, claiming real-money gaming firms to qualify under gambling.