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Travelers, truckers and shippers worldwide can thank the U.S. for helping keep a lid on oil and gasoline prices this year. A year ago, Wall Street analysts were predicting the international benchmark for oil prices would surge from around $85 a barrel to well over $100 in 2023.

Mid-cap and smallcap investors saw an even faster rise in wealth. Many IPOs delivered outstanding returns as investors rushed to new offerings amid a dearth of reasonably valued stocks in secondary market.

digital era, a seismic shift has occurred in the realm of celebrity endorsements. The traditional luminaries of Bollywood industry are now sharing the limelight with a new breed of influencers — the creators.

equities had in December saw as many as 250 smallcap stocks giving double-digit returns in the month. However, the number was still far less than that in November. In November, when Nifty 50 gave over 5% returns, 334 smallcap stocks registered double-digit returns.

Sunny Agrawal, Head of Fundamental Equity Research, SBI Securities, said. In an interview with ETMarkets, Agrawal said: “BFSI, Real Estate, Auto, Cement, Engineering/Cap Goods, Infra, Railways, Defence, Renewables, IT, Biofuels etc are the preferred picks for next 12 months,” Edited excerpts: Sensex touched 70K while Nifty50 was above 21K – we got a Fed boost towards the close of the week. What is your view on the market? From the next 6 to 12 months perspective, we expect the domestic equity market to remain buoyant and have room to further go up by 8-10%.

Gold vs stock market: As we welcome the dawn of 2024, it is important to scrutinize how different risky assets delivered in 2023. After end of last trade session of 2023 on Friday, Nifty 50 index has given 19.42% return in YTD, BSE Sensex surged 18.10% in 2023 whereas Nifty Bank index gained around 11.80 per cent in 2023. In year-to-date (YTD) time, small-cap index skyrocketed 46.30% while mid-cap index shot up 44.70 per cent in this time.

Waaree Energies, on Friday, filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator Sebi to raise ₹3,000 crore. The company will issue 3.2 million shares, with major shareholder Waaree Sustainable Finance (formerly known as Mahavir Thermoequip) selling up to 2.7 million shares.

equities in 2023 were the highest ever in a calendar year as optimism over the economy's prospects in a slowing world, the US Federal Reserve's signal that it will cut rates in 2024 and expectations of the Bharatiya Janata Party returning to power in the next year's general elections drove a flood of money into stocks here. Market watchers said overseas investors may be less enthusiastic about pumping similar amounts into Dalal Street in the new year with rich share valuations seen as the key deterrent to large allocations. Foreign portfolio investors poured ₹1,74,663 crore into the domestic stock market in 2023, bettering the previous record of ₹1,72,849 crore in 2020.

Emerging markets are set to close out 2023 with their best returns in years, as bets on bigger and faster US interest-rate cuts propelled a blistering late-year rally across the developing world. MSCI's benchmark stock gauge for emerging-market equities is on track for a 6.7% advance this year, snapping a two-year losing streak. Its currency equivalent index is headed for a 4.7% gain, its biggest yearly rise since 2017. On debt markets, bonds in emerging-market currencies are eyeing gains of 6.3%, the best since 2020, while dollar-denominated debt has reaped an 11% return, the most in four years. The cost of insuring exposure to emerging markets has also eased, with credit default swaps across 22 sovereign issuers sliding an average 72 basis points to levels last seen in September 2021.

investors, it is important to ensure that market bubbles are avoided through policy, regulation, education and supply of good quality securities, said Uday Kotak, founder, Kotak Mahindra Bank. Outlining a financial sector model for 9% annual growth and a GDP of $30 trillion by 2047 on microblogging platform X, Kotak said on Friday that a tussle between the «saver/borrower» and «issuer/investor» model was currently underway. «Many investors have joined post Covid. They have mainly seen upside.

income tax department posted on X. Importantly, after filing any ITR (belated, revised, or updated), it needs to be verified within the next 30 days. If not, the income tax department won’t process it.

India has banned ByteDance-owned TikTok and several other Chinese apps, there is one company based there that’s very active in the country — BabyBus. Experts have raised questions over the handling of Indians’ data by the company that provides customised free digital content primarily for children up to age eight through over 200 gaming apps.

non-compete clauses as part of employment contracts by employers while making top management employee appointments. Yet lawsuits against employees for contract violations are not a frequent phenomenon in India. What happened?

Indian film industry, in general and for Bollywood in particular, with four Hindi films crossing ₹500 crore each in box-office earnings and the gross box-office collections projected to touch a new high of ₹12,000 crore. Bollywood's resurgence has been driven by diverse content offerings, innovative marketing, and pent-up demand among audiences for experiencing movies on the big screen notwithstanding the rise of streaming platforms, industry executives and experts said. While star-studded films like Gadar 2, Pathaan and Animal did send the cash registers ringing, mid-budget films such as 12th Fail and Sam Bahadur have performed reasonably well. After a challenging 2022, Bollywood delivered four films — Gadar 2, Pathaan, Jawan, and Animal — with box-office earnings of over ₹500 crore. In 2022, the gross box-office collection of ₹10,637 crore was driven largely by South Indian films KGF: Chapter 2, RRR and Kantara, according to a report of consultancy firm GroupM-Ormax Media.

government's fiscal deficit in the first eight months of this fiscal year hit 50.7% of the annual target, compared with 58.9% a year before, as a tight leash on spending in recent months on top of improved tax collections kept the deficit under control, according to official data released on Friday. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit until November dropped below the level a year earlier, for the first time this fiscal year. Between April and November, the deficit touched ₹9.07 lakh crore, compared with ₹9.78 lakh crore a year before. The fiscal gap in November narrowed more than a half to ₹1.03 lakh crore from ₹2.20 lakh crore a year earlier, thanks to lower tax devolution to states, a contraction in revenue spending and only a marginal increase in capital expenditure. The lower deficit further lends credence to the official assertion that the FY24 deficit target of 5.9% of GDP will be met, amid fears the nominal economic growth may trail the budgeted goal (10.8% after the base revision).

What happened?

OpenAI regarding the challenging matter of pricing and terms for licensing their content to the artificial intelligence company. The veil of secrecy surrounding these negotiations was lifted this week as The New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging copyright infringement. The claim asserted that both companies utilized Times' content without authorization in the development of artificial intelligence products. Prior to taking legal action, The New York Times had been in extended talks with these entities about a potential agreement. Other news organizations, including Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper company; News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal; and IAC, the digital giant behind The Daily Beast and Dotdash Meredith, have also been in discussions with OpenAI, according to individuals familiar with the confidential negotiations.

Quiver Quantitative — The year 2023 emerged as a period of surprising market resilience, defying Wall Street's grim forecasts and manifesting a significant stock rally. Contrary to expectations, the S&P 500 (SPY) and Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) experienced significant gains, with the latter achieving its best performance since the dot-com era. This upsurge reflects the enduring impact of consumer demand that has been driving growth and inflation since the pandemic's onset.

Mint we are constantly trying to evolve and keep up with your needs. We’ve come up with new formats to deliver the news to you. Often it could be explanations dressed up as news.

Chinedu Albert, a legal expert specializing in Nigerian tech and innovation, has attributed the challenges facing the adoption of the eNaira, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s digital currency (CBDC), to a previous crypto ban.

Covid-19 cases, according to Union Health Ministry data. As per official data, six deaths have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours - two in Maharashtra, and one each in Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, and West Bengal. Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Former DG, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has warned that the JN.1 Covid-19 variant is more transmissible, and infectious, as compared to other variants.