International Financial News

After announcing its fourth quarter results last week, Bank of America is due to announce its bonuses next week and when it does, there may be disappointment. Bank of America could benefit from disappointing a few people; they won't leave. 

BEIJING — Major international investment banks expect China's economy to grow at a slower pace in 2024 than in 2023, according to annual forecasts released in the last few months.

TV screens through streaming sticks, smart TVs, and set-top boxes, according to a NielsenIQ study commissioned by Amazon. While mobile is the primary mode of streaming content due to the wide reach of smartphones and affordable data plans, the study states that this is beginning to change in big cities. It added that consumers prefer watching streaming content on TV due to better video and sound quality, coupled with the convenience of accessing a variety of content across OTT providers. The study, conducted among 800 NCCS A consumers of 25-45 age groups in December 2023 across 12 major cities, also states that 66% of respondents binge-watch for over five hours on weekends and less than three hours during the weekdays. Around 97% of respondents prefer streaming content around dinner time with family with 74% of them watching content with family, especially their spouses and children. Comedy, followed by sports, thrillers, romantics, horror, international TV shows, and news, are the most popular content genres that consumers stream on TV, as per the study. Parag Gupta, director and country manager, Amazon Devices India, said online video and the streaming habits of consumers have come a long way since its inception. «What has remained a constant is our preference to view content on the biggest screen in our homes — the television,» he added.

NEW DELHI : India plans to announce an extension to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship federal housing scheme in next month's budget and an increase in available subsidies for low-cost housing loans, three sources said, ahead of elections this year. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who will present an interim budget on February 1, is likely to raise allocations for low-cost housing by more than 15% to ₹1 trillion ($12 billion) for 2024/25 from ₹79,000 crore in the 2023/24 budget, two of the government sources said.

NEW DELHI : India is taking a tough stand on non-tariff barriers being imposed on Indian exports by other countries and would also take similar measures on a reciprocal basis, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. He asked the industry to share a list of such measures so that India can flag them with the respective nations. Many of India's exports suffer due to such barriers which include cumbersome prior registration requirements, higher pesticide levels, and unreasonable domestic standards/rules in many countries.

Economists have been planning for the possibility of recession in 2024 — technical or otherwise — for months. But some on the outlook panel suggested the gloomier scenarios may be overdone and that Canada might avoid a recession altogether. “We’re reasonably optimistic that we avoid a recession, in the traditional sense of the word,” panelist Jean-François Perrault said, adding that while there’s no question the economy has slowed, households are hanging in there. That provides some comfort that some of the worst potential outcomes won’t materialize.

After becoming the first new addition to a prestigious club of United Kingdom bond dealers since 2011, Bank of Montreal is looking to use the role as a springboard into European debt markets.

The parent company of Burger King is buying out its biggest franchisee in the U.S. for about $1 billion

strikes in Syria and Iraq, Iran has sought to «flex its muscles» in the fallout of the Israel-Hamas war without provoking a confrontation with the United States, analysts said. In neighbouring Iraq, the strikes by Iran's Revolutionary Guards targeted an alleged Israeli «spy headquarters» in the autonomous Kurdish region in response to the assassination of Iranian and pro-Iranian commanders in recent weeks. In Syria, the strikes targeted the Islamic State jihadist group in response to twin suicide bombings that killed around 90 people at an official memorial event in southern Iran earlier this month.

Market expectations for rapid interest-rate cuts are a bit premature because the battle against inflation isn’t yet over, International Monetary Fund official Gita Gopinath said. 

Yesterday marked Martin Luther King Day, a federal holiday since 1983. Historically, the market has exhibited a positive average reaction on the Friday before and a weaker performance on the following Tuesday. Here are the figures:

Qatar’s prime minister has warned of the massive destruction inflicted by Israel’s offensive on Gaza and criticized the Israeli defense minister’s rejection of a cease-fire in the battered enclave

Ram Mandir has drawn attention of pilgrims and tourists alike, eager to witness the grandeur of this architectural marvel. In this article, we unveil the best routes and guide you on how to reach Ayodhya, ensuring a seamless journey to experience the spiritual aura surrounding the Ram Mandir. By Flight For those seeking a swift journey, air travel is the most convenient option.

Karma Energy Ltd.(up 4.98%), GE T&D India Ltd.(up 3.99%), Power and Instrumentation(Gujarat)Ltd.(up 2.38%), Kalpataru Projects International Ltd.(up 2.34%), Indowind Energy Ltd.(up 1.83%), KEC International Ltd.(up 0.74%), Voltamp Transformers Ltd.(up 0.42%) and Hitachi Energy India Ltd.(up 0.29%) stood among the top gainers. Jyoti Structures Ltd.(down 5.02%), Indo Tech Transformers Ltd.(down 5.00%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd.(down 4.71%), Suzlon Energy Ltd.(down 4.11%), RattanIndia Power Ltd.(down 3.73%), KPI Green Energy Ltd.(down 3.34%), Inox Wind Ltd.(down 2.95%), SJVN Ltd.(down 2.59%), Orient Green Power Company Ltd.(down 2.56%) and Inox Wind Energy Ltd.(down 2.47%) were among the top losers of the day.

Tata Technologies, a marquee entrant to the bourses in recent times, will announce its quarterly results for the first time since listing on January 25. «A meeting of the Board of Directors of Tata Technologies is scheduled to be held on January 25, 2024, to consider and approve the audited standalone and consolidated financial results for the quarter ended December 2023,» the company said in a filing. For the six months ended September period, the company's total income rose 35% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 2,587 crore and net profit was up 36% to Rs 352 crore in the same period. The company derives significant revenues from its top 5 clients (73% in FY23) including Tata Motors. Over FY 21-23, Tata Tech's revenue, EBITDA, and net profit grew at a CAGR of 36.2%, 45.9% and 61.5%, respectively. Return ratios – RoE and RoIC improved by 971 bps (to 20.9%) and 308 bps (to 36.3%) in FY23. The IPO from the Tata Group company was lapped up by investors with overwhelming interest.

₹ 3,605.7, hit on Monday. On Tuesday, L&T said that its construction arm has bagged a “mega" order, valued between ₹ 10,000 crore and ₹ 15,000 crore for constructing a high-speed electrification system for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. This significant domestic contract is expected to bolster L&T’s order book and revenue stream.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said that tech innovations should not be used as a way to restrict or contain other countries.

Edtech startup Unacademy has appointed Pratik Dalal as CFO of its offline centres business, CEO Gaurav Munjal told employees in an internal memo on Tuesday. Dalal was most recently heading business finance at Cred, prior to which he was VP of business finance at Flipkart.

Mahindra & Mahindra has told the government there must be a level playing field between domestic and foreign players and local manufacturing must be promoted, a top executive said, as New Delhi seeks to lure carmakers such as Tesla. Mahindra and Tata Motors have pressed Indian officials privately not to lower import taxes of 100% on electric vehicles and protect domestic firms and their foreign investors as the government reviews Tesla's plans to enter the market, Reuters reported last month. Asked about Tesla's entry and New Delhi's planned policy to lower import taxes, Mahindra Managing Director Anish Shah said his company had made representations to Indian officials saying global EV makers must be nudged to invest in India. «It should be a level playing field and investing in India is important,» Shah told Reuters in an interview at the World Economic Forum annual meeting, without referring to Tesla by name. «Our approach is essentially to create a stronger industry in India, and not to be in a situation where manufacturing is done outside India, and India just becomes an importer of products,» he added. India sold 4 million cars last year and just 82,000 of those were EVs, but the nascent segment clocked sales growth of 115% versus the previous year. Mahindra has raised around $400 million from Singapore's Temasek and British International Investment, while private equity firm TPG and Abu Dhabi state holding company ADQ invested $1 billion in 2021 in Tata. Shah said Mahindra has plans to list its EV unit, but not before 2029 «because we need to be able to show significant success in that business.» «For us, electric is the future,» he said. Tesla has proposed setting up an Indian factory but also demanded

Federal Bank is in the process of exploring both internal and external candidates for the position of managing director and chief executive officer for the bank as the term for current head Shyam Srinivasan would come to an end on September 22. The bank is in the process of launching a search since the Reserve Bank of India advised it to submit new names of new candidates responding to the bank's request for a one year extension for Srinivasan. After announcing the bank's quarterly results, Srinivasan said that RBI is perhaps not «inclined to give a one-year extension» to him and may prefer a candidate who can serve for a longer period. RBI does ot allow an incumbent head to continue for more than 15 years.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), does not see cryptos anywhere near the Dollar in stature.