President Financial News

(Reuters) — Slovaks vote in a presidential election on Saturday that could strengthen Prime Minister Robert Fico's grip on power as he seeks more control over public media, softer anti-corruption laws and a dissenting voice to EU support for Ukraine.

By David Shepardson and Rajesh Kumar Singh

In a Friday discussion at the Bitcoin Investor Day in New York, Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, shared insights on why he thinks Bitcoin is likely to continue trending higher.

Insurance companies' activity in India's government bond market continues at a tearing pace, with a particular type of favoured debt instrument seeing face value of trades surge 99% on-year from April to January, topping the ₹2 lakh crore mark. The face value of trades of Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal Securities, or STRIPS, in the government bond market has risen to ₹2.32 lakh crore in the first ten months of the current financial year against ₹1.16 lakh crore the same time a year ago, Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL) data showed. For FY23, the face value of STRIPS trades was at ₹1.34 lakh crore. «These (STRIPS) are suitable for the needs of insurance companies, as they enable them to manage their asset and liability risks. Life insurance companies, especially under traditional plans, have long-term liabilities, and instruments like long-term STRIPS help them reduce reinvestment risk and also increase the duration of their portfolios,» said Sachin Bajaj, executive vice president & head — investments, Max Life.

BJP on Friday decided to go alone in the upcoming Lok Sabha as well as assembly polls in Odisha after holding several rounds of discussion for a possible alliance with the BJD. As per sources, the BJP leadership, after getting a grassroots-level feedback on the prospects of the alliance in Odisha, felt that an alliance would benefit the BJD more than the BJP. Serious deliberations have been going on in the BJP for quite some time to explore the possibility of an alliance between the two parties. Sources in the BJP told ET that efforts were made by the top leadership of both the parties over an alliance in the state. Ever since VK Pandian, former IAS officer and the close aide of Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik joined politics, there was a murmur over an outsider taking control of the BJD as well as the state.

US Fed's plan to slash benchmark rates by the end of 2024. "The oil price has begun to appreciate since the International Energy Agency (IEA) on 14 March increased its demand forecast and reduced its supply forecast.

By Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth

The Biden administration has announced up to $475 million in federal funding for clean energy projects on current or former mine land sites

The Seattle Storm says Tricia McLean, the franchise's chief financial officer, has died

The Wall Street debut of Donald Trump’s Truth Social network could give him stock worth billions of dollars on paper

The European Union’s executive arm is proposing to member countries to impose tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus

New bipartisan legislation introduced in the House would require the identification and labeling of online content generated using artificial intelligence

Wall Street is easing off its record highs but is still heading toward the close of its best week for 2024 so far

A butcher shutting down his shop barely eight months after opening it

Former President Donald Trump launched his social media platform, Truth Social, in early 2022, after he was banned from major sites such as Facebook and the former Twitter following the Jan. 6 insurrection

French President Emmanuel Macron says he “regrets” the Senate’s vote to reject legislation to ratify a trade deal between the European Union and Canada

Hundreds of students in Nigeria rushed to get food donated to their school by the government to help ease hardship, triggering a stampede that left two dead and 23 others injured

Vietnam's president has resigned as the ruling communist party in the latest episode of a “blazing furnace” anti-corruption campaign

Russia and China on Friday vetoed a US-led draft resolution at the Security Council on a ceasefire in Gaza, with Moscow accusing Washington of a «hypocritical spectacle» that does not pressure Israel. The United States, Israel's main ally which has vetoed previous ceasefire calls, put forward the resolution which for the first time would have supported «the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire» and condemned the October 7 attack by Hamas.

Wipro has promoted six employees to senior vice president (SVP) roles and 25 others to vice president (VP) roles, as per an internal memo. Those elevated include Wipro's chief delivery officer Ajit Mahale, healthcare portfolio leader Anuj Kumar, Canada country head Kim Watson, Europe cloud sales head Srinivasaa HG, the head of its cloud arm's strategy and execution arm Satish Y and consulting unit Capco's chief financial officer (CFO) Benjamin Simon.

By Helen Coster and Svea Herbst-Bayliss