Reports Financial News

When it comes to financing deals, don’t count out the big Wall Street banks quite yet. A big narrative in recent years has been that America’s biggest deposit-taking investment banks are losing ground to their nonbank rivals, the likes of Blackstone and Apollo Global. One worry for banks was that private credit—meaning, in this context, lending directly to businesses by alternative-asset fund managers, insurers and others—was going to eat into investment banks’ business originating loans and distributing them to investors.

Q4 results preview: Retail sector demand remains muted, soft recovery await in value space; Trent, DMart likely outliers According to brokerage firm Elara Capital, InterGlobe Aviation (Indigo) and SpiceJet are likely to report a combined adjusted profit after tax (PAT) of ₹23.4 billion in Q4FY24 versus ₹33.2 billion in Q3FY24 and ₹6.2 billion in Q4FY23. The firm further highlighted that FY25 may witness muted demand growth in the first half (H1) due to grounding of 75 fleet for Indigo and pilot issues at Vistara.

A measure of underlying US inflation topped forecasts for a third straight month in March, signaling persistent price pressures that will likely delay any Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts until later in the year.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday gave guidance to BJP leaders in the state's Porbandar district on winning the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and assembly bypoll there with record margins, a party functionary said. The ruling party has fielded Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya for the Porbandar Lok Sabha seat, while Congress turncoat Arjun Modhwadia has been given the ticket for the bypoll on the Porbandar assembly seat, which fell vacant after his resignation. After his arrival here, CM Patel held a closed-door meeting with nearly 150 key leaders who are campaigning for both the seats. Later, he met office-bearers of various local bodies and cooperative entities under the Porbandar Lok Sabha seat, said a party leader. Mandaviya, Modhwadia, state minister Kunvarji Bavaliya and senior party leader Kiritsinh Rana were among the key leaders who met CM Patel.

Consumer inflation remained persistently high last month, boosted by gas, rents, auto insurance and other items, the government said Wednesday in a report that will likely give pause to the Federal Reserve as it weighs when and by how much to cut interest rates this year.

The Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday amid signs that inflation is easing, with officials acknowledging that a rate cut in June is “within the realm of possibilities.”

Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) has identified gaps in state laws that inadvertently encourage criminal use of digital assets, prompting the agency to propose a modernization of Queensland’s asset confiscation laws.

Mint, Sinha said the company is shifting its focus to round-the-clock (RTC) renewable energy projects, and highlighted its preference for battery energy storage systems due to their shorter setup times for grid-scale implementation. ReNew has a joint venture with US-based Fluence to offer energy storage solutions in India.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning to launch a pilot of the National Credit Framework for classes 6, 9 and 11 from Academic Year 2024-25 and has invited its affiliate schools to participate in the same, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday citing officials. It is important to note that in 2023, the union government launched the National Credit Framework (NCrF), jointly developed by UGC, NCERT, CBSE, AICTE and the Ministry of Education among others—as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.

New Delhi: Only a handful of Indian goods such as mobile phones and drugs witnessed a rise in their annual export value during the first 11 months of FY24 in a year that saw high interest rates globally curb demand and geopolitical tensions hurt international trade. Goods that saw their exports value increase between April 2023 and February 2024 include agricultural produce, drugs and pharmaceuticals, cotton yarn and handloom products, electronic goods, iron ore, ceramic products /glassware and engineering goods, according to the latest commerce ministry data.

Top News of the Day: On 10 April, a series of events are set to take place right from politics to business. Global automaker Tesla is on the lookout for a local partner to establish its operations in India. The Supreme Court rejected the affidavits submitted by yoga guru Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd's managing director Acharya Balkrishna, which offered an unconditional apology in the misleading advertisements case.

The Wall Street Journal chief economics correspondent Nick Timiraos says the central bank needs 'credible justification' for beginning rate cuts.

AUKUS security pact this week.AUKUS, formed by the three countries in 2021, is part of efforts to push back against China’s growing power in the Indo-Pacific region by focusing on military modernization through new technologies. The trio announced Monday it will begin consultations this year on collaborating with “prospective partners” around the world as part of its second phase, specifically mentioning Japan as an ally it is considering working with.Not mentioned was Canada, despite the federal government saying it is considering joining the pact Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2021 described as “a deal for nuclear submarines, which Canada is not currently or any time soon in the market for.”Speaking to reporters Monday as his government announced its long-awaited defence policy update, Trudeau said Canada was already talking with AUKUS members about working with the alliance and potentially even joining it as a member.“I think it’s really important that allies, particularly across the Indo-Pacific, work together in stronger and tighter ways, and those Canadian conversations with our partners will continue,” he said.But AUKUS members have already poured cold water on the idea of expanding the alliance beyond the core trio — and experts say even if that is possible, Canada is unlikely to be invited.“The United States and Canada are already so closely aligned that AUKUS could become CANAUKUS pretty easily, but it’s not.

Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday termed allegations against the Congress over the Katchatheevu island issue as «baseless». The decades-old territorial and fishing rights dispute around the Katchatheevu island is in the limelight ahead of the Lok Sabha elections with the BJP and the opposition engaged in a war of words over the issue. The island is located between Rameswaram in India and Sri Lanka. In 1974, the then central government accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the «Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement.»

UBS and three other systemically relevant banks must face tougher capital requirements to shield the country's wider economy, a year after the rescue of Credit Suisse. In 209 pages of recommendations on how to police banks deemed «too big to fail» (TBTF), the Swiss government pitched 22 measures for direct implementation. It stopped short of saying how far stricter capital requirements should go.

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Wednesday took strong exception to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's remark on Katchatheevu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded an unconditional apology. Accusing the Congress leaders of having «no guilt» for having compromised on our territorial integrity by ceding Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka and for putting the lives of Tamil Nadu fishermen at risk, he said the views expressed by the Congress leaders on the subject only displayed their mindset. «Not a Blade of grass grows there' for Aksai Chin & 'who lives there' for Katchatheevu reflects Congress' mindset,» Annamalai said in a post on 'X' referring to the earlier remark made by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on Aksai Chin and now Congress leader Digvijaya SIngh's comments on the islet given to Lanka. Annamalai posted a video of Singh criticising Modi for raising the Katchatheevu issue.

OLeary Ventures chairman Kevin OLeary and former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus weigh in on the impact to businesses from New York Citys congestion toll and the states policies. 

PIA flight carrying Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and a high-level delegation back from their visit to Saudi Arabia was diverted to Lahore airport, causing inconvenience to hundreds of other passengers, according to a media report on Wednesday. Interestingly, the incident came close on the heels of Prime Minister Sharif recently declaring a ban on the red carpet at events in his favour, which earned accolades for signalling a shift towards eradicating the VIP culture and encouraging a culture of humility within the realm of public service. Quoting a PIA spokesperson, the Dawn newspaper reported that the Pakistan International Airlines flight from Jeddah to Islamabad, carrying Sharif and his daughter Maryam back from their visit to Saudi Arabia, was diverted to Lahore airport on Monday.

Tesla chief Elon Musk will visit India this month to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is expected to make an announcement related to his plans to invest and open a new factory in the country, two sources with direct knowledge said. The billionaire executive will meet Modi in the week of April 22 in New Delhi, and will separately make an announcement about his India plans, said the two sources, who declined to be named as the trip details are confidential. Modi's office and Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Musk's final India trip agenda could still change.

Pedro Sanchez warned Wednesday that Israel's «disproportionate response» in the Gaza war with Hamas risks «destabilising the Middle East, and as a consequence, the entire world». Sanchez also insisted that the recognition of a Palestinian state, long resisted by Israel and its key allies, is «in Europe's geopolitical interests». Sanchez had already raised the subject of statehood during a visit last week to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, when he told reporters that Spain could recognise Palestine as a nation by the end of June.