Reuters Financial News

World Bank President Ajay Banga said on Tuesday that the Israel-Gaza conflict is an unnecessary global economic shock that will make it harder for central banks to achieve soft landings in many economies if it spreads. «It's a humanitarian tragedy and it's an economic shock we don't need,» Banga told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Morocco. Central banks were «beginning to feel a little more confident that there was an opportunity for a soft landing, and this just makes it harder», Banga said. Banga said there was less immediate economic impact than at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year because the Israel-Gaza conflict does not impact exports of oil, grains and fertilizers. But it does transmit through financial markets, with dollar assets suddenly rising, he said. Inflation has come down in recent months, prices and wages were stabilizing and markets had become used to the idea that rates would stay higher for longer, Banga said, adding that another prolonged conflict could upset those dynamics. «It's the side effects of all that.

By Jorgelina do Rosario and Alexander Villegas

MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) — World Bank President Ajay Banga said on Tuesday that the Israel-Gaza conflict is an unnecessary global economic shock that will make it harder for central banks to achieve soft landings in many economies if it spreads.

Russia's economy will grow by 1.1% in 2024, slower than previously forecast, the International Monetary Fund said, after significant spending and resilient consumption in a stretched labour market support growth of 2.2% this year. Moscow plans to allocate almost a third of increased budget spending next year to defence as it diverts more resources towards its invasion of Ukraine. Reuters reported exclusively in August that Russia had doubled its 2023 defence spending target. «The rise in growth reflects a substantial fiscal stimulus, strong investment, and resilient consumption in the context of a tight labour market,» the IMF said on Tuesday in its World Economic Outlook, in reference to this year's forecast. Russia's economy ministry expects gross domestic product (GDP) to expand 2.8% this year, bouncing back from a 2.1% decline in 2022.

Follow our Markets LIVE here The average expectation is for inflation to come down to 5.50 percent in September from 6.83 percent in August. Projections varied between 5.10 percent and 6.90 percent. Also, more than three-quarters of participants foreseeing inflation to drop below the upper limit of the target range set by the central bank.

Hamas is currently holding a “substantial” number of people hostage, according to Israel’s military, as fears grow that those could include foreign nationals from up to 12 different countries who are missing after the militant group’s unprecedented attack.

Nifty 50 closed at 19,512.35, down 141 points, or 0.72% and the Sensex ended the day with a loss of 483 points, or 0.73%, at 65,512.39. “In the near term, we expect markets to remain volatile amid geopolitical stress and inflationary pressure ahead of CPI data to be released by the US, Europe, and China later during the week," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. Also Read: Global markets today: Oil prices jump, investors shun stocks Here are key global cues from Sensex today: Asian markets traded higher on Tuesday following overnight gains on Wall Street.

Gaza Strip after the Hamas group launched a deadly rocket attack on Israel that killed over 1,000 people and left hundreds injured. Dozens of foreigners have been killed, injured, or taken hostage during a surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Many of the missing foreigners were at an electronic music festival in the southern Israeli desert, at which scores of revelers were massacred.

Myanmar's Kachin State, among them women, children and the elderly, local media reports and sources in the area said on Tuesday. Reuters could not immediately verify the reports. The Kachin media and local sources said the incident took place close to midnight on Monday, a few kilometres from a military camp run by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which is in conflict with Myanmar's ruling military.

retail inflation likely eased to 5.50% last month, within the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) tolerance band, on moderating food price rises and government subsidies that offset a surge in the cost of crude oil, a Reuters poll found. The RBI kept monetary policy unchanged on Oct. 6 for a fourth consecutive meeting and signalled interest rates would remain high until inflation was closer to 4%, the midpoint of the central bank's 2-6% target range. Rises in food prices, which make up about half the consumer price index (CPI), continue to cool from recent peaks after the Indian government enacted a series of measures to boost supply. Inflation, as measured by the annual change in the CPI, was forecast to have fallen to 5.50% in September from 6.83% in August, according to an Oct.

Reuters. In a phone interview with Al Jazeera, Moussa Abu Marzouk said that Hamas was open to "something of that sort" and "all political dialogues" when asked whether the Islamist group is willing to discuss a possible ceasefire.

The shock attack by Hamas and Israel’s response risk a wider destabilisation of the region – and the global oil market is watching.

By Vivian Sequera, Andrew Mills and Marianna Parraga

By Andrea Shalal and David Lawder

By Chris Prentice

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By Victoria Waldersee

(Reuters) — Global companies with a presence in Israel have temporarily shut some operations and asked employees to work from home following military clashes between the country and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

By Jorgelina do Rosario

By Karin Strohecker and Jorgelina do Rosario