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In July, when worries about China’s economic recovery were first beginning to percolate more widely, analysts fixated on a curious bit of language from the Politburo: the recovery was developing in a winding, “wave-like" manner. Nearly half a year later, that characterization is looking more and more apt. After a better third quarter, the first two key reads on China’s economy in October both landed with an audible thud.

Indian equity indices fell for the second day in a row on Wednesday on selling in metal, power, auto and banking stocks. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) on Wednesday sold stocks of Indian companies worth ₹8,491.17 crore and bought stocks for ₹6,674.26 crore, resulting in an outflow of ₹1,816.91 crore, according to NSE data. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹7,617.09 crore and offloaded shares worth ₹5,995.04 crore, resulting in an inflow of ₹1,622.05 crore, the exchange data showed.

Nifty on Wednesday ended 90 points lower to form a negative candle on the daily chart and indicate the formation of a lower top around 19,230 levels. The short-term trend of the Nifty continues to be weak. It is expected to slide down to the lower support of 18,850 levels (200-day EMA) once again before showing another round of upside bounce from the lows.

Investing.com — Stocks rallied to close out the month, though it was still ugly for the indexes.

By Lawrence White

Investing.com -- Attention is fixed on the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement on Wednesday, with investors expecting the central bank to keep borrowing costs steady. Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell will be in the spotlight following the decision as markets attempt to gauge where officials see policy heading in the future. Elsewhere, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) unveils its projection for 2024 sales of its key AI-optimized chip.

Gold longs are having their best year since the pandemic. In seven of the past 10 months, futures of the yellow metal have peaked above the cherished $2,000-an-ounce mark. Even the spot price of bullion, which holds itself to a more rigorous standard, has attained $2,000 glory four times, last in October, after an earlier three-month run between March and May.

By Natalie Grover

Rai, after a review meeting, said in a press conference that despite the implementation of preventive measures under Stage 2 of the Central government's air pollution control plan, the pollution level in the national capital is continually rising due to drop in temperature and calm winds. The minister said these conditions are expected to persist for the next few days, making the next fortnight crucial for the national capital. He also requested the neighbouring states to ply only CNG, Electric or BS-VI buses from their depots so that passengers do not face any trouble.

The Swiss franc is back on track to be the strongest performing G-10 currency against the dollar this year, beating all of its peers in October.

Much of the fossil fuel industry may be facing an era of credit downgrades if producers prove too slow to adapt to a low-carbon future, according to Fitch Ratings.

The private credit market is gaining traction as investors across the spectrum seek better returns and greater diversification.

power consumption grew nearly 22 per cent to 138.94 billion units (BU) in October, showing a surge in electricity demand due to festivities and increased economic activities. In the year-ago period, power consumption stood at 113.94 BU, higher than 112.79 billion units recorded in October 2021, according to government data. The peak power demand met — the highest supply in a day — rose to 221.62 GW in October. The peak power supply stood at 186.90 GW in October 2022 and 174.44 GW in October 2021. The power ministry had estimated the country's electricity demand to touch 229 GW during summer. The demand did not reach the projected level in April-July due to unseasonal rain. The peak supply, however, touched a new high of 224.1 GW in June before dropping to 209.03 GW in July. Peak demand touched 238.19 GW in August. In September this year, it was 240.17 GW. Industry experts said power consumption was affected in March, April, May, and June this year due to widespread rainfall.

Onion prices are likely to remain high for at least a month due to low supplies, while exports are expected to stay robust as the removal of the 40% export duty has made overseas shipments more profitable amid strong global demand. The central government had removed the export duty on Saturday, while introducing a minimum export price (MEP) to discourage onion exports. On October 28, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had issued a notification imposing a MEP of $800 per tonne on onion exports till December 31. The same day, the Ministry of Finance issued a notification stating that the customs duty on export of onions was made 'nil' in 'public interest'.

The United Auto Workers’ tentative deals with Detroit automakers mark the latest union victory in a year of multiplying strikes and sizable gains in a robust labor market. The agreements could embolden other unions to take aggressive approaches to contract negotiations and fuel more strikes in coming months—as long as the economy stays strong.

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Madhya Pradesh ministers running for assembly elections own at least one gun, as revealed in the affidavits filed by the ministers during their nominations. Among these ministers, 45 per cent own more than one firearm. As per a TOI report, the affidavits analyzed by the Election Commission show that Vijay Shah, Govind Singh Rajput, and Rajyavardhan Singh each own three weapons.

The report cited tighter labour markets and rising inflation as some of the major concerns influencing salary increase budget changes in companies for next year. However, compared to 2022, more than half of companies have increased their salary budgets this year, while a quarter have raised their budgets above the projections they made in December 2022, the survey showed. Technology, media and gaming, financial services and retail sectors are expected to see the highest salary increase of 10% in 2024. Companies in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector (10% vs 9.8%), retail (10% vs 9.9%) and captives (9.9% vs 9.8%) have projected marginally higher increases for 2024 as compared to the actual salary increase in 2023 due to the continued demand for talent. “Companies across industries are still closely monitoring their cost structures,” said Rajul Mathur, consulting leader, work and rewards, WTW India. The Salary Budget Planning Report was conducted in April and May 2023 with around 32,512 sets of responses from companies across 150 countries. The survey had 708 participants from India.

US Fed policy outcome: 6 key things that will be in the Fed's mind before making a rate decision today (Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels. Subscribe today and stay updated with the latest financial insights! Click here!) Barring a few, experts do not expect the Fed to surprise the market by raising or cutting rates as the US economy remains strong and inflation remains above the Fed's 2 per cent target.

An Investment Portfolio with 50% Equity: 50% Debt can generate meaningful wealth creation in the long term for moderate risk profile investors, according to an analysis by Motilal Oswal Private Wealth. During the period of the analysis spanning over three decades, the 50% Equity: 50% Debt portfolio combination generated a 12% CAGR. 

India's maiden sale of ultra-long bonds this week will lower borrowing costs for the government as large insurance and pension funds are expected to scoop up the issue, fund managers and analysts said. With the sale of 100 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) of a 50-year bond on Friday, Asia's third-largest economy will join a handful of countries that actively issue such papers, as per LSEG data. Two more tranches will be sold by the end of March. The bonds are likely to be sold at a yield that will only be one-to-two basis points higher than the yield on the 40-year paper, according to Aneesh Srivastava, executive director and chief investment officer at Star Health Insurance. A 40-year bond that matures in 2063 is currently the longest-duration bond sold by India. On Wednesday, the 40-year bond was bid at 7.53% while a 30-year note was dealt at 7.52%. «There should be strong demand for this paper especially from insurance companies, as it is a classic investor stock,» said Vikas Goel, managing director at PNB Gilts. Insurers and pension funds' government debt purchases have risen over the last few years because of strong demand for their products. Bond purchases by the so-called 'others' category — consisting primarily of insurers and pension funds — have risen to 1.39 trillion rupees this year from 1.10 trillion rupees in 2022, clearing house data shows. «There are some insurance products that require an additional 10 year of duration, mainly due to the nature of ALM (asset liability management) gaps,» Churchil Bhatt, executive vice president at Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance, said. Strong demand at the 50-year sale will result in the yield curve remaining flat, while elongating the maturity of the government's