Target Financial News

MUMBAI : The surprise surge in retail inflation for June has prompted economists to raise their forecast for July amid firming vegetable prices, dashing hopes of a rate cut anytime soon. Inflation measured on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in at 4.81% in June, higher than 4.6% predicted by Mint poll of 19 economists, led by food inflation. After the June price rise data was released, economists now believe inflation could average 5-5.4% in the current fiscal year, higher than their previous estimates.

Mumbai/New Delhi: High employee expenses have prompted information technology (IT) companies to defer onboarding and promotions to initiate strict cost control measures. A weak deal pipeline and poor visibility for the next couple of quarters has compelled Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies and Wipro to set minimal hiring targets. A Mint analysis found that in the first quarter of the financial year, wage costs as a share of revenue increased for all three companies to a record high in the last at least five years.

Four years after India’s Chandrayaan-2 failed to execute a soft landing near the south pole of the moon, the countdown for Chandrayaan-3 to make that attempt afresh has begun. The launch is scheduled for Friday, and a lunar touchdown is expected on 23 or 24 August, when a lander is slated to descend, roll out a rover, and get busy taking readings and doing experiments, some in dark and cold patches that could hold many secrets.

NEW DELHI : The European Investment Bank (EIB) will support India’s nascent Indian green hydrogen ecosystem and renewable energy projects with a facility of up to €1billion, the agency said on Thursday. EIB vice-president Kris Peeters will confirm the interest in providing the facility during his upcoming trip to India this week to attend G20 events.

Mint explores real-world examples, both triumphs and pitfalls, that shed light on the challenges faced by retail investors. Reliance not at fault What unfolded at Reliance Retail is not sudden. The first signs of this saga emerged in 2019 when RIL introduced a compulsory share swap deal for Reliance Retail.

Exxon Mobil is paying almost $5 billion to buy Denbury, a pipeline operator that moves carbon dioxide, increasing its bet that it can make money collecting other companies’ emissions. The deal represents a slight premium for Dallas-based Denbury, which was valued at around $4.4 billion Wednesday. The company emerged from bankruptcy in 2020 and has benefited from the Biden administration’s signature climate bill by expanding its foothold in carbon capture and tapping into billions in government tax credits.

Elon Musk’s Twitter asked a federal court to terminate a 2022 settlement it agreed to with the Federal Trade Commission over alleged privacy violations, saying it had been subject to a “burdensome and vexatious enforcement investigation." The move came hours before House Republicans and FTC Chair Lina Khan clashed at a hearing Thursday over her agency’s investigation of Twitter and what her critics say is an antibusiness agenda. The FTC is examining whether Twitter under Musk is protecting users’ privacy.

Marico expects its gross margins to improve by 200-250 bps in FY24, helped by cooling commodity inflation and portfolio mix normalising favourably. The company expects a «volume-led growth» in the domestic market and gains in market share by most of its products and increase spending in advertising & promotion (A&P), said Marico in its latest annual report. «On the domestic business, we will drive volume-led growth and market share gains across our portfolios, aided by distribution expansion, aggressive cost controls and adequate investment in market development and brand building,» said Marico, which owns Saffola, Parachute, Hair & Care, among other brands.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to just under 7%, the highest level since November and the latest setback for homebuyers already grappling with a tough housing market constrained by a dearth of homes for sale

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar

Just a week after the Supreme Court ruling to ban affirmative action in college admissions, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas urged Target Corp to end efforts to racially diversify its workforce and vendor network. He called the US-based company’s programmes “discriminatory" and threatened “significant and likely costly litigation" should Target fail to change its ways. The step from college admissions to corporate employment is not a big one.

There are currently four scenarios for the global economic outlook. Three of these entail potentially serious risks with far-reaching implications for markets. The most positive is a ‘soft landing,’ where central banks in advanced economies manage to bring inflation down to their 2% targets without triggering a recession.

Morgan Stanley raised the price target for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to $150 from $140 and Meta Platforms Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) to $350 from $300 in a note Thursday, maintaining an Overweight rating on both stocks.

Chalmers Vasquez, a research manager with Miami-Dade Mosquito Control, dismisses the effectiveness of these popular hacks. «Some people believe that they work, but I wouldn't recommend any of those,» Vasquez asserts. Instead, he advises individuals to protect themselves when spending time outdoors by using repellent with over 30 per cent DEET, a common active ingredient in insect repellents. Alternatively, lemon eucalyptus oil can be used as a more natural alternative. The first line of defense against mosquitoes is to eliminate any standing water on one's property. Vasquez emphasizes that wherever there is water in containers, mosquitoes are likely to be present. By removing these breeding grounds, the population of disease-carrying mosquitoes can be significantly reduced. Fortunately, Miami-Dade County researchers have observed low numbers of the mosquito species responsible for transmitting malaria in densely populated areas. In response to the reported cases of locally acquired malaria infections, Miami-Dade Mosquito Control is closely monitoring the situation. They have noticed an increase in requests for mosquito inspections. To address this, the county offers free inspections through 311, available both online and over the phone. Trained inspectors search for containers harboring mosquito larvae and employ appropriate measures, such as larvacide, a biological pesticide that specifically targets mosquitoes without harming other organisms.

For decades, selling to China has been a key ingredient in Germany’s recipe for economic success. Now, Berlin wonders if its partner has gotten too close for comfort. On Thursday, Germany released its first-ever “China strategy," an attempt to balance the relationship’s huge economic benefits with the need to manage risks posed by Beijing’s increasing authoritarianism at home and assertiveness abroad.

Retail inflation data released by the National Statistical Office this week shows a moderate rise in inflation to 4.81% in June from 4.3% last month. Despite this increase, the rate is within India’s tolerance band. But it is food inflation that is worrying, having climbed to 4.49% from 2.96%.

Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM) on Thursday said the estimates of poverty from the National Sample Survey household consumption expenditure, done by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation, might be exaggerated, given that it over-represents the rural and the socially disadvantaged, the scheduled caste, suggesting a need to focus on data quality. Further, the NSS estimates from the employment and unemployment for people engaged in the agricultural sector and the workforce participation rate might be exaggerated as well as it over-represents the rural population and the proportion of the working-age population at the national and rural and urban areas respectively, it said.

Labor Department, due in large part to an increase in the cost of services. The return to positive inflation after a contraction in May suggests wholesale prices remain buoyant in some areas. The producer price index (PPI) ticked up by 0.1 percent last month, after the earlier contraction.

renewable energy (RE) installations in FY24 are to be around 20 GW, led by the solar sub-segment, CareEdge Ratings said on Thursday. This is based on the healthy pipeline of over 55 GW assets under development. The subsequent year is expected to see installations of 25 plus GW, leading to a cumulative increase of 45 GW over the next two fiscal, the rating agency said in a sectoral note. The solar sub-segment is expected to lead the way in terms of installations, followed by wind and hybrid capacity. The commercial and industrial segment is also expected to contribute significantly to future capacity additions. These projections are based on the government's commitment to ensuring the bidding of approximately 50 GW of annual capacity for the next five years to facilitate the achievement of the target of 500 GW capacity through non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. This will require annual RE installations to exceed 40 plus GW. The trajectory for FY24 includes 10 GW of wind capacity and 40 GW collectively from solar, hybrid, and storage-based capacity. Additionally, key states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, among others, are actively conducting state-specific auctions to support further capacity additions.

HANOI (Reuters) — Shareholders of Black Spade Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that planned to merge with Vietnam's electric automaker VinFast by this month to allow a U.S. listing, voted on Thursday to extend its lifespan by a year.

New Delhi: David Bridger, UNAIDS country director for India, on Thursday expressed confidence that India has the potential to achieve the end of the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat. He emphasized the need to capitalize on the progress made thus far, saying that India has the opportunity to eradicate AIDS if efforts are sustained. Bridger’s remarks come in response to a new report released by UNAIDS titled ‘The Path that Ends AIDS’, which underscores the political and financial choices involved in ending AIDS and highlights the remarkable achievements of countries and leaders who have pursued this path.