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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: "If everything on earth were rational, nothing would happen."—Fyodor Dostoevsky Time: 5.30 pm, early May Place: Pitampura, north-west Delhi People wait anxiously in front of a roadside food cart. The long, long queue spills over from the pavement onto the street, leaving bikes, cars, cows and canines jostling for space on the narrow road.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Uttar Pradesh government is working to unveil a new export policy for 2025-30, aiming to significantly enhance the state’s contribution to India’s overall exports. In an interview, UP’s minister for industrial development and export promotion Nand Gopal Gupta said the proposed policy targets increasing the state's share in India’s total exports to 7.5%, up from the current share of about 5%, by focusing on key sectors, including agricultural products.

digital revolution in healthcare, ripple effects of the infra boom, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology-driven transformation. While global markets grapple with persistent inflation and geopolitical tensions, India’s domestic growth engine remains robust, bolstered by a substantial middle class, increased manufacturing capacity, and strategic policy reforms. The key to success will lie in identifying sectors that benefit from these structural tailwinds, which will ultimately drive investor returns.

Indian equities this week, with a net withdrawal of Rs 976 crore amid a strengthening US dollar and steady rise in US 10-year bond yields, impacting investor sentiment. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) began the week on a positive note, investing Rs 3,126 crore in equities during the first two trading sessions (December 16-20). However, the trend reversed in the latter half of the week, with FPIs offloading equities worth over Rs 4,102 crore in the subsequent three sessions. This resulted in an overall net outflow of Rs 976 crore during the week, data from National Securities Depository Limited showed.

bearish trend in equities, where Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries faced the sharpest erosion. Last week, the BSE benchmark tanked 4,091.53 points or 4.98 per cent. «The Indian equity market recorded its steepest weekly decline since June 2022, with the Nifty losing 4.77 per cent. The week began with the US Federal Reserve's announcement, which significantly altered market sentiment.

Federal Reserve cut the interest rates by 25 basis points from 4.75% to 4.5%. This move had served as a key trigger for the market decline of 2.85% in S&P 500. Such a sharp fall in the index sent chills down investors’ spine. Most are wondering whether there is more pain in the offing. Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Let’s see why I am saying this.

Rishi Sunak surprised many within his own Conservative Party by calling an earlier-than-expected election on July 4 — exactly a month on from a third term win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Democratic Alliance. This meant the FTA talks, having entered their 14th round of intense negotiations, slipped into a more uncertain phase until the new Labour Party-led government committed itself to «deepening our bilateral ties». «We agreed to raise the ambition of our UK-India comprehensive strategic partnership… Crucially, this work will start with trade and investment, and I am pleased to say that we agreed to relaunch Free Trade Agreement negotiations early in the new year,» said newly-elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after his first meeting with Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil last month.

FPIs) were quite severe on two sectors viz. financials and oil & gas where they sold shares worth over Rs 1 lakh crore. They have been net sellers in a month on five occasions while remaining net buyers seven times. As on December 20, 2024, they had bought domestic shares worth Rs 6,770 crore.

Federal Reserve's projection of fewer rate cuts next year, triggering foreign fund outflows. The benchmark BSE Sensex lost 1176.46 points or 1.49% to settle at 78,041.59, while the broader Nifty 50 index closed at 23,587.50, lower by 364.20 points or 1.52%.

Rickey Henderson, a 10-time All-Star and the all-time stolen base leader, died on Friday after a bout with pneumonia, multiple outlets reported. He was 65.

That was Mohammad Ali talking about his epic boxing match against Joe Frazier in 1974, known as the Thrilla in Manila, in which the two great fighters attacked and mauled each other for 14 rounds before Ali came up victorious. Writing for Sports Illustrated, Mark Kram, in his inimitable post-match reportage wrote: “A couple of miles away in the bedroom of a villa, the man who has always demanded answers of Ali, has trailed the champion like a timber wolf, lay in semi-darkness. ‘Man, I hit him with punches that’d bring down the walls of a city,’ said Frazier. ‘Lawdy, Lawdy, he’s a great champion.”

Narendra Modi praised India and Kuwait's strong commercial connections dating back to the nineteenth century, as well as IMEEC as an idea that provided the globe with new direction. Addressing the Indian diaspora in Kuwait City, Modi reflected on the two nations' common ambitions, Viksit Bharat and New Kuwait, and emphasised that there were several potential for India and Kuwait to collaborate. India's skill sets and creativity might lead to new collaborations between the two nations. He said that Ayurveda was assisting the globe with wellbeing while underlining India's contributions to the world in terms of science and innovation.

Mahabharata in Arabic. The prime minister also signed copies of the Arabic versions of the two epics. Expressing his appreciation, Modi in a post on X said, «I compliment Abdullah Al Baroun and Abdul Lateef Al Nesef for their efforts in translating and publishing these epics. Their initiative highlights the global popularity of Indian culture.» He also shared some photographs of his meeting with Al Baroun and Al Nesef.

As the first programme of his visit to Kuwait, Modi visited a labour camp in Mina Abdullah area of Kuwait with a workforce of around 1,500 Indian nationals. He interacted with a cross-section of Indian workers from different states of India, enquired about their well-being, also sat at a table with some of them at the Gulf Spic Labour Camp when snacks served.

ET Now: But tell us, is it a big worry given the kind of levels we are seeing now? What levels are we vulnerable to at this stage? Rajesh Palviya: The 200-day moving average is closely followed by most traders and investors. Breaking this level for the second time in a one-month timeframe adds to the cautiousness in the market because it signals an inability to sustain above this critical support level. We first broke it in November, and now we are back below it again.

2024 has been a landmark year for the yellow metal, with Comex gold soaring over 40% from its yearly lows while MCX gold mirroring this trend and climbing by more than 25% year-to-date, driven by strong physical demand, Kaynat Chainwala, AVP-Commodity Research at Kotak Securities. While President-elect Donald Trump's tariff and tax cut policies remain a challenge, gold's role as a hedge against inflation, political instability, and economic uncertainty positions it well for the coming year, she adds. Edited excerpts:

resistance levels. The Nifty stayed under strong selling pressure over the past five sessions and violated key support levels on the daily charts. The range remained wider on the anticipated lines; the Nifty traded in a wide 1,243-point range over the past days.

ET Now: Give us a sense of where, if at all, you are seeing strength in the market right now. If we look at the week-to-date move across indices, pharma has ended in the positive. FMCG and IT have been among the least losing indices compared to others like metals, auto, and realty. Do you think defensives such as FMCG, IT, and pharma can continue to offer support? Would these pockets provide some comfort to investors struggling with where to allocate funds in a falling market?

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) recorded net equity inflows of Rs 21,789 crore in December so far, marking a significant reversal after months of heavy outflows. With this surge in December, FPIs have experienced a total net inflow of Rs 6,770 crore in 2024, compared to outflows of Rs 15,019 crore at the end of November. This turnaround comes after heavy off-loading in domestic equities in the last two months, with net outflows of Rs 21,612 crore in November and Rs 94,017 crore in October.

Spot gold, reeling under the huge downside pressure due to lack of China’s stimulus details, strong US data and the Fed’s hawkish shift in its monetary policy announced on Wednesday fell below $2600, though it recovered some of its losses in the last two trading days of the week. The metal closed with a gain of 1.13% at $2624 on Friday. However, it was still down nearly 1% on the week. It traded in the range of $2583-$2693 in the week.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services, which sees consolidation in the first six months while a recovery in the next. The brokerage remains upbeat on the prospects of these 10 stocks viz. ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Zomato, Nippon Life India Asset Management, Mankind Pharma, Lemon Tree, Polycab, Macrotech Developers, Syrma SGS — calling them as top bets of next year. “The year 2025 could unfold as a tale of two halves. The first half may continue to see market consolidation, while a recovery could take place in the second half. Indian markets are likely to face significant influences from a combination of global and domestic economic events. The anticipated rate cut by the RBI in February 2025, the ongoing trend of US rate cuts, and the expectations surrounding trade policy changes post Donald Trump taking over as US President in Jan’25 will contribute to market volatility.