UPS Financial News

US stock market indexes — S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq composite — are witnessing broadening rally even as Wall Street will eye key jobs data and the Federal Reserve's expected rate cuts in September after Labor Day 2024 holiday. As the market's fortunes keep rising and falling with big tech stocks such as Nvidia and Apple, investors are also putting money in less-loved value stocks and small caps, which are expected to benefit from lower interest rates. Stocks have also held up after an Nvidia forecast failed to meet lofty investor expectations earlier this week, another sign that investors may be looking beyond tech. The equal weight S&P 500 index, a proxy for the average stock, hit a fresh record this week and is up around 10.5 per cent year-to-date, narrowing its performance gap with the S&P 500.

air taxis in the world and the launch in 2026 will revolutionise urban travel, said Nikhil Goel, chief commercial officer, Archer Aviation. Archer is a California-based EVTOL company Archer Aviation. EVTOLs, or air taxis, take off and land vertically, just like a conventional helicopter. But since they're electric, they produce less emissions and are potentially much quieter. Archer's Midnight is a 4-seater aircraft, which can carry four passengers and a pilot for up to 160 kilometres. «While cities are getting more populated, our transportation options are degrading. That burden is particularly profound right here in India and that is what we are looking to address. I am confident that India will be not only be one of, but perhaps the largest market for electric air taxis in the world,» Goel said at the ET World Leaders Forum. Archer has tied up with InterGlobe Enterprises, which is the owner of India's largest airline, IndiGo, credited with making air travel more affordable in India. The US company plans to replicate the IndiGo model for its air taxi services — increase trip volume and reduce overall cost by achieving economies of scale. India is the third country besides the US and UAE where Archer plans to start operating. Archer will look to cater to passengers of IndiGo for their journey to and fro airport. IndiGo carries around 90 lakh passengers per month.

India's growth is driven by investment in infrastructure, inclusive development, manufacturing, and simplification of laws, said Ashwini Vaishnaw, union minister for electronics and information technology, information and broadcasting, and railways. When it comes to infrastructure, the government is investing not just in physical and digital assets but social resources as well, he said at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum on Saturday. Medical colleges for example have nearly doubled to 706 in the last 10 years, while the number of premier All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have gone to 22 from seven, he said Vaishnaw. On the manufacturing side of things, a key driver of new jobs, Vaishnaw said the government is focusing on creating new industries through programmes such as production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes. The PLI for mobile phone manufacturing has generated 1.2 million direct and indirect jobs in the past decade, he said. The total production value of mobile phones manufactured in India has risen from $2.3 billion in 2014 to $50 billion in 2024, he said.

«The regulators and government are balancing a lot of things, some of which we are not privy to… I don't see a challenge with this issue of market share because there are a large number of players operating and there is scope for everyone,» he said. Kenghe, who helms Google Pay in India and Asia Pacific region, was in conversation with ET's Samidha Sharma at the ET World Leaders Forum on Saturday.

Usha Chilukuri Vance loves her «meat and potatoes» husband, JD Vance. She explained to a rapt Republican National Convention audience how their vice-presidential candidate adapted to her vegetarian diet and even learned to cook Indian food from her immigrant mother. That image of her white, Christian husband making the spicy cuisine of her parents' native state in South India is atypical for the leaders of a party whose members are still largely white and Christian. Her presence at the RNC sparked enthusiasm on social media among some Indian American conservatives, particularly Hindu Americans, although most Indian Americans identify as Democrats. But for all Usha Vance shared about their identity-blending marriage in her speech last month in Milwaukee, which was a little over four minutes, she made no mention of her Hindu upbringing or her personal faith and their interfaith relationship — biographical details that have exposed her to online vitriol and hate.

Kerala headed to assembly polls in two years, the southern states are carefully weighing their response to the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) announced by the Centre on August 24. Less than two months ago, Karnataka announced a major increase in salaries of government employees, entailing an additional annual expenditure of Rs 20,206 crore. The UPS features have put the southern states in a bind as four of them are ruled by opposition parties and have been bogged down by welfare expenditures and additional burden arising out of implementation of pre-poll guarantees.

ET World Leaders Forum on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured business of a stable policy environment to facilitate innovation. Policy facilitation and business disruption will, indeed, be required in equal measure to accelerate India's development over the next two decades to capitalise on its demographic dividend. Indian companies need to grow much faster than they are accustomed to, so that the economy makes productive use of its immense work force.

Justice K Hema Committee report, a poignant section stands out. Narrating her experience, a junior artist describes incidents of male actors harassing her. Apart from the acting parts, she lost out when she rejected sexual propositioning. She also mentions how she worked on a script for the big screen, pouring her heart into it every night after a long day's work. When she is told that this, too, would happen only if she was willing to 'adjust' and 'compromise' — the despicable industry bro code for demands for sex — she gives up on her dream. The 3-member Hema Committee was set up by the Kerala government in 2017 to 'study and report' issues faced by women in cinema, following persistent efforts of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) after the sexual assault of a prominent female actor. After the report's court-ordered release recently, the Malayalam film industry is caught in an unprecedented churn. Multiple women have drawn courage from the report's release to publicly share their accounts about the sexual harassment. Some FIRs have been filed, and an SIT has been set up. But how will we measure the number of careers cut short and dreams turned to dust by men controlling the industry — whether opportunities denied to an award-winning actor like Parvathy Thiruvothu or a makeup artist?

rainfall in the past two days paralysed life at several places in Andhra Pradesh, especially in Vijayawada and vicinity while 17,000 rain-affected people were evacuated across the state. Budameru, a rivulet on the outskirts of Vijayawada suffered a breach and overflowed at several points on Sunday, leading to flooding at many city localities such as Ajit Singh Nagar, Swathi Theatre area, Police Nagar area and west and central constituencies. According to footage from vernacular news channels, several cars and vehicles were submerged in these areas and others also in Vijayawada due to the flooding. At Rajarajeswari Peta in the city, people were seen wading through chest-deep water on a flooded street.

Rajinikanth on Sunday said he was not aware of the Justice K Hema Committee and demands to set up a similar panel in Tamil Nadu. When reporters asked him about the panel of the neighbouring state and several people demanding setting up in Tamil Nadu a panel like the Kerala's Justice Hema Committee, he told reporters: «What? I am not aware of it, sorry.» The Justice Hema committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case. Last month, a redacted version of the Justice Hema Committee report on harassment faced by women in the Malayalam cinema industry was made public. It contains shocking accounts alleging harassment, exploitation, and ill-treatment of women professionals. The 235-page report, published after redacting the names of witnesses and the accused, notes that the Malayalam film industry is controlled by about 10 to 15 male producers, directors, and actors who dominate and exert control over the industry.

big screen to surprising success — from the 2012 hit "Gangs of Wasseypur" full of blood, gore and revenge to the romantic «Laila Majnu» that had a lacklustre run when it was first released in 2018. According to trade experts and exhibitors, this is a good way to fill up the halls and recover money as those who loved watching these movies or missed them at the time of their release seem keen for the big screen experience. «It's beneficial for exhibitors, and whoever holds the right to the film also earns money. For instance, when 'Laila Majnu' and 'Rockstar' were released, they didn't do well but this generation loved these films. »The average occupancy for 'Laila Majnu' was 40 per cent all over India. In some properties in Mumbai, it registered over 80 per cent occupancy," trade analyst Atul Mohan told PTI, adding that he is confident that «Gangs of Wasseypur» will be immensely loved.

There are lots of embarrassing ways to lose money, but it is particularly galling to lose when you correctly identify the theme that will dominate the market and manage to buy into it at a good moment. Pity the investors in the three artificial-intelligence-themed exchange-traded funds that managed to lose money this year. Every other AI-flavored ETF I can find has trailed both the S&P 500 and MSCI World.

Sales of passenger vehicles in the local market declined for the second straight month in August, on a high base, and with carmakers reducing dispatches to rationalise stocks at dealerships. According to industry estimates around 350,000-355,000 cars, sedans and utility vehicles were dispatched from factories to dealerships last month, which is a decline of 1.7-3% over 361,123 vehicles sold in August 2023. Automakers in India mostly report wholesale dispatches to dealers and not retail sales to customers. Carmakers are hopeful of healthy demand in the upcoming festive season during the Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra starting Sep 7 and Onam in Kerala from Sep 16.

Kavach that was developed in the country will now be implemented in a mission mode, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said. The minister stated this in his welcome address before the flagging-off of three Vande Bharat trains by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. Vaishnaw that India has elected the leadership of PM Modi for the third time that is decisive, visionary and forward-looking and its impact is visible in every aspect of life including in Railways. «It always lacked technology and investment and nothing changed for decades,» Vaishnaw said alleging that a technical organisation like the Railways was politicised.

Stephen King has added his voice to the growing calls for Paramount+ to renew its popular supernatural procedural series, Evil. Known for his mastery in the horror genre, King recently expressed his admiration for the show and publicly urged the streaming platform to extend its run beyond the recently concluded Season 4.

Apple finally confirmed the launch date for its flagship iPhone 16 series, setting the event for September 9 this year, one day earlier than the September 10 date predicted by many reports. Apart from the four iPhone 16 variants, Apple is likely to launch AirPods 4 in two new versions, Apple Watch SE 3, Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple Watch Series 10 and iPad Mini 7.A new leak by tipster Digital Chat Station on Weibo revealed that OnePlus has advanced the timeline for its OnePlus 13 press conference to end of October or November.

Kolkata: Mauritius is inviting Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to set up their units in the island country to capitalise on duty-free export benefit under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), an envoy said here. This AGOA offers duty-free shipments to the US market, presenting significant opportunities for Indian businesses, he said. Replying to a question, High Commissioner of Mauritius to India Haymandoyal Dillum said, «Indian industries should make the most of the AGOA agreement with African countries and the US.» Dillum, who visited Kolkata on Saturday to attend a programme of the Bharat Chamber of Commerce, encouraged the leather industry to explore value-added opportunities in Mauritius to gain a competitive edge in the US market.

Labor Day 2024 on Monday, September 2, will witness many workers having the day off, most big consumer-facing businesses are open and even offering promotional sales to lure customers. Here’s what is open and closed this year on Labor Day 2024:

Mark Zuckerberg may have a history of copying of others’ ideas, but when it comes to navigating the GenAI hype cycle, he’s the one forging a smarter path. In the year to date, Meta Platforms’s shares have significantly outperformed its tech giant peers, rising 54% while the likes of Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft have gone up 18.5% and 12% respectively. Why? Investors have become more sceptical in recent months about how quickly new AI models will economically benefit the customers of cloud giants, and their enthusiasm for Microsoft, Google and Amazon.com has waned.

Arslan Butt is a professional live webinar speaker and derivatives (cryptocurrency, forex, commodities, and indices) analyst. He brings a broad range of skills to help beginners evaluate financial...

tur dal prices alone have shot up 60% in two years—Prakash said he has been forced to grow his own food. “We had to reduce the quantity of nutritious items like pulses and vegetables in our diet. We almost never buy and cannot afford any fruit other than the occasional banana," he explained.