Wellness Financial News

Federal Reserve is to act with urgency, cutting its policy rate a percentage point to 4.25%-4.5% by the end of the year in the name of risk management. It’s a level of easing that the Fed is likely to undertake even if the rise in unemployment ends up being somewhat benign since we no longer need such restrictive rates to tame inflation. It makes sense to frontload those rate cuts rather than run the risk of being too slow to act to forestall worse economic outcomes. If we really are heading into recession, there’s not much disagreement on what the Fed should do: Cut interest rates a lot and fast. That’s where market pricing has shifted after a rocky week of economic data. Interest rate futures suggest the Fed will cut its policy rate by over 200 basis points by the end of 2025, taking the fed funds rate down near 3%. This seems reasonable based on what we’ve seen in prior recessions.

Jim Rogers, Commodity Expert, says he has already sold most of his shares everywhere in the world. In a few places, he still has shares. So, he does not have anything that he wants to sell now because he has a lot of cash in US dollars right now. But he says he has not sold short. But if he ever starts selling short, he will sell seven or eight stocks in the US that have been so very hot. But he will not sell India short. He would rather sell the US short. Rogers also says when markets go down, everything goes down including gold and silver. Rogers owns gold and silver but he is not buying now. He is waiting for a better chance. While looking at the markets, everybody is saying that, oh, my God, have financial markets turned? Are we staring at what could be called a directional turn for financial markets or this is like a one-day sell-off or a one-week sell-off which would be digested? Jim Rogers: The US market has not had a problem since 2008, 2009, that is the longest in American history. So, America and therefore, the world is long overdue for a problem. And I will say to you, I have a lot of cash. The reason I have a lot of cash is that I expect the next sell-off to be the worst in my lifetime because the debt has gone up by so very much everywhere. Even India has debt now. So, you should be worried. I am worried. I am waiting for this collapse to come because I know it is going to be very, very bad. Maybe it is here. I do not know.

Actis, a global investor in sustainable infrastructure, and Mahindra Lifespaces, the realty and infrastructure development arm of the Mahindra Group, has set up a joint venture to develop over 16-17 million sq ft industrial and logistics real estate facilities across India. The joint platform Ample Parks is looking to acquire more than 700-750 acres land parcels across the country to develop these 15-17 industrial and logistics parks through greenfield and brownfield sites over the next five-six years. “India’s industrial and logistics sector represents a tremendous investment opportunity, with the country’s market strongly benefitting from a boom in consumer demand domestically and a realignment of supply chains globally in favour of India, with many corporations implementing a China Plus One strategy,” said Brian Chinappi, Partner, head of real estate at Actis.

CK Venkataraman, MD, Titan, says that when it comes to Tanishq, what is emerging is that we need to up our game in terms of the standards, the innovations, and the excellence that we play for us to continue to keep growing at the rate at which we have grown for a long time. It is a good situation to be in. It will pull out everything that we have in terms of our capabilities and strengths. So, we are looking forward to the exciting times that are around us and, in a way, increasing in multiple ways. Though Q1 was not a blowout quarter for the jewelry market per se, demand was impacted by fewer wedding days and volatility in gold prices. Are things looking up now? CK Venkataraman: Yes, July has certainly been better. Even Q1 had two parts to it. For the first half till Akshaya Tritiya, growth YoY was good. But after that, the balance of the quarter was when the challenge came, where multiple things like extreme heat, gold prices, election excitement, plus election-related pressures on the movement of gold and stuff like that, but July has certainly been better.

The Tokyo stock market witnessed a sharp plunge on Monday, with the Topix and Nikkei 225 Stock Average sliding by 12%, casting a shadow of uncertainty over global financial markets.

In 2021-22, India received its highest foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow of $84 billion. Two years later, that number was down by nearly half to $44 billion. The reasons are both external and internal to India.

Sandip Sabharwal, asksandipsabharwal.com, says FMCG, auto, and consumer durable companies are very well-placed because they are at the cusp of demand recovery. The input cost pressures are lower. They do not have pressure to reduce prices at this stage and as we go into the festival season, demand will be strong. So, they are well-placed and those should be the sectors that should be looked at, at the time of corrections. In the consolidation or pause that we have seen in the few odd days in the last fall, pharma has been a lot more resilient, and rightly so. Some of the earnings have managed to impress. Will the pharma recovery also get undone or do you think that is a good hiding space? Sandip Sabharwal: In terms of a defensive sector, pharma is well-placed today. It is an under-owned sector. Companies’ result delivery has been strong relatively, like there have been few companies which have not delivered, but on the whole delivery has been pretty strong.

₹25 trillion. And Buffett isn't just sitting on it; he's earning significant interest income from US government bonds. As the Oracle of Omaha sits on this colossal pile of cash, the financial world is abuzz with speculation.

«I think it is really telling you, number one, there is a risk of a recession. I think it is premature to say that, but nevertheless there is a risk of a recession and in response to that risk, the Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates three times in 2024 and let us not forget there is the expectation that after reducing interest rates three times in 2024, the expectation is they will reduce interest rates four times in 2025 or one time each quarter,» says Hugh Johnson, Hugh Johnson Economics. What has changed so suddenly that the markets are now worried about growth, crisis, yen carry trade, just about everything has come together? Hugh Johnson: Well, I think, there always has to be some news of some sort that sort of touches off the correction and I think quite frankly the market had been a good market for a long time and it reached levels were a little bit pricier or overvalued, which made them very vulnerable to some bad news.

Edited excerpts: Across our four business segments that are India multichannel, overseas business, Globalbees (brand aggregator) and preschools, it’s a $120 billion opportunity we are chasing. So having such a large market, there will be growth levers, and which we'll talk about separately, I'll just restrict myself to profitability right now. So, on profitability, India multichannel we grew our adjusted Ebitda profitability in FY22, we were at 5.9%, we made it to 6.2% in FY23, and now, FY24, we are at 8.8%.

Olympic hockey quarter final match against Great Britain with 10 men. And, with nine for a few minutes in the crucial fourth quarter with scores tied at 1-1. That’s what India was reduced to while playing when Amit Rohidas, India’s best first rusher, was shown a red card for lifting his stick in the 17th minute. India, though, did not lose hope and took the lead through captain Harmanpreet Singh in the 22nd minute from a penalty corner before Britain drew level through Lee Morton from a field effort in the 27th minute.

Air Force has given clearance to public sector firm Bharat Dynamics Limited for the production of 200 Astra Mark 1 air-to-air missiles. The Astra Mark1 missiles have been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation with BDL as its production agency. The production clearance to the BDL was given during a visit by the Indian Air Force Deputy Chief Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit to Hyderabad recently, Indian Air Force officials said.

New Delhi: The Centre is planning a nationwide crackdown on poor-quality driving helmets, a leading cause of road deaths and head injuries, two people aware of the development said. India has the highest number of two wheelers in the world, and some the most dangerous roads, making for a dangerous mix for cyclists, and scooter and motorcycle drivers as well as pillion riders.

debt-ridden Reliance Capital (RCAP) has filed an affidavit with NCLT, accusing IIHL of non-compliance as the Hinduja Group firm failed to meet the conditions set by the tribunal in a July 23 order. The administrator, in its affidavit seen by PTI, informed NCLT that instead of depositing Rs 2,750 crore in the designated escrow accounts of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) in India and abroad, IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) has deposited the money in its own accounts as well as the promoters' accounts. However, IIHL in a separate affidavit had said it has funds and the same will be transferred once the escrow account is in place which has conditions listed out. For opening any escrow account, there are terms and conditions which are based on an agreement signed bilaterally and if the terms and conditions are met or not met, the trustee decides the fate of funds accordingly, an IIHL spokesperson said.

Which financial assets a central bank should buy and sell is hardly a novel question. Historically, the US Federal Reserve has focused on shorter-term Treasury securities, but quantitative easing had the Fed buying mortgage securities and quality commercial paper in vast quantities. Central banks often hold gold and foreign currencies.

₹234 crore at the end of 2023-24. Transactions only picked up after RBI introduced interoperability with the UPI system. But still, the volume of e-rupee transactions remains significantly lower than UPI, debit and credit card transactions in the country, which stood at ₹149.5 trillion in 2022.

Jamsetji Tata, the founder of the Tata Group, made a strategic choice in the 1890s to shut down the Tata Shipping Line, demonstrating his willingness to exit from unviable ventures. This tough decision was driven by his effort to break the monopoly of the English P.&O. shipping line that dominated exports from India during the 1880s and 1890s, charging high freight rates and favoring British and Jewish firms. Jamsetji Tata's textile business suffered due to P.&O.'s exorbitant freight rates and discriminatory practices. Determined to challenge this, he traveled to Japan to collaborate with Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), the largest shipping line in Japan. NYK agreed to partner with Jamsetji, provided he took equal risks and managed the ships himself. To launch the 'Tata Line,' he chartered an English ship named 'Annie Barrow' at a fixed rate of 1,050 pounds per month, marking the first venture bearing the Tata name. Believing the Tata Line would lower freight rates for the entire Indian textile industry, Jamsetji set the rates at Rs 12 per tonne, compared to P.&O.'s Rs 19 per tonne. Soon after, he chartered a second ship, 'Lindisfarne.' His efforts received praise, with The Tribune newspaper commenting in October 1894 that it had «been the subject of general praise in the industrial centre of India.»

retail investors' derivative market bets may help the banking system garner the much-needed deposits, SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara has said. Khara said the budget announcements like the tweaks on the short-term and long-term capital gains will not lead to much gains from a deposit accretion perspective. «F&O (future and options) kind of things are being discouraged for the retail (investor) by the regulator. Those who are resorting to such kind of an instrument, they might come back to the banking system,» Khara told PTI over the weekend. It can be noted that concerns over losses incurred by 90 per cent of investors in the derivative trades have led to fears of household savings being blown in speculation rather than being deployed for productive purposes among policymakers.

cloudburst in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir has caused significant damage to a road, leading to the suspension of traffic on the Srinagar-Leh national highway, officials told PTI on Sunday. The road was damaged during the intervening night. «The traffic on Srinagar-Leh road has been suspended till further notice due to road damage at Kacherwan in Ganderbal district,» an official of the traffic control room said. A police official mentioned that some buildings, including residential houses, have been damaged as well due to the flash floods triggered by the cloudburst.

Indian Army continues its efforts in rescue and restoration in the areas affected by the cloudburst that occurred on Thursday in Rampur's Samej. The Army has established temporary bridges to establish connectivity between areas cut off to facilitate rescue operations. Teams of NDRF, SDRF, Home Guard, and CISF have been coordinating to carry out the rescue and search operation.

Nifty opened with a gap down on Friday after reaching a new all-time high in the previous session and experienced weak price action throughout the day, closing down by 293 points. Meanwhile, the Bank Nifty has been underperforming and may continue to do so.