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Even with its slight loss on Friday, the U.S. dollar was headed for an almost 7% annual gain, as traders anticipated robust U.S. growth, as well as tax cuts, tariffs and deregulation by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, would make the Federal Reserve cautious on rate-cutting well into 2025.

The S&P 500 rose roughly 25% in 2024 through Dec. 27, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite index .IXIC >, which surpassed 20,000 for the first time in December, is up over 31%.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Wasim Barelvi is perhaps the greatest living Urdu poet. And when it comes to his poetry, my favourite couplet of his is: Har shaks daudta hai yahan bheed ki taraf, Phir ye bhi chahta hai usse raasta mille. This basically means: Every individual wants to run with the herd,And then wants a right of way as well. (I am not a professional translator, so the beauty of the original is bound to be lost in translation.) Like all great poetry, the couplet summarizes what is perhaps a universal trait injust a few words.

Canadian Cabinet ministers met with President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for commerce secretary at Mar-a-Lago on Friday as Canada tries to avoid sweeping tariffs when Trump takes office.

First Innings null Score - 474/10 in 122.4 overs null batting performance Steven Smith 140(197)Marnus Labuschagne 72(145)Jasprit Bumrah 28.4-99-4Ravindra Jadeja 23-78-3Second Innings null Score - 164/5 in 46.0 overs null batting performance Australia vs India Live Score: Pat Cummins, the skipper of Australia, is up for a quick chat with the broadcasters. He begins by saying that Steven Smith batter really well this morning and is delighted to get those late wickets towards the end of the day.

Manmohan Singh. President Droupadi Murmu, vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as well as the Gandhis and a galaxy of leaders from across parties visited Singh's official residence to pay their respects.

Dr. Rajendra Prakash Gupt, Superintendent of the Ujjain-based Jiwaji Observatory. Speaking on Friday, he highlighted the celestial events that astronomy enthusiasts can look forward to in the coming year.

Han Duck-soo, who was impeached on Friday as South Korea's acting president, is a career technocrat whose wide-ranging experience and reputation for rationality failed to shield him from growing political turmoil.

«We do expect some bullish factors still to play out like Ramzan, but we are expecting big Latin American soybean oil crops so that will moderate the bullishness,» says Nadir B Godrej, CMD, Godrej Industries. Let us discuss what has happened in October to November and that is the surge in the palm oil prices. They had surged a bit, but then there has been a bit of a volatility. They have corrected a bit of late as well. What is the sense on the prices going forward? Are they expected to be as volatile or what are the levels that you are watching out for? Nadir B Godrej: This has been a very unusual situation because palm oil has had a huge premium over soybean oil, which we have not seen in the past. It was always a discounted oil, but it is in high demand nowadays for both biodiesel as well as for speciality fats and that is keeping palm oil at a premium to the other oils. It was even at a premium to rapeseed oil and sunflower oil for a while and a big premium to soybean oil.

«Size of the opportunity is very good. In retail, and this be true for any form of retail, you got to get your unit economics right. And if you get your unit economics right, that is to say per unit order or per unit quick commerce transaction, more than cost of capital, then the sky is the limit for you and I think Zomato has the first mover advantage, they have got the unit economics right, they have broken even, they are making contribution margin which are positive and now it is only about expansion into tier I, getting economies of scale,» says Manish Sonthalia, Emkay Investment Managers. And while we are talking about the entire consumer space, one name that I am seeing in a portfolio of yours as a top holding is Zomato. Not really surprised to see Zomato, but also not expecting to not see Swiggy make it to this list. What is making Zomato much more attractive than Swiggy because Swiggy has also been innovating if not at a higher pace, then largely at the same pace that which Zomato has. They have also had a couple of recent rollouts. The stock seems to be doing well over the last one month and ever since it is listing we have very bullish brokerage notes coming in for Swiggy as well. What is making Zomato more attractive than Swiggy to hold in your portfolio right now? Manish Sonthalia: So, not specifically commenting on Swiggy because regulation prohibit us from commenting about stocks that are not a part of our portfolio, but I would look at the entire space like this, that the TAM, the size of the opportunity is humongous.

«If this means that government has to cut down on government expenditure and that does not augur well for the infrastructure companies. If we look at post the COVID, both the corporate sector and the government have been reducing their debt,» says Manish Sonthalia, Emkay Investment Managers. We are perhaps ending the year on a bit of a sombre note because last couple of months have been all about correction. But do you see this correction protrude into 2025 or is it going to be a different picture? Manish Sonthalia: So, everything hinges on what happens in the budget and we are looking at the budget exactly one month's time. And, of course, the problems are well known. It is the slowdown in consumption. It is the slowdown in spending. So, these things need to be addressed. Otherwise, corporate earnings do not look like having more than a 10% to 12% growth.

Rajeev Agarwal, Fund Manager & Managing Partner, Doordarshi India Fund, says the policy measures will drive to a very large extent what happens either on the upside or the downside. Markets may not tell the full story because there is a story about some stocks that have risen a lot in 2024 and maybe they will take a little bit of a backseat while some others that have been punished in 2024 may have a better opportunity as we go into 2025. It may be a lot more stock-specific rather than market-specific. But from an Indian stock perspective, the base case of around 13% annual return is quite reasonable. What exactly are you expecting in terms of the market dynamics – globally as well as back home? What’s in store for global markets next year, after they have been navigating through this election cycle, lots of unusual market dynamics as well? Rajeev Agarwal: For 2025, clearly the one big event is Trump taking over the reins as the US President. A lot of policy measures are expected to be introduced by Trump very quickly. Clearly, he has the people that he wanted and many of those will get confirmed. That is going to be the one big event which will drive a lot of the markets.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As we approach the close of 2024, it’s the perfect time to pause, reflect and take stock of our trading journey over the past year. We all know that trading is not just about making profits but about continuously learning from our successes and failures.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s medical technology (medtech) industry is poised for rapid growth in the coming years, with several new players entering the segment to meet the rising global demand for a range of medical devices. The Indian medtech industry is relatively young and will take time to earn the confidence of local hospital chains that source most of their devices from established, foreign multinational corporations (MNCs).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: India’s wealthiest always travel a bit differently, seeking out locations and experiences that are less explored. This year was no different, with travel agencies working hard at sending their clients away to explore new destinations from snow-capped mountains to private islands.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Chipotle Mexican Grill has settled on a remote-work policy. But that could change.

Thousands of workers are facing an unsettling reality heading into 2025

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Toby Rice, who leads one of America’s largest natural-gas producers, says the “Drill, Baby, Drill" mantra that resurfaced during the presidential campaign is passé. Now, it is all about “Build, Baby, Build." Natural-gas investors are looking ahead to potential growth after a year in which historically low prices dinged profits and drilling plans.