Business
$1.3 trillion wiped off Wall Street as AI rally slows; Nvidia slips 6%, Micron falls 13%
US tech stocks came under heavy pressure on Friday, with semiconductor giants leading the decline as investors grew cautious about artificial intelligence-fuelled valuations and digested stronger-than-expected US jobs data.The sell-off was most severe in the chip sector, where the PHLX Semiconductor Index plunged 10.3%, marking its steepest single-day fall since March 2020. The decline followed…
AirTrunk unveils $30bn India data centre push
BENGALURU: Australian data centre operator AirTrunk has committed $30 billion to develop 5 gigawatts (GW) of data centre capacity in India by 2030, marking one of the largest investments in the country’s digital infrastructure sector and positioning India as a key hub for global AI and cloud infrastructure spending.The investment is expected to significantly bolster…
Pocket-friendly packets: Why Indians are swapping big snack packs for smaller ones
The impact of the US-Iran conflict is no longer confined to oil markets and geopolitical headlines. It is now finding its way into kirana stores and supermarket aisles, where consumers are switching to smaller packs of everyday goods as monthly budgets are already facing pressure due to rising prices.Companies across categories such as edible oils,…
Mutual fund houses restrict investments into gold ETFs, FoFs
MUMBAI: Mutual fund (MF) houses are restricting large inflows into gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) and fund of funds (FoFs) feeding into such schemes in order to align with govt’s recent policy of discouraging people from buying gold.Three large fund houses–HDFC MF, ICICI Prudential MF and Nippon India MF–have restricted large inflows into gold funds….
G-Secs rally as govt and RBI ease foreign investing rules
MUMBAI: Bonds rallied after govt and RBI announced measures to encourage foreign investment in govt securities on Friday. The yields on benchmark 10-year govt securities (G-Secs) softened to 6.94% in early trades, from 6.99% on Thursday, after the govt said foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) would be exempted from long-term capital gains and withholding taxes on…
Bulk deposit pricing to be more transparent, flexible
MUMBAI: RBI has proposed tighter disclosure norms for deposit interest rates while allowing banks to price large deposits based on withdrawal risk, which will be a fourth factor for differential rates. Until now banks were allowed to offer differential rates based on tenor, size, and premature withdrawal conditions. These determine whether deposits qualify as bulk…
Retract charges or pay Rs 1,000cr: Tata Trusts
MUMBAI: Tata Trusts has demanded petitioner Suresh Tulsiram Patilkhede and his lawyer Katyayani Agarwal withdraw allegations of impropriety over a 37-year-old transfer of 833 Tata Sons shares, seeking Rs 1,000 crore in damages for reputational harm and causing distress. The charitable organisations sent notices to both, saying transfer of shares from Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust…
GDP rose 7.7% in FY26, 7.8% in Q4; RBI trims this year’s projection to 6.6%
NEW DELHI: The Indian economy grew 7.8% in the Jan-March quarter as strong investment, sustained farm production and expansion of the construction and tertiary sector led to a robust demand, offsetting the anticipated adverse impact of the conflict in West Asia.Data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) Friday with the revised 2022-23 base year…
Government ready to take more measures to insulate economy
NEW DELHI: The Centre is ready to take more policy measures to help insulate the economy from the adverse impact of the West Asia conflict and will phase it out instead of rushing with announcements.The focus of these steps will be to ensure that there is enough availability of goods, raw material, inputs and finished…
Lower fuel and vehicle costs key to driving ethanol demand: Experts
New Delhi: Govt will have to look at not only reducing price of high-ethanol blended petrol and pure ethanol, but also the cost of flex fuel vehicles (FFVs), which would be using the fuel, to create a high demand among consumers, experts said, acknowledging that current 20% blending has helped save India approximately 4.5 crore…