FMCG margins to gain from lower costs, but sales growth faces a big risk
Commodity prices remaining stable or soft is what FMCG majors would like, when material costs decline sharply there’s an acute risk of smaller players stealing a march over the bigger ones
New Industrial Cities: Ambitious idea, but finance and planning challenges pose concerns
The Union government's plan for 12 new industrial cities faces issues in defining clear objectives, securing adequate financing, and managing governance. Previous attempts highlight the need for targeted goals and effective urban planning
Powell’s inertia leaves the US Fed in a bind after CPI surprise
Policymakers missed a golden opportunity to cut rates in July. Now, they will be slowed down by bad inflation optics
China’s omnipresence makes it indispensable to global growth
While US attempts to decouple from China make headlines, its impact on other parts of the globe, across Europe, Asia and Africa, are equally, if not more crucial to examine
Decoding Economics: The impact of AI and what it means for investors
Two research papers from the Bank for International Settlements, a report from the International Labour Organisation and a Goldman Sachs Global Strategy paper, consider the likely effects of AI
J&K assembly election is turning out to be a battle of proxies
Kashmir Valley is enthusiastic about the election. The political landscape has changed hugely since 2019, with the advent of many independent candidates, including former separatists. It’s catalysed speculation on whether many aspirants are fronts
Chart of the Day | Thematic mutual funds hog the limelight in equity flows
Net flows into thematic funds in calendar year-till-date 2024 were three times more than that seen in the full year 2023
Gloom in global car sales takes the steam off Tata Motors’ stock
The sudden downtrend in global PV sales (including India) has come at a time when India’s commercial vehicle sales are stuttering too
More bad news likely for PSBs from potential agri-loan stress
Recent announcements of farm loan waivers and the likelihood of more in the run-up to elections in the next 18 months could trigger the risk of loan waivers for state-owned banks
Life insurers are winning in business growth, but volatile profits weigh on valuation
Private life insurers have snatched market share away from LIC but profitability has been a different story.
Wikipedia and the protection offered by SC’s Shreya Singal judgement
Everyone has a right to seek judicial remedy when their rights are violated. But by not suing the actual sources of publications and instead going after an encyclopedia that only cites these articles and threatening to ban it over contested opinions sets a concerning precedent
Are index funds truly diversified when top sectors dominate?
Index funds are considered diversified as they include multiple stocks and sectors. However, when certain sectors, like IT in the US or financial services in India, dominate the index, their weight significantly skews diversification. For better diversification, consider Equal Weighted or Equal Risk Indexes
Insider Trading: Can crowdsourcing surveillance stamp out the scourge?
Regulators have not succeeded in ending curb insider trading. A radical idea that promises enhanced transparency may prove to be an effective disinfectant
Wall Street’s hottest business is about to cool
The private equity and hedge fund lending boom is running into lower interest rates and tighter rules
Elon Musk’s AI side gig should keep its distance from Tesla
Any deal that directs company money, or revenue, to the CEO’s other artificial intelligence venture detracts for the EV maker’s lofty valuations
Kamala Harris has the measure of Donald Trump
The vice-president won the debate and shut down lingering fears of her inadequacy for the fight ahead
Martin Wolf: Overcoming the ‘middle income’ trap
The principal failure of these countries lies not in accumulating too little capital, but in using it poorly
India needs to implement Catastrophe Bonds to boost disaster recovery funding
There is a strong case for augmenting the recovery and reconstruction funds with extra-fiscal finance, funds mobilized through risk transfer mechanisms similar to insurance, tapping the risk appetite of investors with large and diverse portfolios of investments, who stand to gain by allocating tiny fractions of their corpus to high-risk but high-reward instruments
Why is there optimism in commercial vehicle firms in spite of declining sales?
With better utilisation of fleet and regulatory concerns behind them, there should be replacement of vehicles over the medium term
GST decision delays betray a lack of dynamism
GST Council meetings should focus more on taking concrete actions on key issues
Business, government joining hands to tackle climate change a force for good
As governments and businesses realise how climate change can upend life, joining hands can throw up solutions that can help both in the long run
World Trade Report highlights dangers of the new power-based world order
The old rules-based system of the global economy, of which the WTO was the lynchpin, is now defunct. It has been replaced by protectionism, geopolitical trade blocs, beggar-thy-neighbour policies and a focus on security
Chart of the Day | Are banks betting too much on renewable energy sector too soon?
Bank lending to renewable energy has galloped in the last two years. There are clear upside risks to this exposure that needs to be closely watched
Closing Bell: Sensex drops 398 pts, Nifty below 25,000; Tata Motors, NTPC, Adani Ports top losers
Stock Market LIVE Updates| Sensex Today : Among sectors, the Nifty Oil & Gas Index was the biggest loser, down 2%, followed by Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Metal, which fell 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively. Nifty Auto and Realty also declined by 1.2% each. On the upside, Nifty FMCG was the top gainer, rising 0.3%.
Data-based credit need RBI’s push to grow
The huge credit hungry unorganized small business in India, which takes unsecured personal loans for business purposes, simply does not have enough clean assets to offer a security to lenders. The real strategic need for India is to make unsecured credit to small business safer with technology and data
