opinion

Is Saudi Arabia’s voluntary production cut an act of desperation?

The production cut by Saudi Arabia also means that the country has not been able to convince the non-OPEC members to toe its line, thus exposing its waning influence in the group

The vaccine controversy deals a big blow to India’s global profile

The unseemly hurry to hand out approvals without adequate data in at least one case has long term implications for the Indian vaccine industry’s reputation

Indian IT is all set to build on pandemic era gains

Having missed out on the gold rush following the onset of cloud computing, the best Indian IT firms are perfectly placed not to miss out this time

Budget 2021 | Unshackle the gold held by India’s households

With the Finance Minister set to present the Budget in a few weeks, it is important for the government to announce measures that will unshackle the large capital held with households in the form of gold

In 2021, can the BJP juggernaut be stopped?

There is only one party that can possibly halt the BJP juggernaut: the Congress. But at the moment the grand old party seems frail. Can the Congress resuscitate itself, galvanised by a new leader, or will it relinquish further space to the BJP?

December Composite PMI: Budget should take into account the slowing recovery in services 

The IHS Markit India Composite PMI lost momentum in November and December and much depends on the pace of vaccination

Facebook’s push into Asia-Pacific runs into political hurdles

After refusing to kowtow to Beijing’s demands to censor its users, among other requests, the social media giant has been locked out of the country ever since

It’s high time SEBI took a serious look at the block and bulk deal window

There have been many instances where the information of the deal is leaked and front-runners jump in

Home sales: A case for sustained upcycle ahead

 With real rates turning negative and a steep drop in bond yields and bank deposit rates, the attractiveness of owning physical assets has improved 

Serum Institute gets ahead in COVID-19 vaccine, but opportunity still exists for others

Serum Institute alone cannot inoculate the entire population at one go. This leaves enough space for competitor vaccines, provided they succeed in clinical trials

In developing vaccines, let science win over flag waving

India seems to be going down the path of Russia and China, in the lack of transparency about vaccine approval

$900 billion won’t carry Biden very far

As Biden has made clear, it is simply a “down payment” — a brief bridge to get through a dark winter and not nearly enough to restore the economy’s health

Distressed debt specialist Howard Marks warns on corporate borrowing burden

While stimulus measures and borrowed money could help keep companies stay afloat, it would not secure their futures if they struggled to return to profitability, says Marks

EU-China investment deal may push India to revisit its EU strategy

Liberal access to the RCEP-integrated Chinese economy was too attractive an offer for the EU to decline. The EU-China investment deal and the Brexit trade agreement may push New Delhi to reformulate its EU strategy with an FTA at the core

Finding the common man in the capital markets

SEBI needs to clearly define who a retail consumer is and ensure that this definition is inclusive enough that it accounts for the universe of consumers that are susceptible to the mis-selling of financial products and services

Tactical purchases by states spur volumes at IEX, low tariffs key

IEX trading volumes in day ahead market jumped 29 percent in December, continuing the strong growth of the earlier three months

Why the Northern farmers are the last bastion of central planning

The Economic Survey of 2016-17 called Indian agriculture ‘a living legacy of the era of socialism’.

BEML divestment could not have been better timed

BEML is at the forefront of the metro boom and a market leader with a 45 percent market share in the metro rail coach space

Interview | 2020 has broken preconceived notions about markets and economics, says Mihir Vora of Max Life Insurance

Max Life Insurance CIO says stock market valuations are stretched as most asset classes have been performing. Returns next year may be in the low double-digits or high-single digits for the overall market, but there is money to be made by astute sector and stock picking

Chart of the Day | India manufacturing PMI shows sustained growth in December

The sharp growth in sales in December is an indication that the recovery is sustainable

What should investors look for from India’s vaccine rollout

The sign of healthcare workers getting their shots could lift investor spirits, but more depends on how the process is managed

Write-offs are distinct from waivers. They are not a sign of crony capitalism.

There is no debt forgiveness in loan write-offs. It is an accounting practice followed by banks

Urban unemployment lowest in Gujarat at beginning of pandemic, finds PLFS survey

High unemployment is the weak underbelly of the Kerala model

What’s in store for gold in 2021?

ETF outflows in November were the second-highest ever recorded in the Gold market